Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN IN THE CABIN
Claire found Lily inside a hunting cabin half a mile from the abandoned SUV.
She was not alone.
An elderly man sat beside her.
Samuel Reed.
His wrists were bruised.
Lily ran toward Claire.
“Mommy!”
Claire dropped to her knees and pulled her daughter into her arms.
Daniel arrived seconds later.
When Samuel saw him, the old man began crying.
“Danny.”
Daniel stopped.
Samuel stood slowly.
For thirty-seven years, Daniel Whitmore had believed Edward was his father.
Now his biological father stood ten feet away.
Neither man knew how to cross the distance.
Lily solved it.
She looked at Samuel.
“Grandpa Sam helped me.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Samuel laughed through tears.
“She’s brave.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Samuel hugged him.
Claire turned away to give them a moment.
Police searched the cabin.
No captors.
They had left minutes earlier.
Samuel explained that two men and a woman had taken him from his home.
The same group later brought Lily.
“They never hurt her.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“They kidnapped her.”
“Yes.”
“They chained you.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t defend them.”
“I’m not.”
Samuel looked at Lily.
“But the woman kept saying they were protecting her from Margaret.”
Claire stared.
“What woman?”
Samuel shook his head.
“She never showed her face.”
Daniel asked, “Did you know Rebecca was alive?”
Samuel’s face changed.
“What?”
Daniel looked toward Claire.
She nodded.
“Margaret says Rebecca didn’t die.”
Samuel sat heavily.
“No.”
“Thomas Whitaker confirmed it.”
Samuel stared at the floor.
For thirty-six years, this man had mourned a woman who might still exist.
Claire could see entire decades collapsing inside his face.
“I saw the car,” Samuel whispered.
“What?”
“The wreck.”
Daniel sat beside him.
“There was no body.”
“They wouldn’t let me see it.”
“Why didn’t you question that?”
“I did.”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Margaret told me Rebecca had been badly burned.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
Samuel continued.
“She threatened to take you out of the country if I kept asking questions.”
“So you accepted the payments.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every January, the deposit included a code Rebecca created when you were born.”
Daniel looked confused.
“What code?”
“Your weight.”
Samuel smiled sadly.
“Seven pounds, eleven ounces. The deposit was always seven thousand eleven dollars.”
Claire remembered the records.
Daniel did too.
“The payments meant I was alive.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked away, overwhelmed.
Samuel touched his arm.
“I never stopped loving you.”
Daniel nodded but could not speak.
An FBI agent entered.
“We found something.”
They followed him behind the cabin.
Buried beneath a plastic tarp were boxes.
Documents.
Old identity cards.
Photographs.
Birth certificates.
Among them was a photograph of a young Margaret.
Beside her stood Rebecca.
They were not arguing.
They were embracing.
On the back:
To Maggie.
If anything happens to me, protect Daniel from them.
Love, R.
Daniel stared.
“My mother trusted her.”
Samuel looked at Margaret’s younger face.
“Yes.”
Claire frowned.
“Then Margaret didn’t steal Daniel.”
Samuel shook his head slowly.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Samuel looked toward the agent.
“Rebecca was running from Halcyon before Daniel was born.”
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
May you like
Samuel’s eyes filled with fear.
“Because Rebecca helped create it.”
