Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead)
Daniel shut off the flashlight.
Megan's fingers tightened around his arm.
The footsteps stopped outside room 214.
A shadow crossed beneath the door.
Daniel pushed Megan behind him.
The door opened.
A woman stood there.
She was perhaps fifty.
Dark coat.
Gray streaks through brown hair.
A scar along her chin.
She raised both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Who are you?" Daniel demanded.
"My name is Laura Keene."
"How did you know we were here?"
"I left the envelope."
Megan looked at the hallway.
"Who was in the sedan?"
"Me."
"You could have just spoken to us."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I needed to know whether you were being followed."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Where is Anna?"
Laura's expression changed.
Megan felt the answer before she heard it.
"I don't know."
Daniel's shoulders dropped.
"You made us come here for nothing?"
"No."
Laura looked at the recorder.
"I was Anna's nurse."
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
"She survived the crash."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Someone pulled her from the car before emergency responders arrived."
"Who?"
"I don't know. I met her weeks later."
"Here?"
Laura nodded.
"This facility operated a private wing. Wealthy families paid for discretion. Addiction. Mental breakdowns. Unwanted pregnancies. Anything people wanted hidden."
"My sister wasn't an addict."
"No."
"Then why was she here?"
Laura looked toward the hall.
"Because her father signed papers saying she was mentally unstable and a danger to herself."
Daniel went pale.
Megan whispered, "Richard."
"Anna kept insisting she had a son," Laura continued. "The records said she was experiencing delusions after trauma."
"Lucas was real."
"I eventually realized that."
"Where was he?"
"Your parents took him."
Daniel's voice hardened.
"Where?"
"I never knew."
"What happened to Anna?"
Laura entered and closed the door.
"She spent five months here. Your father visited every week. Your mother came twice."
"Did they know she was alive?"
"Absolutely."
Daniel turned away.
Megan could see rage moving through him like electricity.
"Then the obituary."
"Was a lie."
"Everyone buried an empty coffin?"
"I don't know what was in the coffin."
Daniel hit the wall with the heel of his hand.
Megan grabbed his wrist.
"Daniel."
He looked at her.
"We need all of it."
Laura nodded.
"Anna escaped."
"When?"
"Six months after the crash."
"The photograph."
"Taken after she escaped. She contacted me because she needed medication for her injuries."
"And Lucas?"
"She believed he was still alive."
"Did she find him?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because Anna disappeared again."
"When?"
"Three weeks after the photograph."
Daniel went still.
"Did my father find her?"
"I believe someone did."
"Why haven't you gone to police?"
Laura laughed softly.
"I did."
"What happened?"
"The detective assigned to me retired two weeks later. My apartment was searched. My brother lost his job. I received photographs of my house taken through my bedroom window."
Megan thought of Thomas Vale.
Same pattern.
Threats.
Family.
Silence.
"The trust," Megan said. "Anna mentioned a trust."
Laura nodded.
"Your grandfather created it."
Daniel frowned.
"My grandfather died before Anna."
"The Bennett Family Continuity Trust. Your sister discovered something in the documents."
"What?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Who does?"
"Your father."
"Anyone else?"
Laura hesitated.
"Your uncle."
Daniel stared.
"I don't have an uncle."
Laura looked confused.
"Yes, you do."
Megan felt cold again.
Laura reached inside her coat and handed Daniel a photocopy.
It showed four people standing at a corporate event.
Richard, younger.
Evelyn.
Another man who looked remarkably similar to Richard.
And a teenage Daniel.
Daniel studied it.
"I remember him."
"Who?"
"Victor."
"Victor Bennett."
"My father told me he was a business partner."
"He is Richard's younger brother."
Daniel looked at Megan.
"Why lie about that?"
Laura answered quietly.
"Because Victor was supposed to inherit half the company."
"What happened?"
"He vanished the same year Anna died."
The lights in the hallway flickered.
Laura froze.
"Did you turn those on?"
"No."
The emergency lights went dark.
A moment later an alarm began ringing somewhere in the building.
Laura opened the door.
"We have to leave."
Smoke appeared at the far end of the hall.
Someone had set a fire.
They ran.
By the time they reached the fence, flames were visible through two windows.
Megan called emergency services.
Laura grabbed Daniel's sleeve.
"You can't mention me."
"You're a witness."
"I'm a target."
"So are we."
"Then protect your daughter."
The words stopped him.
Laura stepped backward into the darkness.
"Wait," Megan said. "How do we contact you?"
"You don't."
"Then why bring us here?"
Laura looked at Daniel.
"Because Anna trusted you."
Daniel's face broke for a moment.
Laura continued.
"And because three days ago I received a photograph."
She pulled it from her coat.
The image showed a man walking across a parking lot.
Tall.
Blond.
Early twenties.
On the back was a name.
Lucas Keene.
Megan looked up.
"Keene?"
Laura's eyes filled with tears.
"I changed his name."
Daniel stared at her.
"What are you saying?"
Laura's voice trembled.
"I'm saying Lucas didn't disappear."
May you like
She handed Daniel the photograph.
"I raised him."
