Chapter 7 - the photograph from inside the house)
Police searched every room.
Every closet.
The attic.
The basement.
The hidden passage.
No intruder was found.
Detective Ruiz returned just after midnight.
"You are certain nobody else has a key?"
Ryan nodded.
"Yes."
Ruiz looked at Claire.
"Certain?"
Claire nodded.
Ruiz examined the photograph again.
"This wasn't taken through a window."
Ryan knew.
The angle was wrong.
The image had been captured from inside Ethan's bedroom.
"Someone was in the room."
"Or a camera was."
Ryan looked up.
Ruiz followed his gaze.
They searched.
Nothing.
Then Ethan whispered, "The bear."
Everyone looked at him.
"What bear?" Ryan asked.
Ethan pointed toward the stuffed animals.
"The new one."
Ryan frowned.
"I didn't buy a new one."
Claire shook her head.
"Neither did I."
Among Ethan's toys sat a large gray bear.
Ryan had seen it before but assumed it belonged to Lily.
Lily shook her head.
"Not mine."
Ruiz put on gloves.
She picked it up.
Inside one glass eye was a tiny camera.
Claire went white.
"How did that get here?"
Ethan suddenly spoke.
"Uncle Gavin."
Ryan turned.
Ethan looked frightened.
"He brought it last Saturday."
Ryan felt something inside him break.
"Why?"
"He said it was an early birthday present."
Ryan closed his eyes.
Gavin.
Ruiz immediately called for officers to locate him.
They discovered he had left his apartment forty minutes earlier.
His phone was turned off.
His car remained in the garage.
Claire whispered, "He's running."
Ryan did not want to believe it.
But disbelief no longer mattered.
Evidence did.
At 2:00 a.m., Ruiz received another call.
Gavin's apartment had been searched.
They found cash.
Three passports under different names.
Encrypted drives.
And photographs of the Carter family.
Ryan sat at the kitchen table.
"He was my friend."
Ruiz replied, "People can be more than one thing."
"What does that mean?"
"He may have cared about you and still used you."
Ryan looked toward the staircase.
"For fourteen years?"
Ruiz said nothing.
The next morning, Northstar Development issued a statement denying knowledge of Gavin's actions.
By noon, federal investigators were involved.
Ryan's company accounts were frozen.
News vans appeared outside the house.
Nobody yet knew about Lily.
Ruiz kept her identity private.
But they could not stay.
A safe house was arranged outside the city.
Before leaving, Ethan returned to the kitchen.
He crouched beside the vent.
Ryan watched him.
"What are you doing?"
Ethan picked up the remaining breadcrumbs.
"Cleaning."
Ryan smiled faintly.
"You don't have to."
"I don't want Lily seeing them."
"Why?"
Ethan looked toward the hidden passage.
"Because they remind her of being hungry."
Ryan's throat tightened.
He crouched beside his son.
"You helped her."
"I should've told you sooner."
"You were scared."
"Mom told me not to."
Ryan froze.
"What?"
Ethan looked confused.
"Mom told me not to tell you."
Ryan slowly stood.
Claire was upstairs packing.
"Ethan, when did Mom tell you that?"
"The first night."
Ryan's pulse quickened.
"She knew you were feeding Lily?"
Ethan nodded.
"She said I could bring her food but I couldn't tell you."
Something in Ryan's expression frightened him.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No."
Ryan immediately softened.
"No, buddy. You did exactly what you thought was right."
He walked upstairs.
Claire was putting clothes into a suitcase.
"You told Ethan to keep Lily secret."
Claire stopped.
Ryan closed the door.
"You involved our seven-year-old son."
"I didn't mean to."
"He was sneaking food through a vent because you told him not to tell me."
"I asked him to stay away from the passage. He heard Lily crying."
"And then?"
Claire looked down.
"He found her."
"So you recruited him into your lie."
"I was trying to keep everybody alive."
Ryan laughed bitterly.
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Then tell me everything."
"I have."
"No."
Ryan stepped closer.
"You haven't."
Claire looked at him.
Ryan lowered his voice.
"Why did Sarah call you?"
"I told you."
"No. You told me she trusted you more than anyone connected to me."
Claire said nothing.
"That doesn't make sense."
She looked away.
"Claire."
Silence.
Ryan suddenly understood.
"You knew Sarah before she called."
Claire closed her eyes.
"How long?"
She whispered, "Five years."
Ryan stared.
"You knew about Lily for five years?"
Claire shook her head.
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"I knew Sarah had a daughter."
Ryan's voice became deadly quiet.
"Did you know she was mine?"
May you like
Claire began crying.
"I suspected."
