Chapter 4 - Walter's First Lie)
Daniel entered the house seconds later.
Rachel and Walter were standing apart by then.
The photographs had been returned to the case.
Daniel looked between them.
"What is going on?"
Rachel waited.
Walter answered.
"I borrowed some photographs for the retirement slideshow."
Rachel almost laughed.
Daniel accepted the explanation immediately.
"That's what this is about?"
Walter nodded.
Daniel shook his head.
"Rachel drove here like someone died."
Rachel looked at Walter.
His expression begged for silence.
Not because he deserved it.
Because he knew something she didn't.
Rachel picked up the case.
"I'm going home."
Daniel followed her.
In the car, he complained for six straight minutes.
Rachel heard almost none of it.
Walter had carried Emily from the basement.
That meant he had seen her alive.
That meant the official story had been fabricated.
At home, Rachel locked herself in the bathroom and called Thomas.
He answered immediately.
"What happened?"
"Walter took my case."
"Why?"
"He knows."
"About the ledger?"
"About Emily."
Silence.
Rachel whispered, "He carried her out."
Thomas swore.
"He admitted that?"
"Yes."
"Did he say where?"
"No. Daniel arrived."
Thomas lowered his voice.
"Rachel, I need you to hear something."
"What?"
"I found North Program."
She gripped the sink.
"What is it?"
"It wasn't a place."
"What do you mean?"
"It was a network."
Rachel stared at her reflection.
"Of what?"
"Private foster placements. Behavioral research. Medical observation."
Her stomach turned.
"Children?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"At least forty-three."
Rachel closed her eyes.
Thomas continued.
"My father helped fund it."
"God."
"And Walter's company provided properties."
Rachel gripped the counter.
"Where was Emily sent?"
"I'm still tracing it."
"Thomas."
"I'm trying."
Rachel opened her eyes.
"Was my name there?"
A pause.
"Yes."
Her breath caught.
"Why?"
"You were evaluated for transfer."
Rachel felt the room tilt.
"Why wasn't I taken?"
"I don't know."
Someone knocked.
"Rachel?"
Daniel.
She turned away.
Thomas continued.
"There's another name I recognized."
"Who?"
"Harold Vale."
Rachel froze.
Emily's father.
Dr. Harold Vale had been a psychiatrist.
He had also been the man who signed Rachel into Mercer House after her mother died.
Rachel had believed he was merely a consulting doctor.
Thomas said, "Harold wasn't just working there."
Rachel whispered, "What was he?"
"One of the founders."
Rachel covered her mouth.
Emily had been the daughter of the man who helped create the program that trapped them.
And she had never said a word.
"Rachel?"
Thomas's voice sounded distant.
"I have to go."
"Wait. There's more."
The bathroom handle moved.
Daniel.
"Rachel, open the door."
She whispered into the phone, "Tell me."
Thomas hesitated.
"The original property was purchased through Mercer Development."
"I know."
"No. You don't understand."
She waited.
"The purchase wasn't signed by Walter."
Rachel frowned.
"Then who?"
"His father."
"Daniel's grandfather?"
"Yes."
Rachel had met Samuel Mercer only once before his death.
He had suffered from dementia.
Thomas continued.
"But the transfer documents were later signed by Walter."
Rachel closed her eyes.
"So he knew."
"Yes."
"But maybe he didn't start it."
"No."
Thomas paused.
"Rachel, I think Walter may have been trying to shut it down."
She opened her eyes.
"What?"
"I found letters."
"What letters?"
"From Walter to my father. He threatened to go to authorities."
"When?"
"Two weeks before Mercer House was raided."
Rachel's heart began pounding.
"So Walter made the anonymous call?"
"Possibly."
"Then why lie?"
"I don't know."
Another knock.
Harder.
Rachel ended the call.
She opened the door.
Daniel stood there.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Thomas Whitaker."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Rachel saw it immediately.
Jealousy.
Suspicion.
And beneath both, insecurity.
"Why are you talking to Thomas Whitaker in our bathroom?"
"Because I wanted privacy."
"From me?"
"Yes."
His face changed.
Rachel stepped around him.
Daniel caught her arm.
"Are you sleeping with him?"
Rachel stared at his hand.
"Let go."
"Answer me."
"No."
"Rachel."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Thomas's wife died three years ago. His children were almost killed fourteen months ago. I helped save them. Since then, I've helped those children with trauma recovery."
Daniel released her.
For one second, Rachel thought he might apologize.
Instead he said, "And you didn't think your husband should know?"
"I tried to tell you."
"When?"
"The night it happened."
Daniel looked confused.
"The playoffs."
Recognition flickered.
Rachel nodded.
"You told me whatever it was could wait."
Daniel looked away.
Rachel walked toward the bedroom.
Behind her, he said, "That still doesn't explain my father."
Rachel stopped.
"No."
She looked back.
"It doesn't."
She closed the bedroom door.
Daniel remained in the hallway.
For the first time in years, he understood that his wife had a life he knew nothing about.
And he hated the feeling.
May you like
Not because Rachel had kept secrets.
Because he had never cared enough to ask.
