Chapter 6 - The Second Baby)
The second baby changed the investigation.
Until that moment, Emily had believed her story centered on one stolen child.
Now there was another.
Michael drove them to the old address of Vale Family Services.
The building had been converted into offices years earlier, but county records showed that Marianne Vale had rented several storage units nearby until her death.
One unit remained active.
Someone was still paying for it.
The name attached to the account was Vale Legacy Management.
Margaret's attorneys obtained emergency access to the corporate filings before noon.
The company had one director.
Helen Voss.
Emily stared at the screen.
"She kept the records."
"Or destroyed them," Michael said.
Daniel leaned forward.
"Then why keep paying for a storage unit?"
No one answered.
Margaret's phone rang.
Thomas.
She declined the call.
He called again.
She turned the phone off.
By three that afternoon, a private attorney hired by Margaret had contacted the storage facility.
Without a court order they could not enter.
But the manager confirmed something important.
Helen Voss had visited the unit three days earlier.
The same week she had returned to Bellweather.
Emily looked at Margaret.
"She knows."
Margaret nodded.
"She knows we are getting close."
Michael said, "Then she may empty the unit."
The attorney promised to seek an emergency preservation order.
It would take hours.
Emily hated hours.
Hours had already turned into twenty two years.
She returned to Bellweather that evening because she did not know where else to go.
The restaurant remained closed.
Daniel unlocked the door for her.
"You should sleep."
"So should you."
"I own three terrible pillows in the office."
Emily almost smiled.
She walked to table seven.
The plates were gone.
The linen had been replaced.
Everything looked ordinary again.
She sat in Margaret's chair.
Daniel remained nearby.
"Do you believe she's my mother?"
He did not answer immediately.
"Yes."
"Because of the pendant?"
"Because of the way she looked at you."
Emily stared at the table.
"What if DNA says no?"
"Then you keep searching."
"What if it says yes?"
"Then you keep deciding."
She looked at him.
"Deciding what?"
"What being her daughter means."
Emily leaned back.
"No one tells you that part."
"What part?"
"Finding someone doesn't restore the missing years."
Daniel nodded.
"No."
"It doesn't give me birthdays."
"No."
"It doesn't give her my first day of school."
"No."
Emily's eyes filled.
"It doesn't give me a mother when I needed one."
Daniel sat opposite her.
"No."
Emily wiped her face angrily.
"Then why do I want it so badly?"
"Because it gives the missing years a name."
She looked at him.
Before she could answer, someone knocked on the front window.
Emily jumped.
A woman stood outside.
Gray hair.
Thin frame.
A cane.
Daniel whispered, "That's her."
Helen Voss.
Emily stood.
Daniel reached for his phone.
Helen shook her head and held up both hands.
Then she placed an envelope against the glass.
Emily moved toward the door.
Daniel blocked her.
"No."
"She came here to talk."
"She may have helped abduct you."
"Exactly."
Helen waited.
Emily unlocked the door.
Daniel stayed beside her.
Helen entered slowly.
Up close, she appeared ill.
Her skin was gray.
Her breathing was shallow.
She looked at Emily for a long time.
"I hoped you would look like Margaret."
Emily said, "You knew my mother."
Helen's eyes filled.
"Yes."
"You knew I was alive."
"Yes."
Emily's hand tightened around the door handle.
"And you did nothing."
Helen looked down.
"For too long."
"Twenty two years."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Helen began crying.
"Because Thomas Ashford owned every mistake I had ever made."
Emily stared at her.
Helen explained.
At thirty one, she had worked as a private ambulance driver and had a gambling problem.
Thomas discovered she had stolen medication from a transport company and sold it to pay debts.
He offered to make the evidence disappear.
In exchange, she would move one infant from St. Catherine's.
"I told myself it was temporary," Helen said.
Emily's voice shook.
"You transported me."
"Yes."
"To the pediatric facility."
"Then to Ruth's."
"Then what?"
Helen looked terrified.
"Marianne Vale took you."
"Where?"
"I didn't know until years later."
Emily stepped closer.
"Where?"
Helen handed her the envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of an adoption record.
The name of the child had been changed.
Elizabeth Ward became Anna Miller.
Then another document changed Anna Miller into Emily Jane Carter.
Emily stared.
"I don't understand."
Helen pointed.
"Marianne moved you twice through illegal placements before you entered legitimate foster care. She was laundering identities."
Margaret entered the restaurant behind them.
Everyone turned.
Helen's face collapsed.
"Margaret."
Margaret walked toward her.
"I visited an empty grave for twenty two years."
Helen could not look at her.
"I know."
"You knew my child was alive."
"Yes."
Margaret's voice trembled.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
Helen whispered, "Because Thomas said he would destroy my family."
Margaret stared at her.
Helen reached into her bag.
"There is more."
She handed Margaret another document.
A list of payments.
Thomas Ashford.
Marianne Vale.
Several hospital employees.
A doctor.
A records clerk.
And one name Emily did not recognize.
Richard Ashford.
Margaret did.
Her face changed.
"Thomas's father."
Helen nodded.
"He planned it."
Margaret sat down.
Thomas had not acted alone.
The conspiracy reached into the generation before him.
Emily remembered Ruth's final revelation.
"The second baby."
Helen looked at her.
Emily asked, "Who was he?"
Helen's expression became guarded.
"I don't know his name now."
"But you know where he came from."
Helen nodded.
"He was born at St. Catherine's the same night."
Margaret asked, "Was he stolen too?"
Helen shook her head.
"No."
"Then why was he with Marianne?"
Helen looked directly at Margaret.
"Because they needed a dead baby."
No one spoke.
Helen whispered, "Thomas's father paid Marianne to exchange the records."
Emily felt cold.
Margaret stared.
"The coffin."
Helen nodded.
"The boy was the infant officially recorded as your daughter."
Emily whispered, "What happened to him?"
Helen's face crumpled.
"He survived too."
Margaret stood.
"Then whose body was in the grave?"
May you like
Helen looked at her.
"There was no body."
