Chapter 6: The Man Who Helped Us Search
I stared at my uncle.
“Sarah?””
Robert seemed to realize what he'd said.
He cleared his throat.
“I meant Lily.””
“No,” I said.
“You said Sarah.””
He looked toward the front door.
The instinctive movement told me everything.
He was thinking about leaving.
I stepped into his path.
“Sit down.””
“Daniel, this isn't the way to handle this.””
“Twenty-one years, Robert. Twenty-one years of funerals for people who weren't dead. Twenty-one years of searching for a little girl who was being hidden by people we trusted.””
His face tightened.
“Your mother made mistakes.””
I laughed bitterly.
“My mother?””
“She became obsessed with finding Sarah.””
“She was her daughter!””
Robert rubbed his forehead.
“You don't know what happened.””
“Then tell me.””
He looked at Elena.
“Perhaps we should speak privately.””
Elena shook her head.
“No. I'm done being sent out of rooms while people discuss my life.””
Robert's jaw tightened.
“You're making this more difficult than it needs to be.””
“That's what Margaret always said,” Elena replied.
Something flickered across his face.
I picked up the blue notebook.
“Did you know Mom kept this?””
Robert didn't answer.
“Did you know Sarah was alive?””
His silence was enough.
I stepped closer.
“Where is she?””
Robert sat down heavily on the couch.
For a moment, he looked older than I remembered.
His hair was thin. His shoulders sagged. His hands trembled slightly.
Then he looked up.
“Your father and I had a business arrangement with Margaret.””
I frowned.
“What business arrangement?””
“She was connected to a private adoption network. Families with money wanted children. Some children came from difficult homes. Others—”
He stopped.
I felt sick.
“Others what?””
“Your father discovered something. He wanted out.””
“My father died when I was twelve.””
Robert nodded.
“And before he died, he made me promise to protect the family.””
I stared at him.
“Protect us from whom?””
“Margaret.””
Elena stepped forward.
“Then why did you let her take me?””
Robert looked down.
“I didn't know she had you.””
“Liar.””
He flinched.
“I swear to you, I didn't know until much later.””
I remembered Mom's letter.
He knows where Sarah is.
“Where was Sarah?””
Robert pressed his hands together.
“After she disappeared, Margaret arranged for her to live with a wealthy couple under a different identity.””
“Was she adopted?””
“Not legally. At least, not at first.””
“Where is she now?””
“I don't know.””
I slammed the notebook onto the coffee table.
“You expect me to believe that?””
Robert looked at Elena.
“Your mother found out about the arrangement. She threatened to go to the police. Margaret warned her that if she did, Lily would disappear too.””
Elena's face crumpled.
“So you knew?””
“I tried to stop it.””
“You helped Margaret hide me!””
“I thought she was protecting you.””
“From my own family?””
Robert had no answer.
I paced toward the window.
The story was getting worse with every sentence.
“How did Mom die?””
Robert stood.
“Daniel—”
“How did she die?””
“She had a heart attack.””
“That's what the hospital said. I'm asking what happened before it.””
Robert looked toward the notebook.
“Your mother received a package the night before she died.””
I turned.
“What package?””
“A photograph.””
“Of whom?””
“Sarah.””
My heart pounded.
“Where is it?””
Robert hesitated.
“Margaret took it.””
I stared at him.
“You're telling me a woman who helped steal my sisters also had access to my mother's house the night before she died?””
“She said she was returning something.””
“What?””
“I don't know.””
Elena approached him.
“Why did you tell me my brother was dead?””
Robert's expression changed.
“I didn't tell you that.””
“You were there when Margaret told me.””
He closed his eyes.
“You were very young.””
“I remember your watch.””
Robert looked down at his wrist.
The gold watch.
The one Elena had remembered.
“I remember you standing beside her. You said my brother had been in an accident.””
He swallowed.
“I was trying to keep you calm.””
“You told me Daniel died.””
“I didn't know what else to say.””
Elena stepped closer.
“You could have told me the truth.””
Robert looked away.
Then his phone vibrated.
He pulled it from his pocket.
A message appeared on the screen.
I saw the sender's name.
Margaret.
Robert immediately turned the phone over.
Too late.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Show me.””
“Daniel, don't.””
“Show me the message.””
He pulled free.
The phone fell onto the carpet.
Elena picked it up.
The message was short.
Has he found the notebook?
A second message arrived.
If he has, bring the girl to the old mill tonight.
Elena stared at the screen.
I took the phone.
“What old mill?””
Robert shook his head.
“Don't go there.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
He hesitated.
Then he whispered:
“Because that's where Margaret kept the records.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What records?””
“Names. Payments. Dates.
The children who were moved. The people who paid for them.””
Elena stepped closer.
“And Sarah?””
Robert nodded.
“Sarah's file was there.””
“Was?””
He looked at her.
“Margaret moved everything last month.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
I stared at him.
“Then why did she tell you to bring us there?””
Robert didn't answer.
His phone vibrated again.
This time, the message was from an unknown number.
He read it.
His face went completely white.
“What?”” I demanded.
He handed me the phone.
You have one hour. Bring Daniel and Lily. Come alone. If you contact the police, Sarah dies.
Elena backed away.
I immediately called Officer Reynolds.
Robert tried to stop me.
“Don't!””
I shoved his hand aside.
“I'm done keeping your secrets.””
Reynolds answered.
“Daniel?””
I explained the messages.
He listened without interrupting.
Then his voice became firm.
“Do not go to that mill. We're sending officers to your location.””
Robert shook his head desperately.
“You don't understand. Margaret will know.””
“Let her know,” I snapped.
Reynolds asked us to stay inside.
We agreed.
But while I was speaking to him, Elena moved toward the hallway.
I turned.
“Elena?””
She was staring at the family photograph on the wall.
The one showing Mom with two little girls.
Her fingers touched Sarah's face.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
“What?””
“I remember something.””
I ended the call.
“What is it?””
Elena looked at me.
“When Margaret took me to that building, she made me sit in a room. There was a little girl on the other side of the glass.””
My heart began pounding.
“Sarah?””
Elena nodded.
“She had the silver star necklace.””
I stepped closer.
“Did she speak to you?””
Elena's eyes filled.
“She held up a piece of paper.””
“What did it say?””
Elena closed her eyes.
“I couldn't read it then. I was too young.””
“Do you remember anything?””
She nodded.
“Three words.””
“What words?””
She looked directly at me.
“Find your brother.””
I felt the room tilt.
Robert sank onto the couch.
Elena continued.
“And there was something written underneath.””
“What?””
Her voice became barely audible.
“A date.””
I stared at her.
“What date?””
She looked at the calendar on Mom's wall.
November 14.
The same date as tomorrow.
I checked the old photograph again.
Sarah had been wearing that silver star.
The date on the back was twenty-one years earlier.
I turned to Robert.
“Why tomorrow?””
He shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Then the front window shattered.
Glass exploded across the living room.
Elena screamed.
I threw myself over her as something heavy struck the wall behind us.
Robert fell to the floor.
Outside, an engine roared to life.
I reached for my phone.
“Reynolds! Someone just attacked the house!””
But before I could finish, Elena grabbed my arm.
She was staring at the broken window.
On the floor beside the shattered glass lay a small envelope.
No stamp.
No address.
Just one name written across the front.
*SARAH.*
Inside was a photograph.
A little girl with brown hair.
A silver star around her neck.
And beneath the photograph, a handwritten message:
Your sister is alive. But if you want to find her, you must learn why your mother really died.
I turned the photograph over.
There was another message.
Ask Uncle Robert what happened at the hospital.
I looked up.
Robert was already standing.
He was staring at the photograph.
And for the first time, he began to cry.
“Daniel,” he whispered.
“I didn't know she would die.””
I stepped toward him.
“What did you do to my mother?””
Robert covered his face.
May you like
Then he said:
“I was the last person who saw her alive.””
