Chapter 10 - The Man Wearing Ruiz’s Face
Sophie immediately called Officer Patel.
“Where is Ruiz?”
“At the cabin.”
“Who is with him?”
“One county deputy.”
“Get him away from the windows.”
Patel heard the urgency in Sophie’s voice and did not waste time asking why.
Within minutes, additional officers surrounded the cabin.
Ruiz and the deputy emerged safely.
No second man was found inside.
But the photograph had not been digitally altered.
A partial face reflected in the glass resembled Ruiz closely enough to be a brother.
Ruiz had no brother.
At least, that was what he believed.
His mother had died when he was six. His father, a former Briarwood deputy, rarely spoke about her family. Ruiz knew she had spent part of her childhood in foster care, but he had never investigated further.
Sophie studied his personnel biography.
Daniel Ruiz.
Thirty-nine years old.
Born in New Hampshire.
A childhood injury had permanently weakened his left leg.
The fourth Bennett child had been named Daniel.
Sophie felt the room become very quiet.
Ruiz saw the realization in her face.
“No.”
“Your mother’s name?” Sophie asked.
“Anna Ruiz.”
“Birth name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could it have been Rachel Dawson?”
“My mother was not an engineer.”
“You were six when she died. How much do you actually know?”
Ruiz stood abruptly.
“This is absurd.”
Patel remained calm.
“Daniel, we need to verify it.”
“My father is listed on my birth certificate.”
“Birth certificates can be amended.”
Ruiz stared at Sophie as though she had personally broken something inside him.
“You think I’m your brother?”
“I think someone wants us to consider it.”
“That photograph shows another man.”
“A man who resembles you.”
“Then perhaps he is the missing child.”
Ruiz left the room before anyone could stop him.
An hour later, he returned carrying an old metal box from his home.
Inside were childhood documents, photographs, and a necklace that had belonged to his mother.
The pendant was shaped like a silver bird.
The same design Evelyn wore.
The same design found in the underground room.
Behind one photograph, someone had written:
Daniel and Evelyn, Black Pine Cabin, 1993.
The boy in the picture was approximately six years old.
He had Ruiz’s eyes.
Beside him stood Evelyn Bennett.
She wore red hair uncovered by any scarf or disguise.
Ruiz sat down heavily.
“My father told me this woman was a family friend.”
Marjorie examined the photograph.
“That is Evelyn.”
Sophie looked at the date.
“Rachel supposedly died during childbirth, but Daniel was born in 1987. Why is Evelyn with him six years later?”
“She raised him,” Marjorie said.
“Then how did he become Daniel Ruiz?”
Ruiz opened another envelope.
His adoption certificate showed that Carlos Ruiz legally adopted him at age seven.
The original parent information was sealed.
A court order listed the previous guardian only by initials.
E.B.
Evelyn Bennett.
Ruiz was removed from the active investigation due to the conflict of interest.
He protested, but the decision was immediate.
Officer Patel became lead investigator.
A DNA test could determine whether Ruiz was Thomas Bennett’s son. The lab agreed to prioritize the sample, but even expedited results required time.
Sophie’s birthday was now eight days away.
Someone was moving faster.
That evening, the court scheduled an emergency hearing regarding Bennett Family Holdings’ claim to the cabin.
The company had retained a powerful attorney named Charles Voss.
Voss argued that Sophie had used disputed trust funds to acquire trust property and had concealed her knowledge of the beneficiary structure.
He requested immediate control of the cabin, the underground archive, and all recovered records.
Sophie’s attorney opposed the request.
The judge denied immediate transfer but ordered Sophie not to remove any property from the land.
Voss left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Sophie recognized him from the ledger.
C.V. legal reserve.
He had received payments from the trust’s hidden accounts for more than fifteen years.
That night, Sophie and Patel reviewed Voss’s professional history.
He had represented Nathan’s construction company.
He had advised Diane during Thomas’s probate.
He had also served as legal counsel to Lake Mercer Development Corporation, the company connected to Evelyn’s fall.
Voss was not protecting the family.
He had been protecting the secret from the beginning.
Sophie called Nathan from a secured line.
“Charles Voss controls Bennett Family Holdings.”
Nathan hesitated.
“He introduced me to the filing agent.”
“Did he create the false transfer document?”
“He gave it to Mother.”
“Did he tell you Evelyn kidnapped you?”
“I saw her.”
“Did you see her face?”
“She wore a hood.”
“You heard a distorted voice.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Voss wanted you to believe Evelyn was responsible,” Sophie continued. “He gave you the blue box after arranging your release.”
“I found the box beside me.”
“He placed edited recordings inside it. He wanted the police to focus on you and Evelyn while he petitioned for the cabin.”
Nathan’s breathing changed.
“He said he was helping us protect Dad’s legacy.”
“He has been stealing from the trust.”
Nathan cursed under his breath.
“Where is he now?”
“Why?”
“Because he knows where the deposit chamber is.”
“You are handcuffed to a hospital bed.”
“Not anymore.”
The call ended.
Sophie immediately alerted Patel.
When officers reached Nathan’s room, they found an unconscious guard and an empty bed.
A nurse’s uniform lay on the bathroom floor.
Security footage showed Claire pushing Nathan through a service corridor in a wheelchair.
Diane’s car picked them up behind the hospital.
All three remaining members of Sophie’s family had disappeared.
At midnight, a package arrived at the cabin.
Inside was a fragment of black metal shaped like one-third of a key.
A note had been wrapped around it.
Elias’s piece.
Find Thomas’s piece before Voss does.
Do not trust the man who calls himself Daniel.
Sophie stared at the final sentence.
DNA results had not yet arrived.
Officer Ruiz might be her brother.
Or he might be another person positioned near her to gain access to the trust.
Outside, a vehicle stopped at the end of the driveway.
A man stepped into the headlights.
May you like
He looked exactly like Daniel Ruiz.
But he walked without a limp.
