The Fall She Planned

Daniel had spent his entire life believing that family secrets ended with the dead.

He was beginning to understand that the dead were often the most convenient people to blame.

At 1:17 a.m., he stood in the parking lot of St. Agnes Medical Center, staring at the empty space where Rachel Morgan's car had been parked. Lily paced beside him, repeatedly calling the number the hospital had provided. Every attempt went straight to voicemail.

Martin Cole stood near the entrance, speaking with two uniformed officers.

“We've checked her apartment,” Cole said when he returned.

“No one's there. Her car is gone, and the security cameras show her leaving alone.””

“Then we find the woman she's meeting,” Daniel replied.

“That's easier said than done. We don't even know whether this woman exists.””

Lily stopped pacing.

“She exists.””

Cole looked at her.

“How can you be sure?””

“Because Rachel told me about her when we were teenagers. She said her mother had visited her once when she was eleven, but the foster family told Rachel she was imagining things.””

Lily swallowed.

“She remembered the woman's perfume. Jasmine and orange blossom. She said she could recognize it anywhere.””

Daniel remembered something.

Their mother, Evelyn, wore that exact perfume.

But Evelyn wasn't Rachel's mother. She couldn't be. Rachel's records had placed her in St. Agnes long before Daniel had ever heard about his father's secret daughter.

Unless the records had been altered.

“Call my mother,” Daniel said.

Cole frowned.

“She's still at the station.””

“Then get her on the phone.””

Twenty minutes later, Detective Harris arranged a secure call with Evelyn. Her voice sounded exhausted, but the moment Daniel mentioned Rachel Morgan, she went silent.

“Mom?””

“Where did you hear that name?””

“She's a doctor at St. Agnes. She was adopted through the children's home. She believes her biological mother is alive.””

Evelyn began to cry.

Daniel closed his eyes.

“You know her.””

“I knew of her.””

“What does that mean?””

“Your father brought a baby home once. A little girl. He told me she was the child of a distant relative who had died. He said we could give her a safe home while the authorities sorted out the paperwork.””

Daniel gripped the phone.

“What happened to her?””

“Three days later, she disappeared. Your father told me the placement had been canceled. He said the child had been returned to the authorities.””

“And you believed him?””

“I wanted to believe him. I had just lost another pregnancy, and I was taking medication that made me feel as though I could barely think. Your father told me I needed rest. He handled everything.””

Lily leaned toward the phone.

“Did he ever tell you the baby's name?””

Evelyn's breathing caught.

“Rachel.””

Daniel stared at Lily.

Evelyn continued.

“Your father came to me years later. He said he'd discovered that the child had been taken from Margaret's records. He wanted to find her, but someone had warned him to stop asking questions.””

“Who?””

“I don't know. He never told me.””

“Mom, did you know Margaret had twins?””

“No.””

“Did you know Lily existed?””

“Yes. I found out years later, when your father showed me the letter. But by then, Margaret was gone, and everyone had been told the child was dead.””

Lily covered her mouth.

“Everyone knew something,” she whispered.

“Everyone had a piece of the truth, and nobody thought I deserved to know it.””

Evelyn's voice broke.

“I am so sorry.””

Daniel couldn't bear to hear the pain in either woman's voice.

“Mom, we have to find Rachel.””

“Then look for the place where your father first met Margaret.””

Daniel frowned.

“What place?””

“The old conservatory at the Ashford estate. Your father used to tell me it was the only place Margaret felt safe. If she survived, if she was hiding somewhere, that is where she would go.””

The call ended.

Daniel looked at Cole.

“Can we get to the old conservatory?””

“The estate is under police control.””

“Then we ask permission.””

Cole gave him a grim look.

“Permission isn't the problem. The building burned down twelve years ago.””

“Then why would Rachel go there?””

“Maybe she didn't know it was gone.””

Lily shook her head.

“No. Rachel was meticulous. She researched everything about St.

Agnes and the Ashfords. She would have known.””

Daniel looked again at the message on his phone.

Find the woman who gave birth to us.

“Unless the conservatory isn't the place,” he said.

“Unless it's what the place represents.””

He called Michael Reed.

His attorney answered on the second ring.

“Daniel? Please tell me you haven't gone anywhere else dangerous tonight.””

“I need you to find every property owned by Margaret Ashford before she died. Especially anything connected to a conservatory, greenhouse, or botanical garden.””

Michael was quiet for a moment.

“Why?””

“Because I think my mother has been alive all these years.””

At 2:06 a.m., Michael called back.

He had found a property.

A small botanical estate outside the city, purchased under Margaret's maiden name and transferred to a charitable foundation shortly before her supposed death.

The foundation still paid taxes on it.

And its caretaker had been receiving monthly deposits for twenty-eight years.

Daniel, Lily, and Cole drove through the rain.

The property was hidden behind a tall hedge and a rusted iron gate. A single light glowed inside the greenhouse.

Someone was waiting.

Daniel stepped out of the car first.

A woman stood beneath the glass roof, her silver-streaked hair tied back, her hands resting on a wooden cane. She looked older than Evelyn, though the photographs Daniel had seen of Margaret suggested she should be about the same age.

Her eyes were Lily's eyes.

The woman stared at Lily.

Then she whispered, “My baby.””

Lily froze.

Daniel moved closer.

“Margaret Ashford?””

The woman nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.

“I have waited thirty years for this moment.””

Lily shook her head.

“No. My mother died.””

Margaret lowered her gaze.

“I know what they told you.””

“You let me grow up believing I was unwanted.””

“I was told you were dead.””

“You knew I was alive!””

“Not until six months ago.””

Lily stared at her.

Margaret reached into her coat and produced a small envelope.

“Someone sent me a photograph of you. They told me you were looking for your family. I wanted to come to you, but I was afraid.””

“Afraid of what?””

Margaret's eyes shifted toward Daniel.

“Of the people who killed your father.””

Daniel stepped forward.

“You know what happened to him?””

Margaret nodded.

“I know who killed him. I know why they did it. And I know why Thomas was willing to pretend to be his brother.””

Cole stiffened.

“Thomas admitted he was the twin. Who was the man in the warehouse?””

Margaret's expression turned grim.

“Your father.””

Daniel felt his knees weaken.

“You said he was dead.””

“I said he died twenty years ago. That doesn't mean the man who died was the man you think it was.””

She opened the envelope and removed a photograph.

It showed two men standing beside a hospital bed. One was Thomas. The other was Daniel's father.

On the back, someone had written a date.

*Three days after the accident.*

Margaret looked at Daniel.

“Your father survived the crash. But he didn't survive what happened afterward.””

Daniel stared at her.

“Explain.””

Margaret's voice trembled.

“Your father was taken to a private clinic. He was unconscious for weeks. When he woke, he had lost much of his memory. Richard Ashford arranged for him to be declared dead, then used his condition to take control of the company and the trust.””

“Why would he do that?””

“Because your father had evidence that could destroy the Ashford family. Richard wanted it. Eleanor wanted it. Christopher wanted the money.””

Margaret's eyes filled.

“And when your father began to remember, they decided he had to disappear again.””

Daniel stepped closer.

“Where is he now?””

Margaret looked toward the greenhouse door.

“Somewhere you would never think to look.””

A noise came from outside.

Gravel crunched beneath tires.

Cole reached for his weapon.

Headlights swept across the glass walls.