Chapter 2 - the photograph Daniel was never meant to see)
By evening, the wedding chapel had become the center of a police investigation nobody yet knew how to define.
Victor Mercer had disappeared.
His phone was off.
His SUV was found two miles away in a hotel parking structure.
The security cameras showed him entering the garage.
They never showed him leaving.
Daniel took Lila and Eli home.
Claire followed in a separate car.
The Mercer estate sat on thirty wooded acres outside Westbridge.
Daniel had once loved its quiet.
That night it felt isolated.
Marcus stationed security at every entrance.
Lila refused to leave Eli's side.
That alone astonished Daniel.
For almost a year she had avoided other children.
Now she sat beside Eli on the living room rug while he showed her a folded paper bird he knew how to make.
She still barely spoke.
But occasionally she whispered a word.
Blue.
Paper.
Bird.
Each one felt miraculous.
Daniel should have been celebrating.
Instead he sat across the room holding the photograph.
Keep them together.
He had studied the image until every detail seemed permanently engraved in his mind.
Mara looked tired.
Not frightened.
The younger woman beside her appeared protective.
Daniel wondered if she was Eli's mother.
Claire entered carrying tea.
She had changed out of her wedding dress.
She wore gray trousers and a cream sweater.
The emerald ring was gone.
Daniel noticed immediately.
"Where is it?"
Claire followed his gaze.
"The ring?"
"Yes."
"I took it off."
"Why?"
"Because Lila was afraid of it."
Daniel studied her.
"Where did Victor get it?"
Claire looked surprised.
"You know where."
"I know what he told us."
She sat across from him.
"He said your grandmother left it with him."
"She didn't."
Claire went still.
Daniel continued.
"My grandmother's estate was divided by an attorney. Every piece of jewelry was cataloged. That ring wasn't in the inventory."
"Maybe she gave it to Victor before she died."
"That's what he claimed."
Claire's voice became defensive.
"Daniel, you can't suddenly treat every ordinary thing as evidence because your brother walked out of a wedding."
"My daughter saw that ring and panicked."
"Your daughter has severe trauma."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"She spoke today."
"I know."
"After eleven months."
"I was there."
"Because she saw Eli."
Claire softened.
"I know."
Daniel rubbed his face.
"I'm sorry."
She looked toward the children.
"No, you're terrified."
"Yes."
"So am I."
The admission changed his anger.
Claire had lost something too.
A wedding.
A future that had seemed certain that morning.
Daniel reached across the table.
She took his hand.
"I need to know what happened to Mara."
Claire nodded.
"I know."
"Even if it changes everything."
Her fingers tightened.
"Then we find out."
The doorbell rang.
Marcus appeared.
"Detective Alvarez is here."
Daniel knew Sofia Alvarez from Mara's accident case.
She entered carrying a file bag.
Her eyes immediately went to Eli.
"So that's our mystery guest."
Daniel introduced them.
Alvarez sat near the fireplace.
"Eli, I need to ask you some questions."
The boy nodded.
"Do you know Victor Mercer?"
"No."
"Have you ever seen him before today?"
Eli hesitated.
"Maybe."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Maybe where?"
"At my dad's funeral."
Alvarez looked sharply at him.
"Tell me."
"There was a man outside."
"What did he look like?"
"Tall. Gray coat."
Victor was tall.
But thousands of men were tall.
"Did you see his face?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"He watched me."
"Anything else?"
"He left when my aunt saw him."
Alvarez wrote it down.
"What's your aunt's name?"
"Rebecca Hayes."
"Where is she?"
Eli stared at his shoes.
"She thinks I'm at school camp."
Daniel blinked.
"You ran away?"
Eli nodded.
"How did you know about the wedding?"
"My dad's box."
"What box?"
Eli looked at Daniel.
"The one he told me never to open unless something happened to Aunt Rebecca."
Daniel felt cold.
"Did something happen?"
"Yesterday she got a letter."
"What letter?"
"I don't know. She read it, started crying, and told me we might have to leave."
"So you opened the box."
"Yes."
"What was inside?"
"Pictures. Papers. A key. Your wedding invitation."
Claire looked at Daniel.
"Your invitation?"
Eli nodded.
"With today's date."
Daniel whispered, "Jonathan died eleven months ago."
Nobody spoke.
The wedding date had been chosen only four months earlier.
Daniel stood.
"Eli, are you certain?"
The boy nodded.
"It had your names."
"Daniel Mercer and Claire Bennett?"
"Yes."
Alvarez sat straighter.
"Where is that invitation?"
"In the box."
"Where is the box?"
"My aunt's house."
Daniel immediately reached for his jacket.
Alvarez stopped him.
"You're not going anywhere."
"My dead investigator had an invitation to a wedding that didn't exist when he died."
"Which is exactly why you're not walking into that house without police."
Daniel stared at her.
She was right.
Marcus went with two detectives.
Rebecca Hayes' house was only thirty minutes away.
They found the front door unlocked.
Nobody inside.
No Rebecca.
No sign of forced entry.
And no box.
But in Jonathan Hayes' old office, Marcus found something hidden beneath a floorboard.
A torn page.
May you like
One sentence had been written across it.
Daniel Mercer must never marry Claire Bennett until he knows who survived Hollow Creek.
