Chapter 12 - the sister no one mentioned)
Nora had never heard the name Caroline Vale.
Elaine sat in Samuel’s workshop at midnight while rain struck the basement windows.
Marcus stood behind his daughters’ locked guest-room door upstairs.
Gerald had gone to arrange private security.
Calvin was outside.
Nora placed a recorder on the workbench.
Elaine stared at it.
“You’re recording me?”
“Yes.”
“You distrust me that much?”
“Yes.”
Elaine almost laughed.
“Fair.”
“Who was Caroline?”
“My younger sister.”
“Why have I never heard of her?”
“Because Raymond made sure nobody spoke her name.”
Nora felt a chill.
“Your brother.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Elaine looked at Samuel’s unfinished jewelry box.
“Caroline was seventeen when she disappeared.”
“When?”
“1984.”
“Before Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Our parents reported her missing.”
“What happened?”
“Three months later, Raymond said she had called him from California. Said she didn’t want to come home.”
“And everybody believed him?”
“My father did.”
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
“Samuel?”
“I had just started dating Samuel. He helped me look.”
“Did you find anything?”
Elaine’s eyes moved toward the hidden room.
“A bank account.”
Nora waited.
“Caroline had been receiving deposits from Raymond.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
Elaine’s voice lowered.
“She was helping him move money.”
Nora frowned.
“At seventeen?”
“Raymond used her identity.”
“Shell accounts.”
“Yes.”
“Caroline found out.”
“And?”
“She threatened to tell our father.”
Nora understood.
“Then she disappeared.”
Elaine nodded.
“Years later, Evelyn found Caroline’s name in the same ledgers.”
“That connected Evelyn to you.”
“Yes.”
Nora leaned back.
“So Evelyn wasn’t just investigating financial fraud.”
“She was trying to find out what happened to Caroline.”
“And Samuel helped her.”
“Yes.”
“Did Raymond kill Caroline?”
Elaine’s face crumpled.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever ask him?”
“Every year until he died.”
“What did he say?”
“That she ran away.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“Then why did Dean say Dad buried her?”
Elaine looked confused.
“Samuel never buried Caroline.”
“You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be about anything anymore.”
Nora took out her phone.
She called Dean.
He answered.
“That was fast.”
“Who told you Evelyn was alive?”
Silence.
“Dean.”
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“Who told you?”
“A client.”
“Crown Meridian?”
“Yes.”
“Andrew Whitmore?”
“No.”
“Daniel Mercer?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Dean exhaled.
“You need to understand I’m already risking my life by speaking to you.”
“You threatened my nieces.”
“I warned Marcus what would happen if he kept stealing from people who don’t issue second chances.”
“Who is your client?”
Dean was silent.
Nora said, “Caroline Vale.”
The silence changed.
Elaine stood.
Nora watched her mother’s face.
Dean finally said, “Where did you hear that name?”
Nora’s heart began pounding.
“Is Caroline alive?”
Dean disconnected.
Elaine grabbed Nora’s phone.
“Call him back.”
“He won’t answer.”
“Call him.”
Nora did.
Voicemail.
Elaine looked as though she might collapse.
“My sister is alive.”
“We don’t know that.”
“He recognized the name.”
“That proves he knows it.”
Elaine was already moving toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“To find Dean.”
“You don’t know where he is.”
“I know where Marcus met him.”
Marcus appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“The Belmont Club.”
Nora glared.
“You were listening?”
“Yes.”
Elaine grabbed her coat.
Nora blocked her.
“No.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“My sister may have been alive for forty-two years.”
“And whoever hid that fact may want you dead.”
Elaine’s eyes filled.
“You don’t understand.”
“No, I understand perfectly. Everyone in this family thinks emotional urgency is a substitute for thinking.”
Marcus said, “That sounds like Dad.”
Nora looked at him.
He shrugged.
“It does.”
Calvin came downstairs.
“Nobody is going to the Belmont Club.”
Elaine turned.
“You don’t control me.”
“No. But whoever fired at Ashford Bridge may be watching this house.”
Nora asked, “Can you find Dean?”
Calvin’s expression was grim.
“I don’t have to.”
He held up his phone.
“Someone already did.”
He turned the screen toward them.
A local police alert.
Vehicle discovered near the river.
One male occupant.
Gunshot wound.
Identification pending.
Marcus whispered, “Dean.”
Calvin nodded.
“And there was something written across his windshield.”
“What?”
Calvin looked at Nora.
May you like
One word.
EVELYN.
