Chapter 6: The Girl in the Photograph
I stared at the screen until the photograph blurred.
Sarah was alive.
Older.
Standing beneath a streetlamp somewhere I didn't recognize.
And beside her was a little girl.
My daughter's face.
Lily's eyes.
Lily's curls.
Even the tiny dimple in her left cheek.
I looked at the real Lily through the windshield.
She was sitting in the back seat beside Officer Moore, hugging her knees.
Then I looked at the photograph again.
My hands began to shake.
“Victoria.””
She didn't answer.
“Who is that girl?””
Victoria's face had gone completely white.
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“I don't know who she is.””
“Then why does she look like Lily?””
“I can't explain it.””
I grabbed Victoria's arm.
“Start explaining.””
She pulled free.
“Not here.””
“Not here?””
I raised the phone.
“My dead wife is standing in a photograph with a child who looks exactly like my daughter, and you're telling me not here?””
Victoria looked toward the police cars.
“Someone is watching us.””
I scanned the cemetery.
Rain.
Trees.
Headstones.
Nothing moved.
“Who?””
“Daniel.””
“He's already in custody.””
“That doesn't mean he's alone.””
I stared at the photograph.
“Who's the girl?””
Victoria swallowed.
“I think she may be your daughter.””
A cold silence settled between us.
“Lily is my daughter.””
“I know.””
“Then what are you saying?””
Victoria's voice dropped.
“There may have been another Lily.””
I stared at her.
“That isn't possible.””
“It is.””
“No.””
“It is, Mark.””
She looked toward the car.
“Your daughter was born six years ago.””
“I was there.””
“I know.””
“You were not.””
“No.””
“So don't tell me there was another child.””
Victoria hesitated.
“Do you remember the first few days after Lily was born?””
“Yes.””
“Did you stay at the hospital every night?””
“I was there.””
“Every night?””
I frowned.
“Almost.””
Victoria nodded slowly.
“That's what I thought.””
“What does that mean?””
“On the night Sarah disappeared, she wasn't alone.””
“Who was with her?””
“Someone from the hospital.””
I felt a chill.
“What are you talking about?””
Victoria took a breath.
“Sarah had been asking questions about Lily's medical records.””
“Why?””
“She suspected someone had altered them.””
“Altered them how?””
“She thought Lily's birth certificate wasn't the original.””
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.””
“She believed someone changed the time of birth.””
“Why would anyone do that?””
“Because the timing mattered.””
“To what?””
Victoria looked at me.
“The trust.””
My head began to pound.
“What did Lily's birth have to do with my father's trust?””
“Everything.””
I shook my head.
“My father died before Lily was born.””
“Exactly.””
“Then how could he name her?””
“He didn't.””
I stopped.
“What?””
“Your grandfather did.””
I looked at the old key in my hand.
Victoria continued.
“There was a clause in the trust.””
“What clause?””
“If a direct heir was born after your father died, the estate would pass to that child.””
I stared at her.
“So?””
“So your father didn't control the trust.””
“Then who did?””
“The executor.””
“Who?””
Victoria's voice became almost a whisper.
“Sarah.””
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“My wife was the executor of my father's trust?””
“Not officially.””
“Then what?””
“She had been named as the successor.””
“By whom?””
“Your grandfather.””
I looked at the key.
The numbers.
The photograph.
The hidden room.
Everything was connected.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
“Because your father never wanted you to know.””
“Why?””
Victoria looked at me.
“Because the trust didn't belong to him.””
“And it doesn't belong to me.””
“No.””
“Lily.””
Victoria nodded.
My daughter.
The little girl in the photograph.
I looked back toward the car.
Then another thought hit me.
“Why does Sarah look older?””
Victoria's face tightened.
“Because the photograph isn't recent.””
“How old?””
“I don't know.””
“Guess.””
“Two years.””
I stared.
“Two years ago?””
“Yes.””
“But Lily was four.””
Victoria said nothing.
I looked again.
The little girl beside Sarah looked about six.
Too old.
Too tall.
Too close.
Maybe it wasn't Lily.
Maybe I was seeing what I wanted to see.
Then something caught my eye.
The necklace around the child's neck.
A tiny silver star.
I knew it.
I had bought it for Lily when she turned five.
She wore it every day.
Until it disappeared three months ago.
I turned toward the car.
“Lily!””
She looked up.
“Daddy?””
“Where's your necklace?””
Her hands went immediately to her throat.
“I lost it.””
“When?””
“Before the wedding.””
“Where?””
She lowered her eyes.
“Victoria took it.””
I slowly turned.
Victoria looked stunned.
“What?””
“You took Lily's necklace?””
“I never touched it.””
Lily shook her head.
“You did.””
“Lily, I didn't.””
“You took it from my bedroom.””
Victoria looked at me.
“I swear to you—”
“Why?””
“I don't know.””
I crouched near the car window.
“Lily, why did you think she took it?””
“Because I saw her.””
“Doing what?””
“She was putting it in a box.””
Victoria went rigid.
“What box?””
Lily's voice became small.
“The wooden box.””
I looked at Victoria.
“What wooden box?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Victoria.””
“No.””
“You know what she's talking about.””
She looked terrified.
“The box belonged to Sarah.””
I felt my stomach turn.
“Where is it?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying again.””
“I gave it away.””
“To whom?””
She looked at the ground.
“Daniel.””
I straightened.
“What was inside?””
“Photographs.””
“Of Sarah?””
“Yes.””
“Lily?””
“Yes.””
“How many?””
“All of them.””
My blood ran cold.
“Why would Daniel have photographs of my daughter?””
Victoria's voice trembled.
“Because he wasn't watching Lily.””
I stared at her.
“He was watching Sarah.””
“That makes no sense.””
“It does if Sarah was alive.””
A siren sounded somewhere beyond the cemetery.
Harris approached from the cruiser.
“We've got a problem.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“The man we arrested isn't Daniel.””
Victoria closed her eyes.
Harris continued.
“His fingerprints don't match anything in the system. His name is false. His identification is fake.””
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“Then who is he?””
“We don't know.””
“Did he say anything?””
“He asked for you.””
“What did he say?””
Harris looked at Victoria.
“He said the woman standing beside you knows where the real Daniel is.””
I turned toward her.
Victoria looked like she might collapse.
“Is that true?””
She didn't answer.
“Victoria.””
Finally, she whispered, “Yes.””
Harris's expression hardened.
“Where?””
Victoria looked at the lake house key in my hand.
“Under the house.””
“What does that mean?””
“There's another entrance.””
“Where?””
“In the old wine cellar.””
I frowned.
“There hasn't been a wine cellar at the lake house for decades.””
“There is now.””
“What did they build?””
“A room.””
“What room?””
Victoria swallowed.
“A holding room.””
The words struck me harder than anything else.
I thought about the storage room at the hotel.
My daughter locked behind a door.
Her terrified voice.
*Daddy, please don't marry her.*
Maybe that wasn't the beginning.
Maybe it had been a warning.
I walked to the car.
“Lily, we're going to leave.””
She nodded.
“Where?””
“The lake house.””
Victoria immediately said, “No.””
I turned.
“You said that's where we need to go.””
“I was wrong.””
“You've been wrong about everything.””
“Mark, listen to me.””
“No.””
“I know what happens there.””
“Then you're coming.””
Her eyes widened.
“What?””
“You know the house.””
“I do.””
“You know the hidden rooms.””
“Yes.””
“You know Sarah.””
“Yes.””
“Then you're coming.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because if Sarah is alive, she doesn't want to see me.””
That stopped me.
“Why?””
Victoria looked away.
“Because I betrayed her.””
My chest tightened.
“What did you do?””
“I gave Daniel her location.””
“When?””
“The night she disappeared.””
I stared at her.
“You gave him my wife's location?””
“I didn't know what he would do.””
“You knew enough.””
“I was trying to save myself.””
“From what?””
“From him.””
“And Sarah?””
Victoria began to cry.
“I thought he would only take the documents.””
“What did he do?””
“I don't know.””
“You've been lying for four years.””
“I know.””
“You stood beside me at her funeral.””
“I know.””
“You watched Lily cry.””
“I know.””
“You knew Sarah might be alive.””
“I know.””
I couldn't look at her anymore.
I stepped toward the police car.
“Detective.””
Harris came beside me.
“We're going to the lake house.””
“That's not safe.””
“I know.””
“We'll send a tactical unit.””
“No.””
He stared at me.
“I need to find out whether my wife is alive.””
“You won't go alone.””
“I won't.””
I glanced at Victoria.
“She comes with us.””
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Mark…”
“You've hidden enough.””
She whispered, “If Sarah really is alive, she won't forgive me.””
I looked at the photograph one last time.
Sarah.
Alive.
Holding herself close to a little girl who looked like Lily.
I zoomed in.
Behind them was a building.
A white sign hung above the entrance.
I couldn't read it at first.
Then I recognized it.
It was the name of a private children's clinic.
A place Sarah and I had never taken Lily.
I enlarged the image.
There was a second detail.
The date.
Three days before Sarah's supposed death.
I stared at it.
Then I noticed the girl's wrist.
A hospital identification band.
I zoomed in.
The name was blurred.
But one number was visible.
*117.*
My father's hidden room.
Sarah's photograph.
The trust.
The strange child.
Everything led to the same number.
I looked at Harris.
“There's one more thing.””
“What?””
I handed him the phone.
“Find this clinic.””
He looked at the photograph.
Then his expression changed.
“We know this place.””
“From where?””
He looked at me.
“It's been closed for six years.””
My heart stopped.
“Why?””
Harris's jaw tightened.
“Because there was a fire.””
“Were there casualties?””
He looked at the photograph again.
“Yes.””
“How many?””
“Three.””
“Who?””
Harris didn't answer immediately.
Then he said quietly:
“The records were never recovered.””
I looked at Victoria.
She was crying silently.
“Who were they?””
Harris looked back at me.
“One nurse.””
“One doctor.””
“And a child.””
Lily's voice came from the car.
“Daddy?””
I turned.
She was staring at the photograph in my hand.
Her face had gone completely pale.
“That's where Mommy took me.””
I couldn't breathe.
“What?””
Lily pointed at the clinic.
“I remember.””
Then she whispered something that made Victoria gasp.
“That's where Mommy told me not to tell Daddy about my sister.””
My entire world stopped.
I turned toward Victoria.
“My sister?””
Victoria backed away.
“Mark…”
I could barely speak.
“Lily has a sister?””
May you like
Victoria closed her eyes.
And nodded.
