Chapter 7: The Woman Behind the Glass
Lily stared at the photograph until the woman's face blurred behind her tears.
Four days earlier.
That meant Rebecca might still be alive.
It meant the woman Lily had spent seven years believing was dead might be sitting somewhere, waiting for someone to tell her that her daughter had survived.
And it meant Daniel Carter had known.
“Take me to her,” Lily whispered.
Thomas stood beside the table, studying the photograph with a grim expression.
“We don't know whether the facility is still operating.””
“Then we'll find out.””
“Lily, sweetheart, this isn't as simple as driving to an address. If Rebecca is alive, there may be legal restrictions on who can see her. We need to understand what we're walking into.””
“She might be my mother!””
The words burst out of Lily so loudly that Vanessa flinched.
Lily immediately regretted it, but she couldn't stop.
“Everyone keeps telling me to wait. Daddy told me to forget. You told me to be careful.
Uncle Thomas says we need proof.”” She wiped her face with both hands.
“What if she dies while we're looking for proof?””
Thomas knelt in front of her.
“Then we move quickly. But we do it intelligently.””
Vanessa reached into her coat and produced a small key card.
“My father gave me this six months ago. He said it opened a records room at Westbridge.””
Thomas took it.
“Why would he give you access to a closed facility?””
“Because he still visits it.””
Thomas's face darkened.
“Samuel Reed has been retired for three years.””
“Officially,” Vanessa replied.
“Unofficially, he's been receiving payments from Daniel every month. I found the transfers in the company accounts.””
“Why didn't you tell Eleanor?””
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I was afraid.””
Thomas stood.
“And now?””
“Now Eleanor is dead, and I can't keep pretending that fear makes me innocent.””
Lily looked at the secretary.
“Did you know Mommy was going to die?””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“No. I swear to you, I didn't know Daniel would let that happen.””
“Would you have stopped him?””
The question seemed to empty the room of air.
Vanessa opened her mouth, then closed it.
Finally, she whispered, “I should have.””
Lily turned away.
It wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough.
But there was no time to decide whether Vanessa deserved forgiveness.
Thomas spread a map across the table.
Westbridge Neurological Care Center lay forty miles outside the city, near a stretch of woodland and an abandoned industrial estate. The facility had officially closed seven years earlier after an investigation into financial irregularities.
According to public records, the property had been sold to a private investment company.
The company's registered director was Daniel Carter.
Thomas stared at the name.
“He didn't just hide Rebecca's medical records. He bought the building where she was being held.””
Vanessa nodded.
“I found the deed in his office.””
Lily's stomach twisted.
“Why would he keep her there?””
“Because Rebecca knew where the money went,” Thomas said.
“And if she was alive, she could challenge the inheritance arrangements.””
“Then we need to get her out.””
Thomas folded the map.
“We'll go tonight. Vanessa, you'll stay here and contact a lawyer you trust.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I know the facility better than either of you. I can get you through the security entrance.””
“You're not going anywhere near my niece without telling me everything you know.””
“Thomas, there's something else.””
She reached into her handbag and removed a small audio recorder.
“Three weeks ago, I recorded a conversation between Daniel and my father. I didn't know what it meant at the time.””
Thomas pressed play.
Daniel's voice emerged from the tiny speaker.
“The woman in Room Twelve has started remembering things.””
Samuel Reed answered, “Then increase the medication.””
“She mentioned Eleanor.””
A pause.
“Does she remember what happened that night?””
“I don't know. But if she does, I won't let her talk.””
Samuel sighed.
“Daniel, we've been managing this for seven years. Don't ruin everything now.””
The recording ended.
Thomas looked sick.
Lily gripped the edge of the table.
“What happened that night?””
Neither adult answered.
Instead, Thomas took the key card and put it in his pocket.
“We're going to find out.””
Westbridge stood behind a high iron fence at the end of a deserted road.
The building was larger than Lily expected, with pale stone walls, narrow windows, and a central entrance illuminated by harsh white lights. The surrounding grounds were overgrown, but the security cameras moved steadily across the property.
A sign beside the gate read WESTBRIDGE PRIVATE NEUROLOGICAL SERVICES.
Someone had recently painted over the word closed.
Vanessa parked two streets away.
“There's a staff entrance around the back,” she whispered.
“The key card should still work.””
Thomas looked at Lily.
“You stay between us. If anything happens, you run toward the main road and find a police officer.””
“I'm not leaving without Rebecca.””
“We'll do everything we can.””
They crossed the grounds beneath the shadow of the trees.
The rear entrance opened with a quiet beep.
Inside, the corridor smelled of disinfectant and damp plaster. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Somewhere in the building, a television played to an empty room.
Vanessa led them past an abandoned nurses' station and down a narrow hallway.
Room numbers appeared beside each door.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Then twelve.
Lily stopped.
A small window had been fitted into the door. Through it, she saw a woman sitting beside a bed, staring at the wall.
The woman's hair was gray at the temples. Her hands lay motionless in her lap.
But when she turned toward the door, Lily saw the same eyes from the photograph.
“Mommy?”” Lily whispered.
The woman blinked.
Thomas swiped the key card.
The door clicked open.
Lily ran inside.
“Mommy!””
The woman recoiled, raising both hands to shield her face.
“No,” she whispered.
“Please. I didn't do anything.””
Lily stopped so abruptly that her shoes squeaked against the floor.
“It's okay,” she said, fighting back tears.
“I'm not going to hurt you.””
The woman stared at her.
Then her gaze dropped to the photograph in Lily's hand.
Her lips began to tremble.
“Where did you get that?””
“From Uncle Thomas.””
The woman's breathing became uneven.
“Thomas?””
He stepped into the room.
“Rebecca.””
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then she began to cry.
“You're supposed to be dead,” she whispered.
Thomas's face crumpled.
“So are you.””
Rebecca rose unsteadily from the chair. Her eyes moved from Thomas to Lily, searching the child's face.
“Who is she?””
Lily stepped forward.
“I'm Lily.””
Rebecca's lips parted.
The room fell silent.
Then the woman reached for the photograph again, comparing the face in the picture with the little girl standing before her.
“No,” she whispered.
“No, that's impossible.””
Lily held out the brass key.
“Mommy Eleanor left this for me.””
Rebecca's knees buckled.
Thomas caught her before she fell.
“She raised you?”” Rebecca asked.
Lily nodded.
“She loved me.””
Rebecca pressed both hands over her mouth.
“Oh, thank God.””
Then she reached for Lily with trembling arms.
Lily hesitated only a moment before stepping into them.
Rebecca held her as though she were afraid the child might disappear.
“I thought you were dead,” Rebecca sobbed into her hair.
“They told me you died. They told me there had been complications, and there was nothing anyone could do.””
Lily clung to her.
“I'm alive.””
Rebecca pulled back and looked at her face.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You are.””
For the first time in seven years, Lily felt the arms of the woman who had given birth to her.
But the reunion lasted only seconds.
A door slammed somewhere down the corridor.
Footsteps approached.
Vanessa hurried to the doorway.
“Someone's coming.””
Rebecca's face changed instantly.
“No. No, you have to leave.””
Thomas moved toward her.
“Rebecca, we can get you out.””
“You don't understand.”” She seized his sleeve.
“If Daniel finds out Lily is here, he'll take her away.””
“He already knows she's with us.””
Rebecca looked at Lily.
Then she noticed the brass key in her hand.
Her face turned ashen.
“Where did you get that?””
“Mommy's funeral.””
Rebecca's grip tightened.
“Eleanor is dead?””
Lily nodded.
Rebecca made a small, broken sound.
Then she whispered the words that made Thomas freeze.
“Daniel didn't kill Eleanor because she found the money.””
May you like
She looked toward the door.
“He killed her because she discovered who Lily's father really is.””
