Chapter 1 - The Name Richard Buried Eight Years Ago)
Nobody in the Beaumont restaurant understood why one child’s answer had transformed one of the most powerful businessmen in America into a man who looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
Richard understood.
Amelia Hale had been his only daughter.
And according to every document he had signed eight years earlier, Amelia was dead.
Richard rose slowly.
“Say that again.”
Lucy clutched the silver locket.
“My mom’s old name was Amelia Hale.”
Eleanor recovered first.
“That proves nothing.”
Richard turned toward her.
She forced a dismissive laugh.
“There are thousands of people named Hale.”
Richard pointed toward Lucy’s necklace.
“There is only one of those.”
Eleanor said nothing.
Richard knew the locket because he had commissioned it thirty-six years earlier.
His initials were engraved on the front.
Inside had once been a tiny photograph of Richard and his wife, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had given the locket to Amelia shortly before dying of cancer.
It had disappeared with Amelia.
Richard looked at Lucy again.
“Where is your mother?”
Lucy’s expression changed.
The fear caused by Eleanor was replaced by a deeper worry.
“I don’t know.”
Richard felt the room tighten around him.
“What do you mean?”
“She was supposed to come home yesterday.”
Eleanor turned toward the restaurant exit.
Richard saw it.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“You cannot order me around.”
“I just did.”
“This is absurd.”
Richard moved closer.
“You told me Amelia died.”
Eleanor lowered her voice.
“Because that is what everyone was told.”
“No. That’s what you told me.”
People were watching now.
Eleanor glanced around.
“Not here.”
Richard almost laughed.
“You dragged a child across a public restaurant, but now you want privacy?”
Lucy tugged gently at the back of Richard’s jacket.
He turned immediately.
She looked embarrassed.
“I wasn’t supposed to be carrying the tray.”
Richard’s anger softened.
“What happened?”
“My mom’s friend works here. Mrs. Alvarez. She let me wait in the kitchen because Mom didn’t come home.”
A woman in a restaurant uniform hurried toward them.
Her name badge read Maria Alvarez.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hale,” she said. “Lucy was helping me move an empty tray. One of the servers placed dishes on it without realizing. She lost her balance.”
Maria looked at Eleanor with barely contained anger.
“She’s a child.”
Eleanor crossed her arms.
“And children need discipline.”
Richard’s head turned.
Maria touched Lucy’s shoulder.
“Your mother still hasn’t called?”
Lucy shook her head.
Maria looked at Richard.
“Anna cleans offices downtown at night. She also does bookkeeping from home. She would never leave Lucy alone unless something happened.”
Richard’s chest tightened.
“How long have you known her?”
“Six years.”
“And you’re certain her name is Anna Parker?”
“That’s the name she uses.”
Richard looked at Lucy.
“Did your mother ever tell you why she changed it?”
Lucy shook her head.
“She said sometimes names can be dangerous.”
Eleanor moved again.
Richard blocked her path.
She stared at him.
“You have no right to detain me.”
“You’re free to leave.”
Richard stepped aside.
Eleanor hesitated.
That hesitation told him more than leaving would have.
Richard pulled out his phone.
Eleanor’s eyes went immediately to it.
He noticed.
“Who are you calling?” she asked.
“My security director.”
“For what?”
“To find Amelia.”
Eleanor’s lips tightened.
“Richard, think about what you’re doing. A frightened child shows up with an old necklace and suddenly you’re rewriting eight years of history?”
Richard stared at her.
“No.”
He glanced at Lucy’s scar.
“I’m questioning who wrote that history in the first place.”
Eleanor walked away.
Her heels crossed the marble quickly.
At the exit she stopped and looked back.
Not at Richard.
At Lucy.
The expression lasted less than a second.
But Richard recognized fear when he saw it.
He knelt beside Lucy again.
“Would you let me see the locket?”
Lucy hesitated.
“My mom said never give it to anybody.”
“She was right.”
Richard smiled sadly.
“So don’t give it to me. Just open it.”
Lucy pressed a tiny catch.
The locket opened.
Richard expected the old photograph.
It was gone.
In its place was a small piece of folded paper.
Lucy frowned.
“I didn’t know that was there.”
Richard carefully unfolded it.
Three words were written in Amelia’s handwriting.
If I disappear.
Underneath was a telephone number.
Maria gasped.
Richard recognized the handwriting immediately.
He had spent eight years trying to forget it.
He dialed.
The number rang twice.
A man answered.
“Who is this?”
Richard said, “My name is Richard Hale.”
Silence.
Then the man breathed sharply.
“Oh, God.”
Richard’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You know Amelia?”
The stranger answered with five words that changed everything again.
May you like
“I know where she went.”
Then the call disconnected.
