Chapter 6 - THE ACCIDENT THAT WASN’T AN ACCIDENT
Rebecca Reed died on February 17, 1989.
Claire found the archived article within twenty minutes.
Small-town newspaper.
Single-car collision.
Wet road.
No witnesses.
Rebecca Reed, twenty-four, pronounced dead at the scene.
Samuel Reed survived because he was not in the car.
The report contained one detail that made Claire’s stomach turn.
Rebecca had been traveling toward Richmond.
Toward the Whitmore estate.
Daniel stared at the screen in Claire’s mother’s kitchen.
“She was coming to get me.”
They did not know that.
But it felt true.
Mark had finally agreed to a DNA test.
Jessica submitted hers as well after admitting her own parents had died years ago and she had no idea whether Margaret’s secrets extended beyond the Whitmore brothers.
Claire found that paranoid.
Then she remembered Lily’s ankle.
Nothing felt too paranoid anymore.
Daniel spent the evening searching Samuel’s old records.
At eleven thirty, he found Rebecca’s younger sister.
Eleanor Reed.
Alive.
Living in Maryland.
Daniel called.
A woman answered.
When Daniel said his name, she stopped speaking.
“Mrs. Carter?”
Her married name.
Eleanor Carter.
“Who gave you this number?”
“No one. I found it.”
“You shouldn’t call.”
“I think I’m Rebecca’s son.”
A long silence.
Then the woman began crying.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Claire took his hand.
Eleanor whispered, “I wondered how long it would take.”
They drove to Maryland the next morning.
Eleanor lived alone in a small house beside a church.
She was seventy-two.
She opened the door before they reached it.
When she saw Daniel, she covered her mouth.
“Oh, Becky.”
Daniel looked devastated.
Eleanor touched his cheek.
“You have her eyes.”
Inside, she opened an old wooden box.
Photographs.
Letters.
A hospital bracelet.
Daniel’s original birth name.
Daniel Samuel Reed.
He stared at it.
Claire sat beside him.
Eleanor explained.
Rebecca and Samuel had not wanted to give Daniel away.
Samuel lost his job.
Rebecca’s medical bills mounted.
Edward offered financial support.
At first, he proposed temporary guardianship.
Then permanent adoption.
Samuel resisted.
Rebecca refused completely.
“So how did I end up with them?” Daniel asked.
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“Margaret.”
According to Eleanor, Margaret visited Rebecca alone.
No one knew what she said.
Three days later, Rebecca signed temporary custody documents.
Not adoption.
Temporary custody.
“She wanted you back within six months.”
Daniel whispered, “Did Samuel agree?”
“He signed because Rebecca did.”
“What happened next?”
“The Whitmores stopped taking their calls.”
Daniel stared at her.
Eleanor continued.
“Rebecca hired a lawyer.”
Claire’s heartbeat quickened.
“Which lawyer?”
“Thomas Whitaker.”
Daniel and Claire looked at each other.
Whitaker was the same law firm that still represented Whitmore Construction.
Eleanor reached into the box.
“She wrote this the night before she died.”
A letter.
Daniel unfolded it carefully.
My Danny,
If you ever read this, it means I failed to bring you home quickly enough. I need you to know we did not abandon you. Your father loves you. I love you. I agreed because Mrs. Whitmore promised it would only be temporary.
Daniel stopped reading.
His hands shook.
Claire continued silently.
Rebecca wrote that she had discovered documents altered after she signed them.
Temporary guardianship had somehow become permanent surrender.
She planned to confront Margaret.
The following morning, Rebecca died.
Daniel stood abruptly and walked outside.
Claire followed.
He leaned against the car.
For a while, neither spoke.
Finally he said, “I defended her.”
Claire knew he meant Margaret.
“I defended her to you.”
“Yes.”
“To Lily.”
“Yes.”
“I almost lost you because I was afraid of upsetting the woman who stole me.”
Claire did not comfort him.
Not yet.
Some pain had to be allowed to exist.
He looked at her.
“Are you leaving me?”
Claire answered carefully.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel nodded.
It hurt him.
But he accepted it.
That mattered.
Eleanor came outside.
“There’s something else.”
She carried another envelope.
“Rebecca wasn’t alone when she died.”
Daniel frowned.
“The report said she was.”
“The report lied.”
Eleanor handed him a photograph taken minutes before Rebecca’s final drive.
Rebecca stood beside her car.
Another woman stood beside her.
Young.
Blonde.
May you like
Very recognizable.
Margaret Whitmore.
