Chapter 8 - the call from caroline)
Daniel could not stop staring at the ring.
There was a scratch near the inside edge.
He remembered the day it happened.
Caroline had caught it on a metal fence while helping Lucy retrieve a toy from the garden.
There was no doubt.
It was hers.
The handwriting looked genuine.
Marcus sent both items for forensic testing.
Daniel wanted to believe immediately.
Marcus would not let him.
“People can imitate handwriting.”
“They can’t imitate the ring.”
“If Helena had Caroline, she could have kept it.”
Daniel hated the logic.
At three in the morning his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Marcus traced while Daniel answered.
Silence.
Then breathing.
“Hello?”
A woman whispered.
“Daniel.”
His body went numb.
He knew the voice.
Even after three years.
Even through static.
“Caroline?”
Silence.
Then a sob.
Daniel gripped the desk.
“Caroline, where are you?”
“Don’t trust the police.”
“Where are you?”
“She knows you found the room.”
“Who?”
“You know.”
“Helena?”
The line crackled.
“Caroline, please.”
“I tried to come back.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“For three years?”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then tell me.”
“I couldn’t get close to Lucy.”
“You were at her school.”
Silence.
“Was that you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Marcus continued tracing.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I tried once.”
“When?”
“The funeral.”
Daniel stared.
“What funeral?”
“Robert’s.”
His uncle’s funeral.
Hundreds of guests.
Daniel remembered seeing a woman standing behind the cemetery fence.
He had assumed she was press.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because Helena was standing beside you.”
Daniel’s memory searched the funeral.
Donors.
Family.
Politicians.
Then he remembered.
A woman in black had comforted Evelyn near the grave.
He had never learned her name.
Helena.
“How do I find you?”
“You don’t.”
“Caroline.”
“Listen to me.”
Her voice became urgent.
“The dinner was a test.”
“What test?”
“She wanted to know how much Lucy remembered.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
His daughter slept upstairs under guard.
“Why Lucy?”
“Because Lucy saw where I hid the second copy.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Caroline’s recording.
The copy is somewhere they will never think to look.
“Where?”
“I can’t say.”
“Why?”
“Because this call is not secure.”
Marcus shook his head.
The trace was bouncing internationally.
Caroline continued.
“Lucy knows without knowing.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ask her about the white rabbit.”
Daniel frowned.
“What white rabbit?”
“Daniel, whatever happens, do not let Vanessa take Lucy out of the house.”
Across the library, Vanessa stiffened.
Daniel stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa…”
The line cut.
“Caroline?”
Nothing.
Daniel called back.
Number unavailable.
Vanessa’s face was pale.
“What was she going to say?”
Daniel did not answer.
Vanessa became angry.
“You think I’m going to hurt Lucy?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“You heard everything I told you.”
“I also heard Caroline tell me not to trust you.”
“I was shot because of this.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
Vanessa laughed without humor.
“You wanted the truth. Now you have so much truth you can’t tell which part is poison.”
She left.
Daniel went upstairs.
Lucy was awake.
She sat beneath the covers holding a stuffed rabbit.
White.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
He had seen the toy thousands of times.
Caroline bought it before Lucy was born.
“Where did you get Bunny?” he asked.
Lucy looked confused.
“Mommy.”
“Did Mommy ever put something inside Bunny?”
Lucy hugged it.
“No.”
“Can I see?”
“No.”
“Sweetheart.”
“It’s mine.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“Mommy asked me to look.”
Lucy’s eyes widened.
“You talked to Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Lucy began crying.
“Is she coming home?”
Daniel had no answer.
He held her.
“I’m trying to bring her home.”
After a while Lucy handed him the rabbit.
Daniel examined the seams.
Nothing unusual.
Then he felt a hard object beneath one ear.
He used a small pair of scissors to open a tiny section.
Inside was a memory card.
Marcus inserted it into an offline computer.
Folders appeared.
Thousands of documents.
Financial transfers.
Passport photographs.
Adoption records.
Names.
Dates.
Daniel saw children photographed against plain walls.
Some were infants.
Some older.
Each had two or three identities.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“My God.”
One folder was labeled WHITMORE.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel.
Another of Caroline.
Another of Lucy.
And one document.
LUCY WHITMORE.
STATUS: ACTIVE ASSET.
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus clicked further.
A scheduled transfer appeared.
September 3.
Three days away.
Destination blank.
Authorized by H.V.
Vanessa entered the room behind them.
She read the screen.
Her face changed.
“We have to leave.”
Daniel closed the laptop.
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No one is taking my daughter anywhere.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Vanessa stared at the transfer authorization.
“That status means Lucy was never supposed to stay with you.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“What are you saying?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Helena didn’t just want Caroline’s evidence.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“She wanted your daughter from the beginning.”
