Chapter 7 - the brother erased from the family)
His name was Julian Hayes.
Richard Hayes’s younger brother.
Daniel had never heard the name.
Not once.
No photograph in Margaret’s home carried him.
No family story mentioned him.
No holiday memory included him.
It was as if the man had never existed.
But by afternoon, Detective Brooks had found records.
Birth certificate.
School records.
Military service.
Employment history.
Julian Hayes was real.
And alive.
At sixty-two, he lived under the name Julian Hart in Delaware.
At least officially.
Daniel sat across from Noah in an interview room at the police station.
Brooks had allowed Daniel to listen after Noah requested it.
Noah’s head had been bandaged.
His hands remained uncuffed for the moment.
“Start at the beginning,” Daniel said.
Noah looked exhausted.
“I can’t.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Noah.”
“There is no beginning. Not one I know.”
“Then start where you entered.”
Noah stared at the table.
“After Sarah died.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You knew.”
“I knew she was afraid of Margaret.”
“You knew before she died?”
“No.”
Daniel wanted to believe him.
He no longer trusted himself enough to decide.
Noah continued.
“Sarah sent me an email scheduled for delivery. It arrived two days after the crash.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What did it say?”
“That if she died unexpectedly, I should protect you and Elodie until I understood what she had found.”
Daniel’s voice became very quiet.
“You never told me.”
“I was supposed to contact Thomas Vale.”
“And?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
Noah looked at him.
“Thomas was already missing.”
Brooks asked, “Missing since when?”
“Three days before Sarah died.”
Daniel stared.
“The man in the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“So Sarah never met him the day she died?”
“She tried.”
Noah rubbed his temple.
“I started investigating. Quietly. I found records linking Thomas to your father and Margaret. Then I found Julian.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian told me Margaret had killed Richard.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
“And you believed him.”
“I didn’t know.”
“What does any of that have to do with you restoring my mother’s security access?”
Noah’s face changed.
“I didn’t restore it.”
“The system says my credentials did.”
“They were cloned.”
“By whom?”
“Julian.”
Daniel stared.
Noah continued.
“He approached me eleven months ago. He said Margaret had started targeting Elodie because she was afraid the girl remembered something.”
“What could a seven-year-old remember?”
“Something Sarah told her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Elodie was two when Sarah died.”
Noah nodded.
“Exactly. It didn’t make sense.”
“Then why help him?”
“I didn’t help him.”
Daniel looked toward Brooks.
“The camera footage shows his watch.”
Noah lifted his bare wrist again.
“He attacked me at the warehouse and took it.”
Brooks asked, “Why meet him there?”
Noah reached into his pocket slowly.
An officer stepped forward.
Noah froze.
“My phone.”
Brooks retrieved it herself.
Noah unlocked it.
He opened an audio file.
“Sarah’s recording.”
Daniel could not speak.
Noah pressed play.
Static.
Then Sarah’s voice.
Daniel had not heard it in five years.
His body reacted before his mind did.
His chest contracted.
His eyes burned.
Sarah sounded frightened.
Thomas is gone.
Margaret knows I contacted him.
I found Julian Hayes today.
Daniel whispered, “Oh God.”
The recording continued.
Julian says he can prove Margaret poisoned Richard.
But I don’t trust him.
He knows things he should not know.
He knew where Elodie goes to daycare.
He knew Daniel’s travel schedule.
He says Margaret has been controlling everyone for years.
But when he talks about Richard, it doesn’t sound like grief.
It sounds like hatred.
There was a pause.
Then Sarah said something that made every person in the room go still.
I think both of them are dangerous.
Margaret and Julian.
The recording crackled.
If I disappear, do not trust either one.
Do not trust anyone who claims they are protecting Daniel.
The audio ended.
Daniel looked at Noah.
“You had this for five years.”
Noah nodded.
“Why?”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Daniel stood.
“No.”
His voice shook.
“You were deciding for me.”
Noah looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“You watched my mother drug my daughter?”
“No.”
“You knew she might be dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I tried to watch her.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“How well did that work?”
Noah lowered his eyes.
Daniel walked to the glass window.
Brooks asked, “What happened today?”
Noah answered.
“Julian messaged me. Said he had proof Margaret was going to kill Elodie.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“He said what?”
“He told me to bring the old archive key.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard hid documents there. I went. Julian attacked me.”
“Why leave the message telling Daniel to come?”
“I didn’t.”
Brooks frowned.
Noah looked at Daniel.
“Julian had my phone.”
The room became silent.
Daniel’s own phone suddenly vibrated.
Unknown number.
He looked at Brooks.
She nodded.
Answer.
Daniel did.
A man spoke.
Calm.
Older.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Daniel felt every muscle in his body tighten.
“Julian.”
A quiet laugh.
“So Noah finally told you.”
“What do you want?”
“To finish something your mother started thirty years ago.”
“Stay away from my daughter.”
“Your daughter was never the target.”
Daniel looked at Brooks.
She was signaling technicians to trace the call.
“Then why drug her?”
“I didn’t.”
“Someone came into my house.”
“Yes.”
“Was it you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s vision narrowed.
“I will kill you.”
Julian remained calm.
“I gave Elodie something that would put her in the hospital.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“You poisoned a child.”
“I saved her life.”
Daniel nearly shouted.
“From what?”
“From Margaret.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. I expect you to check her room.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Sarah left something there.”
Daniel went still.
“Elodie’s room?”
“Behind the photograph of her mother.”
The line clicked.
Daniel shouted, “Julian.”
Nothing.
The call had ended.
Brooks looked at the technician.
“Trace?”
He shook his head.
“Burner.”
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
Brooks blocked him.
“Where are you going?”
“My house.”
“Police are already there.”
“Then tell them not to touch that photograph until I arrive.”
Noah stood.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
Noah’s face was pale.
“If Sarah hid something behind that picture, there’s one thing you need to know.”
“What?”
“Margaret replaced the frame last year.”
May you like
Daniel stared at him.
“And she didn’t throw the old one away.”
