Chapter 6 - The Husband Who Never Died
Sophie survived the ruptured capsule.
Barely.
Dr. Ortiz removed four devices before swelling forced her to stop. Five remained inside the child’s neck.
The extracted capsules were placed in shielded evidence containers. Each bore the same three-circle symbol and a serial number.
The first four numbers were identical.
712.
The final digits differed.
Daniel sat beside Sophie in intensive care while Thomas consulted with toxicologists. Mary remained near the window, looking twenty years older than she had that morning.
Leo arrived under police protection shortly after midnight.
He entered the room carrying the earless stuffed rabbit Sophie had owned since she was three.
When he saw the bandage around her neck, he began to cry.
Daniel pulled him close.
“She’s going to be all right.”
“You promised?”
“Yes.”
Daniel had made too many promises that day.
Leo placed the rabbit beside Sophie.
“Grandma told me Sophie wasn’t my real sister.”
Daniel crouched.
“Family is not decided by blood alone.”
“Then why did she hate Grandpa and Grandma?”
“Because some people believe money makes them better than others.”
“Does it?”
“No.”
Leo looked toward the glass wall.
“Did destroying my birthday make things better?”
Daniel considered lying.
Instead he said, “It made the cruelty stop. But it didn’t fix everything.”
Leo nodded as if he understood more than a seven-year-old should.
Detective Ross entered carrying a laptop.
“We identified the industrial site.”
Daniel stood.
“The original Orison laboratory?”
“The main structure was demolished after the fire. However, property records show an underground storage facility remained sealed.”
“Who owns it?”
Ross turned the screen.
Mercer Heritage Holdings.
Daniel recognized the shell corporation.
It had been established by his father and transferred to Vivian after his death.
“Your mother has paid property taxes on it for twenty-nine years,” Ross said.
“Then send a team.”
“We did. The building is empty.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What about Clara?”
“No sign of her. But we found a chair matching the one in the photograph.”
“So she was there.”
“At some point.”
Ross displayed another image.
A wall with three intersecting circles.
Below them, scratched into the concrete, were words.
SHE REMEMBERS THE GARDEN.
Daniel looked toward Sophie.
“She asked about a garden room.”
Ross nodded.
“We also found blood.”
“Clara’s?”
“The lab is testing it.”
Daniel’s phone rang from an unknown number.
Ross signaled for him to answer and activated recording.
“Daniel Mercer.”
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man spoke.
“You married my wife.”
Daniel’s body went rigid.
“Michael?”
Across the room, Thomas dropped a metal instrument.
The caller laughed quietly.
“You sound disappointed.”
“Where is Clara?”
“Ask your mother.”
“She says you’re alive.”
“Vivian says many things. Most of them are true only after she has forced reality to agree.”
“Did you implant Sophie?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“Your wife did.”
Daniel nearly crushed the phone.
“That’s a lie.”
“I watched her.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago, at the farm.”
Daniel remembered Sophie saying Vivian took her to the farm on a day Clara had been sleeping.
“What did you do to Clara?”
“I tried to wake her.”
“Where is she?”
“She is remembering.”
“Remembering what?”
“The reason she married you.”
Daniel looked at Ross.
The detective was tracing the call.
Michael continued.
“Did you believe it was chance? A widowed school counselor meets the wealthy son of the man who erased her childhood?”
“Clara didn’t know about Orison.”
“Not consciously.”
“What do you want?”
“What I have always wanted. For Clara to finish what we began.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was removed.”
“By Vivian?”
“By Thomas.”
Daniel turned toward the old man.
Thomas looked away.
“What did Thomas do?”
Michael’s voice hardened.
“He buried me alive.”
The call ended.
Ross’s technician spoke through her earpiece.
“Signal bounced through multiple relays. No location.”
Daniel walked toward Thomas.
“You told us Michael vanished.”
Thomas’s face was gray.
“I thought he was dead.”
“He says you buried him alive.”
“I stopped him from taking Clara back to Orison.”
“What happened?”
Thomas looked toward Mary.
She sat silently, absorbing another betrayal.
“Michael came to the farm five years ago,” Thomas said. “He told Clara he had discovered information about her childhood. He took her to the underground facility.”
“Why didn’t she remember?”
“She returned in a dissociative state. Michael disappeared that night.”
“What did you do?”
“I found him near the river. He was injured.”
“And?”
“I put him in an old storm shelter until I could learn who he worked for.”
Daniel stared.
“You imprisoned him.”
“For two days.”
“What happened after?”
“He escaped during a flood. I found blood near the river. I assumed he drowned.”
Mary stood.
“You told me Clara’s husband abandoned her.”
“I was protecting her.”
Mary’s hand shook.
“You use that sentence exactly like Vivian.”
Thomas recoiled.
Daniel’s phone vibrated with a new message.
This one came from Clara.
A video began playing.
Clara sat in darkness, no longer bound.
She stared into the camera.
“Daniel, do not trust my father.”
Thomas stepped closer.
Clara continued.
“Michael showed me what happened at Orison. Dad knew who my biological mother was. He knew she survived.”
Thomas whispered, “No.”
May you like
Clara leaned toward the camera.
“My mother is Vivian Mercer.”
