Chapter 4 - The Child Named Emily
They returned to Ashbourne Mansion after midnight.
Graham Holt had vanished.
His apartment above the old carriage house had been emptied, his company phone left behind, and his bank account drained less than an hour after the attack.
Daniel ordered the gates closed.
No one was permitted to leave without being questioned.
Vanessa appeared in the foyer wearing a white robe over her nightclothes.
“What is happening?”
Daniel held up a photograph of Graham.
“Where is he?”
“How would I know?”
“The east security camera was disabled using his account.”
“Then perhaps he is the person you should blame.”
“He attacked us at Eleanor House.”
Vanessa’s gaze flickered toward Emily.
“You took her there?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“How did you know she was with me?”
Vanessa recovered quickly. “Because she’s standing beside you.”
Celeste descended the staircase.
Unlike Vanessa, she was fully dressed.
Emily noticed immediately.
It was nearly one in the morning, yet Celeste wore a dark green suit and outdoor shoes.
“You were planning to leave,” Emily said.
Celeste looked at her.
“I was informed there was a security emergency.”
“Before Daniel called anyone?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Search her car.”
Celeste lifted her chin. “You have no authority to search my property.”
“I own the estate and employ the security team.”
“You are forgetting who protected this family before you learned to sign your name.”
“No,” Daniel said. “I’m beginning to remember.”
Two guards searched Celeste’s car.
They found a suitcase, forty thousand dollars in cash, three passports, and a folder of medical documents.
The documents had been partially burned.
Marcus spread the surviving pages across the library table.
Most came from Saint Catherine’s Hospital in October 1998.
One record described Margaret Ashbourne arriving after a boating accident. She was seven months pregnant and suffering from severe injuries. The report stated that an emergency delivery had been performed.
The infant survived.
Emily read the sentence twice.
Daniel stood beside her.
“My family said Margaret died alone.”
“She didn’t.”
Another record showed that the baby had been transferred from the hospital under the authority of Eleanor Ashbourne.
The child’s name had been left blank.
A handwritten note appeared beside the transfer approval.
Use E. Carter placement until threat passes.
Emily’s knees weakened.
“My parents.”
Marcus pointed to the note. “Thomas and Ruth Carter may have been selected as temporary guardians.”
“But they legally adopted me.”
“Perhaps Eleanor intended to bring you back.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
Daniel looked toward Celeste.
Celeste sat calmly near the fireplace as though the documents concerned strangers.
“What happened after the hospital?” he asked.
Celeste said nothing.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“This is absurd. Emily is not an Ashbourne merely because she resembles a dead woman.”
“No one said she was,” Daniel replied.
“You’re thinking it.”
Emily faced Celeste.
“The message at Eleanor House said you would name the child Emily.”
Celeste’s expression finally changed.
“Eleanor wrote many things while grieving.”
“Did you take me to the Carters?”
“I did what was necessary.”
Daniel moved closer. “Answer her.”
Celeste looked at Emily with an emotion that was difficult to read.
Not kindness.
Not guilt.
Recognition.
“Margaret believed someone inside the family wanted her child dead,” Celeste said. “Eleanor arranged a secret placement. The Carters were supposed to keep the baby for six months.”
“What happened after six months?” Emily asked.
“Eleanor changed her mind.”
“Why?”
Celeste’s eyes moved to the key.
“She received proof that the danger had not passed.”
“What proof?”
“A recording.”
“The cassette Graham stole?”
“Yes.”
“Who was on it?”
Celeste stood.
“I have answered enough.”
Daniel blocked her path.
“You tried to run.”
“I tried to survive.”
“From whom?”
Celeste gave a bitter laugh.
“You still believe this family begins and ends with the people living in this house. That is why your father died without understanding what he had inherited.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“What does my father have to do with Emily?”
Celeste looked at Emily again.
“Everything.”
Before she could explain, a guard entered carrying a phone.
Graham Holt had sent Daniel a message.
The attached image showed Thomas Carter asleep in his care facility bed.
A gloved hand held the missing cassette beside his head.
May you like
Beneath the photograph were seven words.
BRING EMILY ALONE OR HER FATHER DIES.
