Chapter 10 - The House With Seven Bedrooms)
The address belonged to a large white house forty miles away.
According to property records, it was owned by a company connected to Richard Vale.
Daniel Mercer arrived before anyone left.
He was seventy years old, broad shouldered despite his age, with silver hair and a voice that made everyone else lower theirs.
He read Michael's note twice.
"I told him to keep this somewhere safe."
Claire looked at him.
"You knew my husband?"
"Not well."
"Then why did he trust you?"
Daniel sat across from her.
"Because Michael called me nine days before he died."
Claire's throat tightened.
"What did he say?"
"He believed Leonard Price had accessed his estate records without authorization."
Claire looked toward Leonard.
He said nothing.
Daniel continued.
"Michael had discovered inquiries about future guardianship, life insurance, and unborn beneficiaries."
"He knew about Noah?"
"He knew someone was searching for information about any child you might have."
Claire held Noah closer.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"He said you were undergoing fertility treatment and he did not want to frighten you until he knew whether the threat was real."
Tears stung Claire's eyes.
That sounded like Michael.
Always trying to carry fear alone.
Daniel continued.
"I told him Leonard had ties to Richard Vale."
"And then Michael died."
"Nine days later."
The room went silent.
Claire stared at him.
"Are you saying Richard caused the crash?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
"We investigated that possibility years later after another witness raised the same suspicion. There is no evidence Michael's collision was anything except a tragic accident."
Claire nodded slowly.
She was grateful for the certainty.
She had enough nightmares already.
Daniel pointed toward the address Vanessa had sent.
"This house may be one Richard used during transfers."
Brooke nodded.
"I've been there once."
Everyone turned.
"When?"
"Last year. Vanessa told me to deliver formula."
"What did you see?"
"Children's rooms."
"How many?"
"Seven."
Daniel's face hardened.
They did not go alone.
By the time they reached the property, local investigators were already present.
Claire stayed in the vehicle with Noah.
Emma remained beside her.
Nobody wanted Claire entering a building possibly connected to missing children.
Twenty minutes passed.
Thirty.
Then Daniel returned.
Claire rolled down the window.
"What did you find?"
"Records."
"What kind?"
"Names."
Brooke stepped closer.
"Children?"
Daniel nodded.
"And parents."
Claire's heart pounded.
"Are there children inside?"
"No."
Relief came first.
Then fear.
"Where are they?"
"We don't know yet."
Inside the house, investigators found seven bedrooms decorated for children of different ages.
One held newborn supplies.
Another had toddler beds.
The rooms looked temporary.
Designed for short stays.
In a locked office they found paper files Richard had apparently kept because he did not trust digital storage.
Brooke's copied memory card had seven active cases.
The house contained twenty six.
Twenty six families.
Twenty six children.
Some transfers had been stopped.
Some had become legal adoptions after birth parents genuinely consented.
Others were unclear.
Four files were marked unresolved.
One belonged to a baby girl named Lily Morgan.
Her mother, Sarah Morgan, had allegedly abandoned her five years earlier.
Daniel recognized the case.
"Sarah never abandoned her."
Claire stared.
"How do you know?"
"She contacted me."
"What happened?"
"She spent years trying to find Lily."
"Did she?"
Daniel hesitated.
"No."
Claire looked at Noah.
The thought was unbearable.
"Then we find her now."
Daniel nodded.
Another file involved a boy named Ethan Cole.
Transferred at four months.
His mother supposedly signed consent while hospitalized after a car accident.
A handwriting analysis performed years later suggested the signature was forged.
Claire asked the question nobody wanted to ask.
"Where is Ethan?"
Daniel looked at his notes.
"Colorado."
"With the people who adopted him?"
"Yes."
"Do they know?"
"We don't know."
Claire imagined another family receiving a child they believed was legally theirs.
Loving him.
Raising him.
Only to discover years later that the consent had been fraudulent.
Richard had not only stolen children.
He had planted disasters inside innocent families.
That was his real cruelty.
He turned desperate birth parents and desperate adoptive parents into enemies while he collected money from the confusion.
Emma whispered, "What happens to those children?"
Daniel's expression softened.
"Nobody tears children from stable homes overnight. Every case will be reviewed carefully. The child's welfare comes first."
Claire looked at Noah.
For the first time, she understood that justice could not simply mean reversing everything Richard had done.
Time mattered.
Love mattered.
Children were not objects that could be moved backward and forward until paperwork looked correct.
The harm had to be repaired without creating more victims.
Samuel emerged carrying a clear evidence pouch.
Inside was a small notebook.
Brooke recognized it.
"Vanessa's."
Samuel nodded.
The notebook contained initials, payments, meeting dates, and coded notes.
One entry was scheduled for that night.
NB.
Claire knew immediately.
Noah Bennett.
Beside his initials was a number.
125.
"One hundred twenty five thousand?" Emma asked.
Samuel nodded.
"Likely the total fee."
Claire felt sick.
There was another notation.
TRUST 75 AFTER ORDER.
The planned withdrawal from Noah's trust.
Then Claire noticed the name written beneath it.
M LAWSON 20.
Margaret Lawson.
Twenty thousand.
The county supervisor had a price.
Daniel looked grim.
"We finally have what we never had seven years ago."
"A paper record," Claire said.
"Yes."
Brooke turned several pages.
Then stopped.
"What is it?"
Brooke pointed to a recent entry.
LP EXIT.
Leonard Price.
Next to it was a date.
Tomorrow.
Claire looked at Leonard, who had come with Samuel under supervision and remained near another car.
"What does exit mean?"
Brooke shook her head.
"I don't know."
Leonard saw the notebook from a distance.
His face changed.
He walked toward them.
"Where did you get that?"
Samuel blocked him.
Leonard ignored Samuel and stared at Claire.
"If my name is in there, Richard is already planning to erase me."
Claire's voice was cold.
"You mean kill you?"
Leonard shook his head.
"Worse."
Emma frowned.
"What is worse than that?"
Leonard looked toward the house.
"He makes you responsible for everything."
Claire understood.
Richard needed a fall person.
Someone connected to the forged documents.
Someone with access to private records.
Someone already guilty enough to look believable.
Leonard.
Brooke whispered, "That's what Vanessa was going to do to me."
Leonard nodded.
Then he looked at the notebook again.
"If Richard is abandoning the operation, he won't leave quietly."
Daniel asked, "What will he do?"
Leonard answered.
"He'll destroy whatever still connects him to the families."
Claire looked at the house.
"The paper files?"
"No."
May you like
Leonard's face tightened.
"The money."
