Mara did not raise her voice.
That frightened Arthur more than shouting would have.
“You were at Claire's house.”
Arthur looked at the photograph in her hand.
“Yes.”
“On the night she died.”
“Yes.”
“You said you found her afterward.”
“I did.”
“You also said you didn't know what happened.”
“I didn't see the attack.”
“But you were there.”
Arthur nodded.
“Tell me exactly why.”
He looked at the security officer.
“Can we have a private room?”
Mara answered before the officer could.
“No.”
Arthur looked at her.
“If I tell you, I want you to hear everything.”
“Then tell me here.”
Arthur drew a slow breath.
“Claire called me that evening.”
“Why?”
“She said she had proof that someone at Northbridge was creating false identities.”
Mara remembered the USB.
“She was going to give it to you?”
“Yes.”
“Did Daniel know?”
“I don't know.”
Arthur paused.
“By the time I reached the house, Daniel was already there.”
Mara's stomach tightened.
“What were they arguing about?”
Arthur's eyes moved toward Eli.
“Elias.”
“Why?”
“Claire wanted to take him and leave.”
“Leave where?”
“Somewhere Daniel couldn't find them.”
Mara looked at the photograph again.
“Then what happened?”
“Daniel saw me.”
“What did he do?”
“He told me to stay out of it.”
“And you did?”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“For a few minutes.”
Mara stared at him.
“Then?”
“I heard Claire scream.”
The officer listened carefully.
“What happened next?”
“I went inside.”
“Did you see Daniel attack her?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone else?”
Arthur shook his head.
“I found Claire at the bottom of the stairs.”
“And Daniel?”
“Gone.”
“And Elias?”
“Gone too.”
Mara's voice broke.
“You left him?”
“No.”
“Then where did he go?”
“I searched the house.”
“Arthur.”
“I couldn't find him.”
The officer interrupted.
“Why didn't you report the missing child?”
“I did.”
“Your report doesn't mention a missing child.”
Arthur looked stunned.
“What?”
The officer checked his device.
“The original incident report says Claire was found alone. It doesn't mention a child.”
Arthur's face went pale.
“That's impossible.”
Mara looked at him.
“Unless someone changed the report.”
The officer's radio crackled.
A colleague confirmed that the original digital report had been modified two years earlier.
Mara closed her eyes.
The case was becoming larger with every answer.
Someone had altered police records.
Someone had changed Elias's identity.
Someone had moved Claire's son.
Someone had watched Mara arrive.
And Daniel knew far more than he had ever admitted.
The officer received another message.
“Northbridge Medical has an office downtown.”
Arthur nodded.
“That is where Claire worked.”
“And where Victor Hale worked.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked at the USB.
“Then that's where we're going.”
The officer shook his head.
“No. You're staying here.”
“My husband is missing.”
“That is precisely why.”
“He sent me a video.”
“Then investigators need to see it.”
Mara held up the phone.
The officer watched the recording.
When it ended, he looked at Arthur.
“Your husband says the child isn't what Mara thinks.”
Arthur's face tightened.
“I know.”
Mara turned.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur looked at her.
“I don't know.”
She almost laughed.
“You have used those words too many times.”
Arthur lowered his voice.
“Then let me say what I fear.”
Mara waited.
“I fear Daniel took Claire's son after she died and changed his identity.”
Mara looked at Eli.
“You think he is Claire's child.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would Daniel marry me?”
“To hide him.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
Arthur said nothing.
“He wouldn't need to marry me.”
“Unless he needed a legal mother.”
Mara felt sick.
The birth certificate.
The passport.
The name.
The carefully constructed family.
Daniel had never talked about his past because he had been protecting a secret.
Or hiding one.
Her phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
COME ALONE TO THE NORTHBRIDGE PARKING GARAGE.
Mara showed Arthur.
His face hardened.
“Don't go.”
“It's Daniel.”
“You don't know that.”
“He sent the video.”
“And someone else may control his phone.”
Mara looked at the security officer.
“I need to see him.”
“We can arrange a controlled meeting.”
The message changed.
BRING THE SILVER WATCH.
Mara looked at Arthur.
The watch was still sealed in the evidence bag.
“Someone knows we found it.”
The officer nodded.
“Then we're dealing with someone monitoring us.”
A second message appeared.
IF YOU BRING POLICE, ELI DIES.
Mara's body went cold.
The officer immediately took the phone.
“Don't respond.”
Mara pulled it back.
“That is my son.”
“We know.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand exactly.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Don't go.”
Mara looked at him.
“Then what do I do?”
“Wait.”
“I've waited three years for answers I didn't even know I was missing.”
Arthur said nothing.
Mara looked down at Eli.
“I can't wait now.”
The officer called for additional protection.
Mara refused to move without her child.
Eventually, a plan was made.
They would not go to the garage.
Instead, investigators would trace the messages while Mara remained in a secure area.
But before they could move, Eli woke.
He looked at Mara.
Then at Arthur.
Then he said something that made Arthur freeze.
“Grandpa.”
Mara stared.
Eli reached toward Arthur.
“Grandpa.”
Arthur's eyes filled with tears.
Mara did not stop the child.
Arthur approached slowly.
He knelt.
Eli touched his face.
“You remember me?”
Eli nodded.
Mara felt the room tilt.
“How?”
Arthur whispered.
“I don't know.”
Eli pointed toward Arthur's jacket.
“Picture.”
Arthur took out the photograph of Claire and the baby.
Eli looked at it.
Then touched the baby's face.
“Me.”
Mara couldn't speak.
The officer stepped back.
Arthur covered his mouth.
Mara looked at the photograph.
The child in Claire's arms was unmistakably the same age as Eli had been when Daniel first brought him home.
She remembered that day.
Daniel had arrived at their apartment with a newborn.
He had told her the baby's mother had died during childbirth.
He had said there had been no time for questions.
Mara had believed him.
She had loved the child immediately.
But there had always been one strange detail.
Daniel had already chosen the name Elias.
Before Mara had met him.
Before they were married.
Before he had ever discussed children.
She had never questioned it.
Now she understood why.
The officer asked, “Ma'am, when did you first meet your husband?”
“Three years ago.”
“When?”
“Two months after Claire died.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Mara looked at him.
“He didn't meet me by chance.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
“Then how?”
Arthur looked toward the floor.
“Claire had a sister.”
Mara stared.
“What?”
“She lived nearby.”
“Did she know Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“What was her name?”
“Anna.”
Mara remembered the name.
Daniel had mentioned an Anna once.
He had called her an old friend.
Mara's heart sank.
“Anna introduced us.”
Arthur nodded.
“Anna knew who I was?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel needed someone who would accept the story without asking too many questions.”
Mara stepped backward.
“Then my entire marriage was built around this child.”
Arthur said quietly, “I believe so.”
Mara looked at Eli.
The anger she felt was not toward him.
Never him.
It was toward every adult who had decided his identity could be a secret passed between them.
Her son deserved a name that belonged to him.
Not a name created to protect someone else's crime.
The officer received a call.
His expression changed.
“We traced the messages.”
“Where?” Mara asked.
“Northbridge Medical.”
Arthur whispered, “Victor.”
The officer nodded.
“But there's more.”
He looked at Mara.
“The account sending the messages was created under Daniel Cole's identity.”
Mara stared.
“So Daniel is there?”
“Maybe.”
The officer received another transmission.
Then his face went completely still.
“What?”
“Northbridge's security system shows Daniel entering the building twenty minutes ago.”
Mara looked at Arthur.
“He's alive.”
Arthur nodded.
“And he wants us there.”
The officer shook his head.
“No. Whoever is inside wants us to think that.”
Mara held Eli tighter.
Then she noticed something on his wrist.
A faint red mark.
The shape of a thread.
She looked at Arthur.
“What's that?”
Arthur stared.
Then he whispered:
“Claire used to tie red thread around Elias's wrist when she wanted to make sure he stayed close.”
Mara's breath caught.
The red thread on the locker.
The photograph.
The hospital bracelet.
The messages.
Someone had been leaving clues.
Not to lure Mara into danger.
To lead her toward the truth.
Arthur looked at her.
“Claire may have planned this.”
Mara shook her head.
“She died three years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then who has been sending the clues?”
Neither answered.
The security officer's radio crackled.
“Sir, we just received another transmission.”
“What?”
A voice came through.
A man's voice.
Daniel's.
“Mara, don't trust Victor.”
The line went dead.
Then a second voice came through.
Arthur recognized it immediately.
Victor Hale.
“Bring me the boy.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: Mara Walked Into Northbridge With Arthur Beside Her, Knowing the Truth About Eli Could Destroy the Family She Had Spent Three Years Building
The Elderly Stranger at the Airport Who Asked a Tired Young Mother One Question She Had Spent Years Trying to Forget
Part 6 of 16
