Chapter 10: The Daughter He Abandoned
For several seconds, I couldn't recognize my father.
The man standing in front of me was the same man who had taught me to ride a bicycle, walked me into my first day of school, and sat beside my hospital bed when I had my appendix removed.
He was also the man in the photograph beside Rachel.
The man whose DNA report identified him as Madison's biological father.
And apparently, the man who had kept an entire daughter hidden from me.
"Dad?""
He looked up.
"Claire, let me explain.""
I pushed the photograph across the desk.
"How long have you known?""
He didn't answer.
"How long?""
"Thirty years.""
The words hit me harder than anything Ethan had done.
I took a step backward.
"Thirty years?""
He nodded slowly.
"Rachel and I were young. Your grandfather didn't approve of our relationship. He threatened to disinherit me if I married her.""
"So you abandoned her?""
"I was twenty-three. I didn't know what to do.""
"You knew what to do when you married Mom.""
His eyes filled.
"Your mother didn't know about Rachel.""
I laughed bitterly.
"Of course she didn't.""
Vanessa quietly gathered the documents from the desk.
"Robert, did you know Madison was your daughter?""
"No.""
"Did you know Rachel had given birth?""
He shook his head.
"I was told she lost the baby.""
I stared at him.
"Who told you that?""
"My father.""
"Your grandfather?""
He nodded.
I looked at the DNA report again.
"Then why does Patricia have this information?""
My father rubbed his face.
"Because Daniel found the old records. He must have connected Rachel's identity to Madison.""
Vanessa placed the report beside the photograph.
"There's something important here. The DNA report was generated four months ago. Someone ordered it recently.""
"Who?"" I asked.
She turned the page.
The authorization was signed by Daniel Foster.
I looked at my father.
"Why would Daniel investigate your daughter?""
Dad stared at the report.
"Because he knew about the original relationship.""
Vanessa nodded.
"Daniel has been managing the trust records for years. He probably discovered the connection while investigating the beneficiary amendment.""
I looked at the photograph.
"Then Madison is actually entitled to something.""
"Possibly," Vanessa said.
"But that doesn't justify forging your grandmother's signature or stealing money.""
My father suddenly stood.
"I need to find Rachel.""
"Why?"" I asked.
"Because if Madison is my daughter, Rachel deserves to hear the truth from me.""
I shook my head.
"Thirty years late.""
He flinched.
Before he could respond, Vanessa's phone rang.
She answered, listened for several seconds, and turned pale.
"What happened?"" I asked.
"Madison's apartment.""
She ended the call.
"Her building manager reported that someone forced the door open about twenty minutes ago.""
My father grabbed his keys.
"Call the police.""
"I already have.""
I picked up the DNA report.
"Whoever took Madison may have the original.""
Vanessa nodded.
"And they may know where Daniel is.""
We drove to Madison's apartment with two police officers meeting us outside the building.
The front door was damaged.
Inside, the living room looked as though someone had turned it upside down.
Cushions were ripped open. Drawers hung out of the cabinets. A broken lamp lay beside the sofa.
There were baby toys scattered across the floor.
A small blue dinosaur sat underneath the coffee table.
I picked it up.
Oliver.
The little boy I had never met.
My father stood in the doorway, staring at the mess.
"Where is he?""
Vanessa spoke to the officers.
"They need to establish whether the child was here.""
A detective named Harris approached us.
"Are you family?""
My father nodded.
"Robert Bennett. I'm Madison's father.""
The detective looked surprised.
"Her father?""
"It's complicated.""
Detective Harris examined the room.
"Was there anyone else with her?""
"Her son," I replied.
He wrote something down.
"Do you know the child's father?""
I hesitated.
"We're not certain.""
My father looked at me.
"Claire.""
I ignored him.
Detective Harris showed us a photograph from the building's security camera.
A man in a dark baseball cap was carrying a large envelope.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel Foster.
"That's him," I said.
The detective zoomed in.
"Do you know this individual?""
"Yes. He's connected to the financial fraud.""
The detective exchanged a look with his partner.
"We've been looking for him.""
"Why?""
"An airline employee reported suspicious activity connected to his passport. He purchased a ticket under another name.""
Vanessa leaned forward.
"Was he traveling with a woman?""
The detective nodded.
"According to the booking record, yes.""
"Madison?""
"We're checking.""
I stared at the photograph.
Daniel was carrying a second bag.
A child's backpack.
My stomach dropped.
"He's taken Oliver.""
Detective Harris immediately called his team.
My father gripped the doorframe.
"That's my grandson.""
I looked at him.
"Then help us find him.""
He nodded.
For the first time that day, I saw something other than fear in his expression.
Determination.
The detective asked us to wait while officers searched the building.
I walked into Madison's bedroom.
Her wedding dress hung from the closet door.
A white dress.
Beside it was a photograph of Ethan holding Oliver.
On the back, Madison had written:
One day, we'll be a real family.
I placed it down.
Then I noticed a small notebook underneath her pillow.
It was open to a page dated two weeks earlier.
The handwriting was hurried.
Patricia says the second account is the only way to save Oliver. Daniel says Robert knows where the key is. Ethan says Claire must never find out about the first transfer.
I read the last line twice.
*Robert knows where the key is.*
I walked back to the living room.
"Dad, what key?""
He looked at the notebook.
His expression changed immediately.
"Where did you find that?""
"In her bedroom.""
He took the notebook and read the page.
Then he closed it.
"Your grandmother gave me something before she died.""
"What?""
"A key.""
My heart began pounding.
"To what?""
He looked at me.
"The second account.""
Vanessa turned sharply.
"Robert, you told me you never received the envelope.""
"I didn't. But Evelyn gave me the key separately.""
"Where is it?""
My father slowly reached into his wallet.
From a hidden compartment, he removed a tiny brass key.
It had a number engraved on it.
*719.*
Vanessa stared at it.
"That's the private account vault.""
I looked at my father.
"You've had this the entire time?""
He nodded.
"Your grandmother told me not to use it unless Claire was in danger.""
I looked at the key.
Then at the notebook.
Then at the empty space where Madison's son had been.
My grandmother had left us a way to uncover everything.
May you like
But someone else was already hunting for it.
And according to Madison's notebook, they believed my father knew exactly where it was.
