Chapter 10 - The Payment
Marcus Vale disappeared before police reached his house.
His phone had been turned off at 7:31 p.m., eight minutes after Emily found Oliver.
His bank accounts showed no activity.
His car was discovered near the railway station.
No witnesses remembered seeing him board a train.
The black envelope became the center of everything.
What had Helen given him?
Money?
Records?
Instructions?
Police could not know.
But Nathan did know one thing.
"She kept cash in envelopes like that."
Emily sat beside Oliver's new hospital room.
It was Christmas morning now.
Snow glowed against the windows.
Children elsewhere were waking to presents.
Oliver was waking to police questions.
Nathan had been allowed to remain nearby under supervision because he had not been charged.
Emily hated it.
But Oliver still wanted his father.
And Emily refused to use her anger as a weapon against her child.
"How much cash?" Reyes asked.
"Usually ten thousand."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
Reyes stared at him.
Nathan corrected himself.
"Sometimes bribes."
Emily closed her eyes.
"You knew?"
"Not at first."
"When did you know?"
Nathan looked exhausted.
"A year ago."
"And you did nothing."
"I started copying her records."
Reyes leaned forward.
"Where are the copies?"
Nathan hesitated.
"Encrypted server."
"Location?"
"Not here."
"You're going to give it to us."
Nathan looked toward Oliver.
"Only after you move Emily and Oliver somewhere secure."
Emily stood.
"You don't get to negotiate."
Nathan turned.
"I'm not protecting myself."
"You always say that."
"I have names."
"What names?"
"Judges. Doctors. Social workers. Police."
Reyes's expression hardened.
"From your father's archive?"
"From my mother's payments."
Silence.
Nathan continued.
"Meridian Shield wasn't really a security company. It was a laundering mechanism."
"For Helen?" Reyes asked.
"For whoever she worked for."
Emily folded her arms.
"You said she owned sixty percent."
"She did."
"Who owned the rest?"
Nathan looked toward the window.
"A trust."
"What trust?"
"The Lane Foundation."
Emily's stomach dropped.
Lane.
Rebecca Lane.
Her original name.
"Was that trust connected to me?"
Nathan looked at her.
"I don't know."
She nearly screamed.
Instead, she whispered, "Find another phrase."
He nodded.
"I'm sorry."
Reyes wrote the name.
"Do you have documents?"
"Yes."
"Then we're relocating you too."
Nathan laughed bitterly.
"Protective custody?"
"Temporary security until federal investigators arrive."
Emily looked at Reyes.
"And my mother?"
"Still missing."
Those two words hollowed her out.
Rachel had lied about Emily's identity.
But she was still her mother.
She had bandaged scraped knees.
Stayed up during fevers.
Made birthday cakes.
Held Emily after miscarrying her first pregnancy.
Whatever terrible secret existed before Emily could remember, Rachel Harlow had been there for every moment that came after.
Emily would find her.
The nurse entered with Oliver's breakfast.
He looked much better.
Pink cheeks.
Warm hands.
He smiled when he saw pancakes.
Emily nearly cried from relief.
"Mommy, is it Christmas?"
"Yes, baby."
"Did Santa know I was here?"
A nurse smiled.
"I think Santa is very good at finding hospitals."
Oliver considered this.
"Even locked rooms?"
Emily's smile disappeared.
"What locked rooms?"
Oliver pointed toward Nathan.
"The place Daddy took me."
Nathan went rigid.
Emily slowly turned.
"What place?"
Nathan's eyes widened.
"Oliver."
The boy ate another bite.
"When Daddy said we were getting Grandma's Christmas box."
Emily stood.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Before the restaurant.
Nathan's face went white.
"Emily, let me explain."
She moved toward him.
"You took him somewhere before dinner?"
"It was a storage unit."
"Why?"
"Mom asked me to pick up a box."
"You had Oliver with you."
"Yes."
"What was inside?"
"I didn't open it."
Oliver interrupted.
"I did."
Everyone looked at him.
Nathan stared.
"You opened the box?"
Oliver nodded.
"When Daddy went to the car."
Emily sat beside him.
"What was inside?"
"Pictures."
"What pictures?"
"Babies."
Nathan cursed.
Oliver looked at Emily.
"And one was you."
Emily's skin prickled.
"Me?"
"When you were little."
"How do you know?"
"Grandma wrote Mommy on it."
Nathan stared at Reyes.
"We need to go to that unit."
"Address?"
Nathan gave it.
Reyes called officers.
Forty minutes later, he received the response.
The unit was empty.
Completely cleaned.
Except for one object in the center of the floor.
A plastic chair.
On it was a photograph.
Emily at approximately six weeks old.
May you like
Someone had written across the front in red marker.
SHE WAS NEVER YOURS.
