Chapter 5 - The Key to Eight Missing Years)
Damian did not tell Marcus about the message.
That decision frightened him more than the message itself.
For twelve years Marcus Vale had been near him almost every day.
He knew Damian's schedules.
His homes.
His vehicles.
His security codes.
He had protected Damian through threats, lawsuits, protests and one attempted kidnapping in South America.
Damian trusted him enough to sleep while Marcus stood outside the door.
Now an eight year old girl's memory of a silver watch had created the first crack in that trust.
Detective Brooks read the message.
"Could be Claire."
"Could be whoever took her."
"Exactly."
The location engraved on Emily's key matched a storage facility in Queens.
Brooks called local police.
Damian insisted on going.
Emily insisted harder.
"No."
"It's Mom's."
"You've already been through enough."
"She gave me the key."
"Emily."
"You didn't even know about it until I came."
That stopped him.
The truth was painful.
The girl had crossed a city with a toddler because every adult around her had failed.
Damian crouched.
"You're right."
Emily stared at him suspiciously.
"But I'm not bringing Sophie into a potentially dangerous place."
"Nora can stay with her."
Nora agreed immediately.
Twenty minutes later, Damian, Emily, Brooks and two detectives left through the underground garage.
Damian told Marcus he was going home.
Marcus objected.
"I should come."
"No."
"Damian, there are reporters outside."
"Police are with me."
"Your personal security protocol requires."
"I know what it requires."
Marcus studied him.
"Something wrong?"
Damian forced a tired smile.
"My wedding just collapsed. An eight year old might be my daughter. I'd say several things are wrong."
Marcus nodded.
"Call if you need me."
Damian entered the SUV.
As they drove away, Emily looked through the rear window.
Marcus stood alone beneath the garage lights.
He had put the silver watch back on.
Emily whispered, "That's it."
Damian looked.
"You sure?"
"The watch."
Brooks turned.
"Same as the man at your apartment?"
"I think so."
Think.
Not know.
Damian repeated that to himself.
The storage facility was almost empty.
Unit 317 was on the second floor.
Emily inserted the brass key.
Her hand shook.
Damian covered it gently with his.
"You don't have to go inside."
"Yes, I do."
Together they turned the lock.
The metal door rolled upward.
Inside were six cardboard boxes.
A folding chair.
A suitcase.
A small desk.
And dozens of envelopes.
Damian stepped closer.
His name was written on every one.
Damian Vance.
Some had dates from eight years earlier.
Some seven.
Some six.
One from three months ago.
He opened the oldest.
Damian,
I waited outside your building today. Your assistant told me you refused to see me. I need to hear it from you. If you really want me gone, tell me yourself.
Damian read it again.
"I never got this."
Emily watched.
He opened another.
Damian,
Your father came again. He says you signed the agreement. I don't believe him. Please call me.
Another.
Damian,
I'm pregnant.
His knees weakened.
He sat on the folding chair.
Emily stood beside him.
Damian looked at the date.
Eight years and eight months earlier.
He opened another.
If you don't want us, I will leave you alone. But I need you to know she exists. I will never tell our daughter her father rejected her unless I hear it from you.
Damian covered his mouth.
Emily's voice was quiet.
"Did you reject us?"
"No."
"Mom said you didn't know."
"I didn't."
"Then who kept the letters?"
Damian looked around the unit.
"That's what we're going to find out."
Brooks examined the boxes.
One contained bank statements.
Another contained photocopies of legal documents.
A third contained photographs.
Claire outside Vance headquarters.
Claire with Damian years earlier.
Victoria entering Claire's apartment building.
Marcus leaving a restaurant with Claire.
Damian picked up the last photo.
The date was six months earlier.
"Why was Marcus meeting your mother?"
Emily shook her head.
"I don't know him."
Brooks placed the photograph in an evidence bag.
"Could be innocent."
"Nothing about this feels innocent."
Emily opened the suitcase.
Baby clothes.
Hospital bracelets.
A pink knitted hat.
Then she gasped.
"That's mine."
A bracelet carried the name:
BABY BENNETT, EMILY C.
Date of birth.
Damian counted.
The timeline matched exactly.
Underneath was a sealed plastic pouch.
Inside was a toothbrush labeled D.V.
Damian frowned.
Brooks read a note attached to it.
Collected 2018. Never submitted.
"For a DNA test?" Damian asked.
"Looks that way."
Another note lay beneath it.
Test canceled after threat. Keep sample.
Damian stared.
Emily found a digital voice recorder.
"Mom used this."
Brooks put on gloves.
"Don't touch anything else."
She pressed play.
Static.
Then Claire's voice.
Damian froze.
Eight years vanished in a second.
"I don't know how much time I have," Claire said on the recording. "If Emily is hearing this, I'm sorry."
Emily began crying silently.
Damian reached for her hand.
Claire continued.
"Damian never abandoned us. I know that now."
Damian shut his eyes.
"I was made to believe he did."
A pause.
"Victoria was involved from the beginning."
Emily squeezed Damian's hand.
"But Victoria is not the person I'm most afraid of."
Everyone in the storage unit became still.
Claire's breathing trembled through the recording.
"The person who arranged everything still works inside Vance International."
A sound came from outside the unit.
Metal striking concrete.
Brooks raised one hand.
The detectives drew their weapons.
"Police. Show yourself."
Silence.
Then footsteps running.
One detective rushed into the corridor.
Another followed.
Damian pulled Emily behind him.
Seconds later a shout echoed from the stairwell.
Then quiet.
Brooks's radio crackled.
"Suspect got out through emergency exit."
"Description?"
"Male. Dark coat. Couldn't see face."
Damian turned toward the storage unit.
One box had been moved.
The box containing Claire's newest letters.
It was gone.
Someone had been watching.
Someone had known exactly what they came to retrieve.
Emily looked at Damian.
"Does that mean Mom's alive?"
Damian wanted to tell her yes.
May you like
Instead he said the only thing he could promise.
"It means someone is scared of what she left behind."
