Chapter 7 - The Girl Who Knew the Shepherd's Name)
Finding Lily Bell should have been easy.
It was not.
Officially, she did not exist.
Howard Bell had one son, according to every public record.
No grandchildren.
No Lily.
But Claire's files contained a single image tagged LB.
A girl standing outside a library.
Fifteen or sixteen.
Dark hair.
Green backpack.
Quinn stared at it for a long time.
"I've seen her."
Daniel looked at her.
"Where?"
"Bell's funeral."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
"You said Bell had no grandchildren."
"He introduced her as a family friend's daughter."
Samuel moved closer.
"Could've been protecting her even then."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Howard Bell never protected anyone without a reason."
Daniel looked at her.
"You knew him."
"For twenty years."
"Was he Shepherd?"
"No."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because Shepherd gave the order to kill Howard."
Quinn stared.
"Bell died of a heart attack."
Evelyn looked at her.
"Bell died because someone replaced his medication."
Silence settled over the clinic.
Samuel rubbed his face.
"This is bigger than I thought."
Evelyn gave him a cold smile.
"That's what Claire kept telling you."
Daniel turned.
"You spoke to Claire after the fake death?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Twice."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"When?"
"First month."
"And the second?"
Samuel looked down.
"Nine months ago."
Daniel nearly lost control.
"You spoke to my wife nine months ago."
"One call."
"And you never told me."
"She made me swear."
"My son thought she was dead."
"She believed contacting you would get both of you killed."
"You keep hiding behind what Claire wanted."
Samuel's voice rose.
"Because Claire understood the danger better than any of us."
Daniel moved toward him.
Quinn stepped in.
"Enough."
Daniel stared at Samuel.
"Did she sound safe?"
Samuel looked at him.
"No."
That stopped everything.
"What did she say?"
"She said someone was closing the circle."
"What does that mean?"
Evelyn answered.
"Eliminating old members."
Samuel nodded.
"She said Bell was dead. Two former accountants were dead. A judge disappeared. She believed Shepherd was destroying anyone who knew the original structure."
"And she was next."
"Yes."
Daniel looked at Lucas.
"Where did you see Lily and Claire in Portland?"
"Union Station."
"There isn't a Union Station in Portland, Oregon."
Lucas smiled faintly.
"Good."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Lucas continued.
"Claire told me if anyone asked, I should say Portland."
"You just lied to us."
"I gave Shepherd the same story."
"Then where?"
Lucas studied him.
"I'll tell Daniel alone."
Quinn laughed.
"No."
"I don't trust cops."
"You're an escaped prisoner."
"And you're standing in an illegal clinic with me."
Quinn's expression darkened.
Evelyn said, "Tell him."
Lucas looked at his mother.
Evelyn repeated, "Tell him now."
Lucas sighed.
"Albany."
"New York?"
"Yeah."
Daniel took out his phone.
"Which station?"
"Rensselaer."
"Six weeks ago?"
"Forty-three days."
Daniel looked at Quinn.
"Security footage."
"If it still exists."
They returned to Northbridge after transferring Lucas into Quinn's official custody.
That caused another problem.
Quinn had to explain how she had located an escaped violent suspect while technically off duty.
She solved it by telling her captain almost nothing.
Lucas was placed in a secure federal holding facility under another name after Quinn contacted an old organized crime prosecutor she trusted.
Daniel did not like adding anyone to the circle.
Quinn insisted.
"If Compass reaches into local police, we need somewhere outside their normal influence."
Owen remained with Nora Parker.
Daniel went to him first.
Owen ran into his arms.
Daniel held him longer than usual.
"Are we going home?"
"Not yet."
"Because of the bad man?"
"Partly."
Owen looked at his father's face.
"Are you scared?"
Daniel considered lying.
Then remembered everything lies had cost them.
"Yes."
Owen nodded as though relieved.
"Me too."
Daniel crouched.
"But we're together."
"Is Mom alive?"
The question struck with no warning.
Daniel looked toward Nora.
She had clearly heard nothing.
"What makes you ask that?"
Owen twisted his sleeve.
"The man said she was."
"Lucas?"
Owen nodded.
Daniel sat beside him.
"I don't know for certain."
"But maybe?"
"Maybe."
Owen's eyes filled.
"Why didn't she come home?"
Daniel had asked himself the same question every hour.
He chose his words carefully.
"I think Mom found out some dangerous people were watching us."
"Because of the key?"
"Yes."
"Did she leave to protect me?"
"I think so."
Owen looked down.
"Then I don't want to be mad at her."
Daniel felt something break inside him.
"You can be mad."
Owen looked up.
"Really?"
"Really."
"But she's Mom."
"People can love us and still make choices that hurt."
"Are you mad?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Very."
"Do you still love her?"
That answer came easily.
"Yes."
Owen leaned against him.
Daniel held his son and wondered what he would say if Claire walked through the door that second.
He imagined shouting.
Then holding her.
Then shouting again.
That evening, Quinn received the station footage.
Most of it had been overwritten.
But one camera archive remained because of an unrelated theft investigation.
They watched the recording in Quinn's office.
Time stamp.
Forty-three days earlier.
Passengers crossed the station concourse.
Then Daniel saw her.
Claire.
Alive.
Walking beside Lily Bell.
Daniel stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
Claire wore a dark coat.
Her hair was cut to her shoulders.
She looked thinner.
Older.
But it was her.
No question.
Owen's mother.
Daniel's wife.
Alive.
Quinn paused the video.
Daniel touched the monitor.
"That's her."
Samuel closed his eyes.
Evelyn stared.
Claire and Lily moved toward the station exit.
Then Claire stopped.
She turned toward a man near a vending machine.
Lucas.
The video had no audio.
Claire spoke to him.
Lucas listened.
Then Claire touched his shoulder.
Almost kindly.
Afterward, she and Lily left.
Quinn advanced through the footage.
"Wait."
Daniel leaned forward.
A second man appeared thirty seconds later.
Tall.
Gray coat.
Baseball cap.
He followed Claire and Lily through the exit.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
Quinn zoomed the image.
Poor resolution.
The man briefly turned toward the camera.
Samuel stepped backward.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"You know him."
Samuel's face had gone white.
"No."
"Who is he?"
Samuel whispered, "That's impossible."
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"Who?"
Samuel looked at Claire's image on the screen.
Then at Daniel.
"Your father."
Daniel released him.
"My father died twelve years ago."
May you like
Samuel shook his head.
"Then somebody forgot to tell the man following Claire."
