Chapter 13 - the florist who vanished before the ceremony)
Anna Mercer Floral Design had delivered nearly four thousand flowers to Blackwood.
Roses.
Peonies.
Hydrangeas.
Gardenias.
Vanessa chose the company herself after claiming Anna's arrangements were the best in the region.
Daniel searched the vendor correspondence.
Most communication had gone through Vanessa.
Anna arrived with her team three days before the wedding.
Security footage showed a dark-haired woman entering through the service gate.
Daniel enlarged the image.
The face matched Thomas's photograph of Caroline Bennett.
Older.
Different hair.
But unmistakable.
His sister had walked into his home.
Daniel had been there.
He never saw her.
Rachel remembered.
"The florist."
"What about her?"
"Eleanor met her."
Daniel stared.
"When?"
"Not now. Months ago."
"How?"
Rachel thought.
"Vanessa hired Anna for Eleanor's memorial flowers."
Daniel felt dizzy.
His sister had arranged flowers for their grandmother's funeral.
Had Eleanor known?
Rachel continued.
"After the memorial, Eleanor asked me to pay Anna directly instead of through the event company."
"Why?"
"She wanted her address."
Daniel understood.
Eleanor had recognized her.
Maybe immediately.
Maybe after speaking with her.
"Did they meet again?"
"I don't know."
Daniel searched Eleanor's calendar.
Several appointments were coded with letters.
C.B.
Caroline Bennett.
His grandmother had found her.
She had been secretly meeting her own granddaughter.
Daniel felt angry and grateful at the same time.
"Why wouldn't Eleanor tell me?"
Rachel looked at him.
"Maybe Caroline asked her not to."
They contacted every employee of Anna Mercer Floral Design.
The business had closed unexpectedly the morning after Rachel disappeared.
Anna sent workers a short email saying she was leaving town for a family emergency.
Her apartment was empty.
Again, someone had vanished.
But this time they knew the pattern.
Maya traced Anna's vehicle.
A toll camera captured it heading south six hours after Rachel was taken.
Another camera showed the driver.
A man.
Not Anna.
Not Richard.
Daniel asked Maya to enlarge the image.
The face was partially obscured.
Dark hair.
Older man.
A scar near the left ear.
Daniel stared until the screen blurred.
"Arthur."
Maya did not correct him.
The vehicle was later found abandoned at an airport.
Passenger records showed no Anna Mercer.
No Caroline Bennett.
But surveillance footage revealed a woman matching Caroline entering the terminal.
She did not board a plane.
She walked into a parking garage and vanished from camera coverage.
Someone had helped her leave.
Daniel returned to Blackwood.
Sophie was playing in the library while Rachel spoke with investigators.
When Sophie saw Daniel, she ran toward him.
"Did you find the other lady?"
Daniel stopped.
"What other lady?"
"The flower lady."
Rachel turned.
"Sophie?"
"The lady who cried."
Daniel crouched.
"When did you see her crying?"
Sophie thought.
"Before Mommy went away."
"Where?"
"Grandma Eleanor's room."
Daniel and Rachel exchanged a look.
"Was your mom there?"
Sophie nodded.
"What were they doing?"
"Talking."
"Do you remember what they said?"
Sophie shook her head.
Then she added, "The flower lady hugged Mommy."
Rachel stared.
"I never saw Anna at Eleanor's room."
Daniel looked at Sophie.
"Are you sure it was your mom?"
Sophie became frustrated.
"Yes."
"What did the flower lady say?"
Sophie thought harder.
Then whispered, "She said, I can't let Daniel know."
Daniel's chest tightened.
"Anything else?"
"Mommy said he deserves the truth."
Rachel covered her mouth.
Sophie was not describing Rachel.
She was describing a conversation Sophie had overheard while half asleep in Eleanor's sitting room months earlier.
Rachel searched her memory.
Then realization hit.
"Eleanor."
Daniel looked at her.
"Sophie called Eleanor Mommy once by accident when she was little. Maybe she's mixing memories."
But Sophie shook her head.
"No. Mommy was there."
Rachel frowned.
She had no memory of such a conversation.
Daniel asked, "What was Mommy wearing?"
"The blue dress."
Rachel stared.
"I don't own a blue dress."
Silence.
Martha entered.
She heard the last sentence.
"Eleanor did."
Everyone turned.
Martha's face had gone pale.
"Mrs. Reed had a blue house dress she wore constantly."
Sophie smiled.
"Grandma."
Daniel understood.
Sophie meant Eleanor.
The flower lady had hugged Eleanor.
Caroline had told her grandmother she could not let Daniel know.
Eleanor had told Caroline he deserved the truth.
Sophie had witnessed the reunion without understanding it.
That meant Eleanor knew.
And Caroline deliberately remained silent.
Why?
They searched Eleanor's room again.
Inside a sewing box they found a note.
Not hidden carefully.
Almost as if Eleanor hoped someone would eventually look.
Daniel,
Caroline is afraid of what will happen if you know her name.
Do not mistake fear for rejection.
She has spent her entire life being told the Reed family destroys everyone it touches.
I wanted to prove her wrong.
I am not certain I succeeded.
Daniel read the note twice.
At the bottom was another sentence.
If she disappears, look for the lighthouse.
Rachel frowned.
"What lighthouse?"
Daniel knew.
His father had taken him sailing as a child.
There was an abandoned lighthouse on a small peninsula along the southern coast.
Arthur once called it the only place where nobody could find him.
Daniel grabbed his keys.
Maya stopped him.
"We do this properly."
Hours later they reached the coast.
The lighthouse had been converted into a private residence twenty years earlier.
Property records showed it belonged to a trust.
North Crown Preservation Foundation.
Daniel nearly laughed.
Of course.
Officers approached.
The door was unlocked.
Inside were fresh groceries.
Clothes.
Photographs.
A woman had been living there.
But Caroline was gone.
On the kitchen table sat one envelope.
Daniel Reed.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, Eleanor is gone and everything she feared has begun.
I am sorry I left Blackwood without speaking to you.
I watched you from across rooms more than once.
I wanted to tell you.
But the man following me said Sophie would be next if I did.
Daniel stopped.
Rachel whispered, "Sophie?"
He continued.
I don't know why they care about Rachel's daughter.
That is the part Eleanor never explained.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
She had gone completely still.
The letter continued.
Richard believes the succession secret ends with me.
He is wrong.
Your father knew he was wrong.
That is why Arthur disappeared.
Daniel's hands shook harder.
Then came the final line.
If you want to know why Sophie matters, ask Rachel who Sophie's father really was.
Daniel lowered the paper.
Rachel stepped backward.
"Daniel."
He stared at her.
"Who was Sophie's father?"
May you like
Rachel said nothing.
And for the first time since her rescue, Daniel saw genuine fear in her eyes.
