Chapter 15 - The Woman at the Cemetery)
Daniel changed everything after that message.
New security.
New locks.
No predictable routines.
Sophie stopped attending daycare temporarily.
Rachel moved into the guest room.
Marcus arranged protection through investigators working the Ardent Meridian case.
For six days, nothing happened.
Then came the anniversary of Emily's death.
Daniel had almost forgotten the date amid everything else.
He woke before dawn.
Sophie was asleep.
The house was quiet.
He drove alone to the cemetery.
Emily's grave stood beneath an old maple tree.
Daniel brought no flowers.
He carried the pink paper rose Sophie had made.
He placed it beside the headstone.
"She misses you."
His voice sounded strange in the morning air.
"So do I."
He sat on the grass.
For years, Daniel had spoken to Emily about grief.
About Sophie.
About work.
About Claire.
Today, he spoke about betrayal.
"I don't know who you were protecting."
He looked at her name engraved in stone.
"I don't know what you knew before we met."
A breeze moved through the trees.
"I don't even know if meeting me was an accident."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"But I know you loved Sophie."
That was enough.
Whatever secrets Emily had carried, he believed that.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Daniel turned.
A woman stood twenty yards away.
Beige coat.
Dark glasses.
Gray streaked hair.
Daniel rose slowly.
He knew her face.
The unidentified woman from Emily's photographs.
She did not run.
Daniel approached cautiously.
"Who are you?"
The woman removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were red from crying.
"My name is Anna Mercer."
Daniel had never heard it.
"You knew Emily."
"Yes."
"How?"
Anna looked toward the grave.
"Before you."
Daniel's throat tightened.
"What does that mean?"
"We worked together."
"Where?"
She gave a sad smile.
"Ardent Meridian."
Daniel stopped.
"Emily worked for them?"
"Not willingly by the end."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
Anna looked at him.
"I expect you to believe Emily."
"Emily is dead."
"That's why I'm here."
She reached into her coat.
Daniel tensed.
Anna slowly removed a small flash drive.
"She gave me this eleven years ago."
"Why didn't you come forward?"
"Because Jonathan found me."
"Jonathan Vale."
She nodded.
"Where is he?"
Anna looked frightened.
"Closer than you think."
Daniel took the flash drive.
"What is on this?"
"The beginning."
"Of what?"
"Everything."
Daniel's phone rang.
Marcus.
Daniel answered.
"Daniel, get away from there."
He looked around.
"What?"
Marcus's voice was urgent.
"We identified Anna Mercer."
Daniel looked at the woman.
Marcus continued.
"She died eight years ago."
Daniel stared at Anna.
She did not move.
"That's impossible."
"I'm looking at the death certificate."
Daniel lowered the phone.
"Who are you?"
Anna's expression changed.
Not fear.
Sadness.
"I'm the woman Emily died trying to protect."
Daniel's heartbeat thundered.
"Marcus says Anna Mercer is dead."
"She is."
"Then who are you?"
The woman glanced toward the cemetery entrance.
A black sedan had stopped near the gate.
She stepped backward.
"Ask Emily."
"Emily is dead."
The woman shook her head.
"No, Daniel."
He stared at her.
She whispered.
"That's what they needed you to believe."
The black sedan began moving toward them.
Daniel stepped closer.
"What are you saying?"
The woman reached inside her coat again.
This time she removed a photograph.
She placed it in Daniel's hand.
It had been taken recently.
Very recently.
The image showed a train station somewhere in Europe.
Crowds moved across the platform.
In the center of the photograph stood a woman in a dark blue coat.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face was thinner.
But Daniel knew that face.
He had kissed it every morning for five years.
He had watched it laugh while holding their newborn daughter.
He had buried a closed coffin believing it belonged to her.
Daniel looked up.
The stranger was already walking away.
"Wait."
She turned once.
"Watch the drive before you trust anyone."
The sedan accelerated.
Daniel shouted.
"Where was this photograph taken?"
The woman looked toward the approaching car.
Then back at him.
"Three months ago."
Daniel's entire world seemed to stop.
He looked down at the photograph again.
At Emily.
Alive.
When he looked up, the woman was running toward the trees.
The black sedan reached the cemetery road.
Daniel's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared from the same unknown number that had sent the photograph of Sophie.
Do not open the flash drive.
Daniel stared at the screen.
A second message arrived.
If Emily wanted you to know the truth, she would have come home.
Then a third.
Ask yourself why she stayed away from her daughter.
Daniel looked toward Emily's grave.
The paper rose Sophie had made moved gently in the wind.
For the first time since the wedding, Daniel understood that the truth he had fought so hard to uncover might be more painful than any lie Claire or Victor had ever told him.
He closed his hand around the flash drive.
Behind him, tires screeched.
Ahead of him, the mysterious woman disappeared between the trees.
May you like
And on the screen of his phone, one final message appeared.
Before you look for Emily, find out whose body is buried under her name.
