Chapter 9: The Letter from Thomas Reed
Margaret's house stood on a quiet street lined with old maple trees and expensive stone walls. Unlike Eleanor's sprawling estate, it was modest, with a narrow porch and a garden that had been left untended for months.
Every light inside was on.
Daniel parked two houses away.
“No one gets out until I check the perimeter.””
Eleanor watched him disappear into the darkness.
Caroline sat beside Ava in the back seat, stroking the child's hair.
“Are you scared?”” Ava asked.
Caroline kissed her forehead.
“Yes.””
Ava looked surprised.
“Mommy, you're not supposed to be scared.””
Caroline gave a sad smile.
“Being brave doesn't mean you're never scared. It means you keep going even when you are.””
Ava considered that.
“Grandma looks scared too.””
Eleanor turned around.
“I am.””
“Then why are we still going?””
“Because your aunt may know where your sister is.””
Ava looked down at the drawing in her lap.
“Lizzy.””
The name sounded unfamiliar in her mouth, yet she said it with a strange tenderness.
“I wonder if she likes crayons.””
Caroline's eyes filled with tears.
“I hope she likes everything you like.””
Daniel returned and opened the driver's door.
“The house is clear. I found no signs of forced entry, but someone has been watching the property.””
“Richard?”” Eleanor asked.
“Possibly.””
“Can we trust Margaret?””
Daniel hesitated.
“We can trust that she wants something. Whether she wants the same thing we do remains to be seen.””
Eleanor nodded.
“Then we stay alert.””
They approached the house together.
Margaret opened the door before they knocked.
She looked older than Eleanor remembered, her normally immaculate hair hanging loose around her face. Her hands trembled as she ushered them inside.
“Oh, thank God.””
She hugged Eleanor tightly.
For a moment, Eleanor wanted to push her away.
Instead, she held on.
They had been sisters long before Richard entered their lives. Whatever Margaret had done, Eleanor couldn't erase the years they had shared.
When they separated, Margaret looked at Caroline.
“I'm so sorry.””
Caroline's face remained guarded.
“Sorry for what?””
“For letting you believe your baby died.””
“You watched me grieve.””
“I know.””
“You helped me plan a funeral for a child I never even got to hold.””
Margaret began to cry.
“I was afraid.””
“So was I!””
Caroline's voice cracked through the room.
“I was twenty-six years old. I had a newborn daughter, a husband who disappeared, and a family that thought I was unstable. I ran because I believed someone was going to take Ava from me.””
Margaret covered her mouth.
“I know.””
“No, you don't. You had a home. You had money.
You had people protecting you. I slept in shelters with my baby because I didn't know who I could trust.””
Eleanor stepped between them.
“Caroline, let her speak.””
Caroline turned away.
Margaret wiped her face and walked toward a desk.
“I kept the letter because I thought one day I'd find a way to make things right.””
She opened a drawer and removed a thick envelope.
The paper was yellowed and creased. A faint stain marked one corner, and the handwriting across the front was unmistakably Richard's.
Inside lay a letter written by Thomas Reed.
Margaret handed it to Eleanor.
“Read it.””
Eleanor unfolded the pages.
To whoever finds this,
If Richard has convinced you that the crash killed me, understand that the plane never left the ground.
The wreckage was staged. The bodies were those of two men who had already been killed. Richard arranged everything because he knew the investigation into the Whitmore aviation division would expose the money he had been moving through private medical facilities.
I helped him at first. I thought he was protecting the company. When I discovered he was using newborn children in an illegal genetic research program, I tried to leave.
He threatened my wife and son.
I had no choice but to obey.
Eleanor's hands began to tremble.
She continued reading.
The child called Elizabeth was born through a surrogate. Richard intended to use her to establish a genetic link to the Reed family. He believed certain inherited traits could be used to predict medical compatibility. The research was dangerous, and the children were never informed of what was being done.
I helped move Elizabeth to a private clinic because I believed I could protect her there. I was wrong.
If you find this letter, look for my son, Michael. He has the original records. He knows where the children were taken, and he knows what Richard plans to do next.
The letter ended with a line written in hurried, uneven script.
Do not trust the woman who carries the silver moon.
Eleanor lowered the pages.
Every eye in the room turned toward Caroline.
The silver crescent rested against her collarbone.
“What does that mean?”” Ava asked.
Caroline looked down at her necklace.
“I don't know.””
Margaret shook her head.
“Thomas was referring to someone else.””
“Who?”” Eleanor asked.
“I don't know. He never explained.””
Daniel took the letter and examined the final page.
“There's something written on the back.””
He held it toward the lamp.
A series of numbers had been written in pencil.
“Coordinates,” he said.
“Or a code.””
Margaret reached for a notebook.
“Thomas told me that if I ever found the letter, I should look for the place where the river meets the old railway.””
Eleanor frowned.
“The old harbor?””
“Not exactly. There's an abandoned railway depot near the river. Richard used it to transport equipment to the storage facility.””
Caroline's face tightened.
“B-17.””
Margaret nodded.
“Thomas said Michael left something there.””
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
“Can you verify the coordinates?””
He entered them into his phone.
A map appeared.
“It's an abandoned depot twelve miles north of here.””
“Then we go there.””
Margaret caught Eleanor's arm.
“You can't. Richard will be watching it.””
“Then we make sure he watches the wrong place.””
Eleanor turned toward Daniel.
“Can you create a diversion?””
He nodded.
“I can send a false signal from the storage facility and make it appear that we're returning there.””
“Do it.””
Margaret looked at Caroline.
“There's something else.””
Caroline's eyes narrowed.
“What?””
Margaret walked to a cabinet and removed a small wooden box.
Inside was a photograph of a young woman holding a newborn baby.
The woman wore a silver crescent necklace.
Caroline stared at it.
“That isn't me.””
“No,” Margaret whispered.
“It's the surrogate who carried Elizabeth.””
Eleanor took the photograph.
The woman's face looked familiar.
Not because she had met her before, but because the features resembled someone in the family.
The same dark eyes.
The same narrow chin.
The same faint beauty mark beneath the left eye.
Eleanor turned the photograph over.
A name had been written on the back.
*SARAH REED.*
Caroline went pale.
“Thomas's wife?””
Margaret nodded.
“Thomas and Sarah had a daughter before Michael was born. She died as an infant. Years later, Sarah agreed to become a surrogate for Richard's research project because she believed she was helping families who couldn't have children.””
Eleanor stared at the photograph.
“Did she know what Richard intended?””
“No. Not at first.””
Caroline's voice shook.
“Then what happened to her?””
Margaret looked down.
“She disappeared the same night Richard faked the crash.””
The room fell silent.
Ava approached the photograph.
“Is that my sister?””
“No,” Caroline said softly.
“That's the woman who carried her.””
Ava studied the woman's face.
“Does she know where Lizzy is?””
Margaret shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Ava frowned.
“Why doesn't anyone know anything?””
No one answered.
The child looked at the adults, her small face tight with frustration.
“Everybody keeps secrets. Everybody says they're protecting me. But Mommy cries when she thinks I'm asleep, and Grandma looks like she wants to throw up, and Aunt Margaret won't stop shaking.””
Eleanor knelt beside her.
Ava's voice grew louder.
“I don't want another secret. I want my sister.””
Caroline pulled her into a hug.
“I know, baby.””
“Then find her.””
Caroline closed her eyes.
“I will.””
Daniel's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen and went rigid.
“What is it?”” Eleanor asked.
“The false signal worked. Someone just accessed the storage facility.””
“Richard?””
“Possibly. But there's another problem.””
He turned the phone toward her.
A security image showed a man standing outside Margaret's house.
He wore a dark coat and held a small suitcase.
Eleanor recognized him immediately.
Michael Reed.
Caroline rushed toward the screen.
“That's him!””
The image refreshed.
Michael looked directly at the camera, as though he knew someone was watching.
Then he raised one hand and held up a piece of paper.
Written across it were four words.
*DON'T TRUST MARGARET. RUN.*
Ava stared at the screen.
“That's my daddy?””
Caroline couldn't answer.
Daniel zoomed in on the image.
“There's something else.””
A second figure stood behind Michael, barely visible in the shadows.
A woman with dark hair.
A woman wearing a silver crescent necklace.
Eleanor felt the room spin.
Caroline touched the necklace at her throat.
Then she looked at the photograph of Sarah Reed.
The two women had the same face.
The same eyes.
The same beauty mark.
Margaret stepped backward.
“No,” she whispered.
“That isn't possible.””
Eleanor turned toward her sister.
“What aren't you telling us?””
Margaret began to cry.
“Sarah Reed didn't disappear.””
She looked at Caroline, then at Ava.
“She's been living in this house for eight years.””
A door creaked open behind them.
And a woman's voice spoke from the dark hallway.
“I'm sorry, Caroline.””
Everyone turned.
The woman stepped into the light.
She looked exactly like the woman in the photograph.
May you like
And around her neck hung a silver crescent identical to Caroline's.
*“But if you want to find Elizabeth,” Sarah Reed said, “you must first understand why Richard chose Ava.””*
