Chapter 6: The Daughter Nobody Mentioned
I don't remember leaving my father's study.
One moment, I was holding the phone. The next, I was standing in the hallway, trying to convince my daughter not to panic.
"Emily, where are you?""
"At school.""
"Stay inside. Find a teacher. Don't speak to anyone you don't recognize.""
"Mom, you're scaring me.""
"I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry. Just do what I say.""
"Is Dad with you?""
I looked through the doorway.
Daniel was standing beside Eric, his face drained of color.
"Yes.""
"Can I talk to him?""
I hesitated.
"Not right now.""
"Why?""
"Because I need to understand something first.""
Emily began crying.
"Mom, who is my grandmother?""
I closed my eyes.
"She's someone I loved very much.""
"Then why did someone tell me she had another daughter?""
I couldn't answer.
"Mom?""
"I'm coming to get you.""
I ended the call.
Eric was already reaching for his car keys.
"I'm going with you.""
Mr. Lawson stood.
"Wait. We need to be careful. If someone is looking for Emily, we shouldn't announce where we're going.""
I turned toward Daniel.
"Who was the man at her school?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
"Did you know about the photograph?""
"No.""
"Did you know Emily was Thomas's daughter?""
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
"Daniel.""
He sat down.
"I knew there was a possibility.""
"A possibility?""
"Your father told me years ago that Emily's adoption records might have been falsified.""
I stared at him.
"And you married me anyway.""
"Yes.""
"You knew our daughter might be connected to this entire mess, and you never thought I deserved to know?""
"Robert said the records were incomplete. He said there was no way to prove anything.""
"Did you believe him?""
Daniel looked down.
"I wanted to.""
I laughed bitterly.
"That's convenient.""
Mr. Lawson closed the notebook.
"Sarah, there is something I should have told you before.""
I turned.
"What?""
"Your father didn't arrange Emily's adoption.""
"Then who did?""
"Your mother.""
The words stopped me.
"Why?""
"Because she believed the child would be safer away from her.""
"Safer from whom?""
Mr. Lawson glanced toward Daniel.
"From the people who were investigating Thomas Reed.""
Eric shook his head.
"That doesn't make sense. Why would they target a baby?""
"Because Thomas had taken something from the military operation in 1998.""
"What?""
The attorney looked at the old document on the table.
"A recording.""
I stared at him.
"What recording?""
"An audio recording made during an operation overseas. It allegedly contained evidence that a senior officer had ordered an unauthorized transfer of military funds.""
Eric leaned against the wall.
"And Dad was involved?""
"Your father was one of the officers present.""
"Was he guilty?""
Mr. Lawson took a long breath.
"That's what the recording was supposed to establish.""
I looked at the photograph again.
My mother had been caught between two men, one of whom was my father.
And the consequences had followed her for years.
"Why did Dad tell everyone she was dead?""
"Because the people searching for her believed the same thing. It was the only way he could protect her without exposing where she had gone.""
I looked at the attorney.
"Then why did he let us bury an empty coffin?""
His eyes filled.
"Because your mother asked him to.""
For a moment, I couldn't move.
My mother had chosen to let her children believe she was dead.
I understood the danger.
I understood the fear.
But I couldn't understand how a mother could stay away from her children for twenty-five years.
Eric touched my shoulder.
"We'll get the answers.""
I nodded.
Then I looked at Daniel.
"You're not coming with me.""
He stood.
"Sarah, please.""
"Emily is my daughter. I'll handle this.""
"She's my daughter too.""
"Then you should've protected her by telling me the truth.""
He looked devastated.
But I didn't care.
Eric drove me to the school.
On the way, he kept glancing at the rearview mirror.
"Do you think we're being followed?"" I asked.
"I don't know.""
"That's reassuring.""
He gripped the steering wheel.
"Sarah, there's something else I haven't told you.""
I turned toward him.
"Of course there is.""
"When I found Thomas, he didn't just give me the key.""
"What else?""
"He gave me a recording.""
I stared at him.
"What recording?""
"An audio file. He said it was from 1998. Dad's voice is on it.""
"Why didn't you tell us?""
"Because I hadn't listened to the whole thing.""
"Eric!""
"I was afraid of what I'd hear.""
I looked out the window.
For once, I couldn't blame him.
When we arrived at the school, Emily was waiting in the main office with her backpack on her lap.
She rushed toward me.
"Mom!""
I wrapped my arms around her.
She was trembling.
I held her for several seconds before pulling back.
"Are you okay?""
She nodded.
Then she handed me a photograph.
It showed a younger version of my mother holding a baby.
The baby was wrapped in a pale yellow blanket.
On the back, someone had written:
Margaret and her second daughter. Pennsylvania, 2001.
I turned it over again.
Beneath the sentence was another line.
The first daughter was told her sister died.
I stared at the words.
"Emily, who gave you this?""
She pointed toward the front window.
"A man in a gray coat. He was standing beside a black car.""
Eric looked outside.
The parking lot was almost empty.
But one vehicle remained.
A black sedan.
Its engine was running.
A man sat behind the wheel.
When he saw us looking, he raised one hand.
Then he drove away.
Emily grabbed my arm.
"Mom, he said something else.""
"What?""
"He said Grandma wanted me to meet her.""
I looked at her.
"What grandma?""
"Your mom.""
My throat tightened.
"Did he say where?""
Emily nodded.
"He gave me an address.""
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
I opened it.
A street address in Pennsylvania.
And underneath it, written in familiar handwriting, were four words.
Come alone, my daughter.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
It matched the letter hidden inside Eric's red suit.
My mother had written it.
I looked at Eric.
He was staring at the paper.
"That's the same town where the hospital records were kept.""
I turned toward my daughter.
"Did the man say anything else?""
Emily hesitated.
Then she spoke.
"He said something about Dad.""
My stomach tightened.
"What about him?""
"He said Dad isn't really the person Grandpa made him out to be.""
I looked at Eric.
He had gone pale.
"Emily, did he tell you why?""
She nodded slowly.
"He said Dad was the one who signed the original adoption papers.""
I felt the ground shift beneath my feet.
Daniel had told me the adoption had been arranged before we met.
But the document in Dad's notebook had his name beside a date from 2009.
The same year we got married.
I looked at the photograph again.
Then I noticed something I'd missed.
The baby in my mother's arms had a small silver bracelet around her wrist.
A bracelet I had seen before.
Emily wore it every day.
She'd told me it was a family heirloom her adoptive parents had given her when she was little.
I looked at my daughter.
"Emily, where did you get that bracelet?""
She glanced down at her wrist.
"Aunt Helen gave it to me when I was a baby.""
I couldn't breathe.
Because the photograph wasn't showing a stranger's child.
It was showing Emily.
My daughter was the baby my mother had given away.
And the woman who had raised her wasn't her aunt.
She was her adoptive mother.
Eric took the photograph from my hand.
He turned it over again and examined the handwriting.
Then he pointed to something in the bottom corner.
A date.
November 18, 2008.
The day Emily was born.
He looked at me.
"Sarah, there's no way this is a coincidence.""
Before I could respond, my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
"What?""
His voice was frantic.
"Sarah, listen to me. You need to get Emily away from the school.""
"Why?""
"Because I just found out who sent that photograph.""
"Who?""
A pause.
Then he whispered:
"Thomas Reed.""
I looked at Eric.
"Thomas is alive. Why would he send someone to frighten our daughter?""
Daniel's voice broke.
"Because he doesn't want you to discover what happened to the original child.""
I stared at Emily.
"What original child?""
My husband took a shaky breath.
"Sarah, the baby in that photograph wasn't the only child born to your mother in 2001.""
May you like
And then he said something that made every secret we'd uncovered seem small.
"There were twins.""
