Chapter 13 - THE SOCIAL WORKER’S SECRET
Joanna did not run.
When Reed confronted her, she handed over her phone and requested protection.
“My mother is not part of my life,” she said.
“You never mentioned the connection,” Reed replied.
“Because everyone assumes family equals loyalty. Rachel should understand that better than anyone.”
Rachel stood near the doorway.
“Did you submit Vanessa’s messages?”
Joanna looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You were the unknown person warning her.”
“Yes.”
“You saw what happened at the pool?”
“I saw Lily push Emma. I also saw Vanessa threatening both girls afterward.”
“Why didn’t you identify yourself?”
“Because my mother monitors me.”
“How?”
“Through people in my department.”
Reed crossed his arms.
“White Rose funds child welfare programs statewide. Your mother has access to placement records, case reviews, medical referrals.”
Rachel’s stomach tightened.
The hospital attacker had known Emma’s discharge time.
Lily’s foster placement had been compromised.
“Your mother found them,” Rachel said.
Joanna nodded.
“I believe so.”
“Why?”
“Emma may have heard something while Caroline was held at the estate. Lily knew about the hidden phone. Both girls were risks.”
“Why did you call us that morning?”
“Vanessa messaged me after the pool incident. She thought I would keep quiet because our families were connected. That morning, she sent the confession about throwing Emma.”
“Before she threw the pan.”
“She was referring to the pool. She believed she had thrown Emma into the water, even though she forced Lily to do it.”
Rachel remembered the exact wording.
You’d better not tell them I deliberately threw her.
The message had not predicted the pan.
It had exposed the earlier attack.
“Why did the hospital call happen seconds after Emma was injured?”
“I submitted the messages at 8:10. The intake team called when they reviewed them. The timing was coincidence.”
A coincidence that had sounded like a miracle.
But there were no miracles in this family.
Only hidden actions arriving at terrible moments.
Reed placed Daniel’s letter on the table.
“He warned Rachel about a woman with a white rose.”
“My mother.”
“Was Eleanor controlling Victor?”
Joanna hesitated.
“She controlled access to people Victor needed.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I don’t know who held final authority. My mother called the organization the Circle.”
“What was its purpose?”
“Moving restricted cargo, laundering money through charities, and placing loyal people inside public institutions.”
“Children’s charities?”
“They used placement systems to move witnesses’ children, pressure families, and create false identities.”
Rachel stared at her.
“Did they create a false identity for Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“Caroline?”
Joanna’s expression softened.
“I received a message from her four months ago.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“What did it say?”
“Only three words.”
Joanna opened a protected file on her phone.
Emma remembers everything.
“Where did it come from?”
“A secure relay. It could not be traced.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know whether you were compromised.”
Rachel almost struck her.
Instead, she clenched both hands.
“You watched me wonder whether my sister was dead.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“That excuse is popular in my family.”
Joanna looked away.
Reed asked, “Why expose Vanessa now?”
“Because Eleanor ordered me to close Emma’s file after the pool incident. She told me the child would soon be relocated.”
“Relocated where?”
“I don’t know. But in White Rose language, children who were relocated often disappeared from every database.”
Rachel imagined Emma being erased.
New name.
New state.
No trace.
Joanna handed Reed a storage drive.
“This contains everything I copied from my mother’s foundation.”
“Why should we trust it?”
“You shouldn’t. Verify it.”
As Reed took the drive, the building alarm sounded.
A security guard entered.
“We have a fire in the underground garage.”
Joanna stood.
“That’s not a fire.”
The lights failed.
A shot shattered the observation window.
Reed pulled Rachel to the floor.
May you like
Joanna reached for the storage drive, but a second bullet struck her shoulder.
Through the broken glass, a masked figure entered the corridor wearing a white rose pinned to his coat.
