Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
The words stayed in the room long after Jonathan finished speaking.
Thomas Carter.
The same man who had supposedly died decades ago.
The same man who had appeared in my mother's recording.
And now he had somehow arranged Victoria's release from police custody.
I looked at Bennett.
He looked like he had aged ten years overnight.
“My mother is gone?”
Jonathan nodded.
“The officer said the paperwork was valid.”
“Who signed it?”
“A lawyer named Robert Hale.”
Arthur immediately shook his head.
“There is no Robert Hale representing Victoria.”
Jonathan looked at his phone.
“There is now.”
Arthur walked toward the window.
“Thomas is cleaning up his trail.”
Michael stood near the wall, silent.
I looked at him.
“You said you remembered the night Mom died.”
He nodded.
“Tell me everything.”
Michael hesitated.
“I was young.”
“How young?”
“Five.”
I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
“You were five?”
“Yes.”
“So you remember?”
“Not everything.”
“Enough.”
He looked toward my father.
“I remember being told to hide.”
“By whom?”
“My mother.”
I stared at him.
“She told you to hide?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She was afraid.”
“Of Thomas?”
Michael shook his head.
“Of Helen.”
Bennett stepped forward.
“What did my mother do?”
Michael looked at him.
“She came into the room carrying a small black case.”
Bennett's face tightened.
“What was inside?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she give my mother something?”
Michael nodded.
“I saw a bottle.”
Arthur asked:
“Medicine?”
Michael shook his head.
“I don't know.”
My father suddenly spoke.
“It wasn't medicine.”
Everyone looked at him.
I stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found the bottle.”
“When?”
“After Eleanor died.”
“Where?”
“In the kitchen.”
“What did you do with it?”
“I gave it to the police.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“No.”
My father looked at him.
“They never received it.”
“What?”
Michael stepped forward.
“Helen took it.”
Bennett stared.
“You saw her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell anyone?”
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
“Who stopped you?”
“Thomas.”
Silence.
Michael looked at me.
“He told me if I spoke, he would make sure you disappeared too.”
I felt my hands become cold.
“He threatened a five-year-old?”
“Yes.”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“That man has no limits.”
Michael nodded.
“He told me you were the important one.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Then I remembered the trust.
My pregnancy.
The hereditary marker.
My mother's warnings.
Everything was connected.
Thomas hadn't suddenly become interested in my family.
He had been watching us for decades.
I turned to Arthur.
“What happened to me that night?”
He looked down.
“You were asleep.”
“Where?”
“At my house.”
“Why wasn't I with Mom?”
“She asked me to keep you.”
“Because she knew something would happen?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Did you know she was in danger?”
“I suspected.”
“Then why didn't you stop it?”
My father's face crumbled.
“I tried.”
“But she died.”
“Yes.”
I looked away.
I wanted to be angry.
But I could see the pain in his face.
He had carried it for twenty-eight years.
Then Jonathan spoke.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“The Carter estate has been accessed.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone used a legacy authorization code.”
“Whose?”
Jonathan looked at me.
“Your mother's.”
“She has been dead for twenty-eight years.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
“We don't know.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Where was the access?”
Jonathan opened a map.
“An old property in Napa.”
I stared.
“Napa?”
“Yes.”
Bennett looked confused.
“What is there?”
Jonathan zoomed in.
“A private vineyard.”
I recognized the name.
“Carter Ridge.”
Michael's face changed.
“That was Mom's favorite place.”
I looked at him.
“You've been there?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“What happened?”
“She took me there.”
“Why?”
“She said there was something important under the house.”
My heart started racing.
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She locked the cellar.”
I looked at Arthur.
“Why didn't anyone tell me about this property?”
He didn't answer.
I already knew.
Another secret.
Another thing everyone had decided I was too fragile to know.
I turned toward the door.
“We're going.”
Arthur immediately said:
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You're not stopping me.”
“You're eight months pregnant.”
“I know.”
“The property could be dangerous.”
“Then I'll stay with security.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“My mother left something there.”
Arthur sighed.
“Then we'll find it.”
Michael nodded.
“I'll come.”
Bennett stepped forward.
“So will I.”
I looked at him.
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because this is my family too.”
I almost corrected him.
But I stopped.
We drove to Napa that afternoon.
The vineyard had been abandoned for years.
The main house stood behind a long iron gate.
The gate was unlocked.
That was the first warning.
Arthur raised his hand.
Security spread out.
We entered.
Dust covered the floors.
Old photographs hung along the walls.
I saw my mother everywhere.
Young.
Smiling.
Holding me.
Holding Michael.
Then I saw something strange.
A photograph had been removed from the wall.
I touched the empty frame.
Behind it was a key.
Michael recognized it.
“That opens the cellar.”
We found the door beneath the staircase.
The key turned.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed out.
The cellar was enormous.
Wine racks covered the walls.
But at the back was a steel door.
A keypad.
Jonathan examined it.
“Electronic lock.”
Arthur looked at me.
“Do you know the code?”
“No.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Try Mom's birthday.”
Nothing.
“Try mine.”
Nothing.
“Yours.”
Nothing.
Then I remembered the words from her letter.
If this baby returns, trust her.
I entered my daughter's due date.
The keypad beeped.
The steel door opened.
Inside was a room filled with files.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Medical reports.
Court documents.
And one large box labeled:
SOPHIA — OPEN ONLY AFTER THE FIRST CHILD IS BORN.
I couldn't breathe.
My baby wasn't even born yet.
Why had my mother prepared this?
Jonathan opened another drawer.
“There's a video.”
We played it.
My mother appeared on screen.
She looked directly at the camera.
“If you're watching this, then Sophia is pregnant.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know whether I will live long enough to meet my child.”
She paused.
“But I know someone will try to control her.”
She looked frightened.
“Thomas knows about the trust.”
I froze.
“He knows the child will activate it.”
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“But Thomas is not the only danger.”
The screen flickered.
My mother's voice became quieter.
“The real danger is someone Sophia loves.”
I looked at Bennett.
Then at Arthur.
Then at Michael.
My mother continued.
“If you're hearing this, don't trust anyone until you find the second birth record.”
The screen went black.
I stared at it.
“What second birth record?”
Michael whispered:
“I know where it is.”
Everyone turned.
He looked toward the steel cabinet.
“Mom showed it to me once.”
“Where?”
He pointed to a locked drawer.
Jonathan opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not mine.
Not Michael's.
A third child's.
I stared at the name.
Lily Carter.
My hands began to shake.
“Who is Lily?”
Michael looked at me.
“I don't know.”
Arthur stepped backward.
“I thought she was dead.”
I turned.
“Who?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Your sister.”
