Chapter 11: The Daughter at the Gas Station
Caleb immediately called the number back.
It went straight to voicemail.
Rhett stood.
“Can you locate the call?””
Caleb shook his head.
“Not precisely. It came from a prepaid phone.””
Danny grabbed his jacket.
“She's nearby.””
“Why do you think that?”” Rhett asked.
“Because she called you, not the police. She must have found something connecting us.””
Walter looked at the photograph of Emily as a baby.
“She's my daughter.””
Danny nodded.
“Then we find her.””
Rhett gave instructions to the club members.
Two bikers would check the roads leading into Millstone.
Caleb would contact the gas stations and roadside businesses.
Mason would stay at the cabin in case Emily called again.
Walter refused to remain behind.
“I'm going.””
Rhett looked at him.
“You've barely slept.””
“I've spent twenty-four years waiting for a phone call from my son. I'm not missing another one.””
Danny smiled sadly.
“Then sit beside me.””
At 9:46 p.m., Caleb received a message.
It contained a photograph of a gas station outside Fairview.
The picture showed a woman sitting inside a silver sedan.
She had dark hair, a pale face, and a small scar near her eyebrow.
Walter stared.
“That's her.””
Danny leaned forward.
“Emily?””
Walter nodded.
He had never seen her as an adult.
But something about her face felt painfully familiar.
The shape of her eyes.
The way she held her mouth.
Even the small crease between her eyebrows reminded him of Eleanor.
Caleb enlarged the image.
“There's a second photograph.””
It showed another vehicle parked behind Emily's sedan.
A dark gray car.
The same model that had followed Danny to the garage.
Rhett grabbed his keys.
“Let's go.””
The gas station was almost deserted.
A single employee stood behind the counter.
Two trucks were parked near the pumps.
Emily's silver sedan was at the far end of the lot.
Walter stepped out of the truck.
His heart hammered.
Danny walked beside him.
“Stay close, Dad.””
Walter nodded.
They approached the driver's side.
The window was down.
A woman looked up.
She was holding a folded piece of paper.
“Are you Walter Hayes?””
Walter couldn't speak.
Danny answered.
“Yes. I'm Danny.””
Emily stared at him.
Then she looked at Walter.
“I have your eyes.””
Walter's lips trembled.
“What's your name, sweetheart?””
“Emily.””
He nodded.
“That's a beautiful name.””
She gave a nervous laugh.
“It's the only name I've ever had.””
Walter reached for her hand.
“I'm your father.””
Emily looked down at their hands.
“I know.””
Then she began crying.
Walter opened his arms.
For a moment, she hesitated.
Then she stepped out of the car and embraced him.
He held his daughter as if she were still the three-month-old baby in the photograph.
“I should have been there,” he whispered.
Emily shook her head.
“You didn't know.””
“I should have known.””
“You were lied to.””
Walter pulled back.
“Who told you about me?””
Emily wiped her eyes.
“My adoptive mother. Before she died, she told me that my biological parents had been forced to give me up.””
Danny stepped closer.
“What else did she tell you?””
Emily looked at him.
“You're Danny?””
He nodded.
She studied his face.
“Mom kept a picture of you.””
Danny's expression changed.
“Where?””
“In her bedroom. Hidden behind a loose panel in the wardrobe.””
Emily reached into her handbag and pulled out a photograph.
It showed Danny at seventeen, standing beside a motorcycle.
On the back, Eleanor had written:
My beautiful boy. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
Danny closed his eyes.
Emily looked at him.
“She told me I had a brother. She said he was alive, but she didn't know where he was.””
Danny swallowed.
“Why didn't she tell you everything?””
Emily looked down.
“Because she was afraid someone would find me.””
Walter touched her shoulder.
“Who?””
Emily opened her handbag again.
This time, she removed a small black notebook.
“My adoptive mother found this in a safe deposit box. She said it belonged to Eleanor.””
Danny opened it.
Inside were names, dates, and bank account numbers.
Several pages contained the same initials.
C.B.
R.M.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
*Samuel Whitmore.*
Walter looked at the notebook.
“Why would my wife keep these?””
Emily answered quietly.
“Because she was collecting evidence.””
A car engine suddenly roared behind them.
Rhett turned.
The dark gray sedan was moving toward the exit.
“That's our follower!””
Mason jumped onto his motorcycle.
Caleb ran toward the passenger side of the truck.
The sedan accelerated.
Rhett's pickup blocked part of the exit, forcing the driver to turn sharply into the service road.
Mason followed.
A moment later, the sedan disappeared around the corner.
Rhett swore.
“Damn it!””
Danny looked toward Emily.
“Did you recognize the driver?””
She nodded.
“Not clearly.””
“Who was it?””
Emily looked frightened.
“Charles Bennett.””
Walter felt the world stop.
His old attorney had been watching his daughter.
Emily gripped his arm.
“There's something else.””
Danny turned.
“What?””
Emily opened the notebook to the final page.
There was a photograph of a little girl.
She appeared to be about five years old.
Beside her stood Eleanor.
On the back was a date from 2004.
And beneath it, Eleanor had written:
Rebecca. My third child.
Walter stared.
“Three children?””
Emily nodded.
“Mom knew about Rebecca. She said she was the one they couldn't find.””
Danny looked at her.
“Why?””
Emily's eyes filled.
“Because Rebecca was adopted by someone inside the Miller family.””
Walter frowned.
“Who?””
Emily looked toward the road where the sedan had disappeared.
“Richard Miller's wife.””
They returned to the cabin shortly before midnight.
Emily sat beside Walter at the kitchen table.
He kept looking at her as though she might disappear if he blinked.
Danny placed the notebook in front of Rhett.
“We need to find Rebecca.””
Rhett nodded.
“Caleb's working on it.””
Emily took a breath.
“There's another reason Charles was following me.””
Everyone looked at her.
She opened her handbag and removed a small digital recorder.
“My adoptive mother recorded a conversation with Eleanor.””
Walter leaned forward.
“When?””
“About three weeks before she died.””
Danny pressed the play button.
Eleanor's voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, make sure Emily never trusts Charles.””
Helen Foster answered:
“What about the other girl?””
Eleanor paused.
“Rebecca is different.””
“How?””
“She knows the truth.””
A silence followed.
Then Helen asked:
“Does Richard know she remembers?””
Eleanor whispered:
“No. And if he ever finds out, he'll kill her.””
The recording ended.
Walter stared at the device.
Danny looked at Emily.
“How old was Rebecca when she was adopted?””
Emily checked the notebook.
“Three.””
Danny's face hardened.
“Then she might remember something.””
Rhett looked toward the window.
“Where is she?””
Emily turned the final page.
There was an address.
A small house outside Columbus, Ohio.
And beneath it, a note in Eleanor's handwriting.
Rebecca's adoptive father is Richard Miller.
Walter slowly looked up.
Richard hadn't simply helped arrange the adoption.
May you like
He had raised Walter's daughter.
And according to Eleanor, that daughter knew the truth.
