Chapter 3 - Vivian Already Knew
Daniel had spent seven years believing Rebecca died without children.
Now he was holding a photograph telling him otherwise.
"Talk."
Vivian sat at the kitchen table.
Ellie had been taken upstairs by Mrs. Alvarez, their longtime housekeeper, who had arrived midway through the confrontation and immediately sensed something was terribly wrong.
Daniel remained standing.
"Nora isn't biologically mine," Vivian finally said.
"You just told me she was your daughter."
"She is."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
"Rebecca was her mother?"
Vivian nodded.
Daniel gripped the chair.
Rebecca had been twenty-nine when she died.
A car accident.
At least that was what Daniel had been told.
She had been brilliant, stubborn, reckless, and the only person who could make Daniel laugh when their father became impossible.
"Rebecca died seven years ago."
"Nora is six."
"I know."
"Then Rebecca couldn't—"
"She didn't die when you think she did."
Daniel stared.
Vivian began talking.
Seven years earlier, Rebecca had discovered financial irregularities inside Carter Development.
Millions had been routed through shell companies.
She suspected someone close to the family.
Before she could expose it, her car went over a guardrail.
Authorities recovered a badly burned vehicle.
Personal belongings were identified.
A body was declared Rebecca's.
But Rebecca hadn't been driving.
"She survived?" Daniel whispered.
Vivian nodded.
Rebecca disappeared because she believed whoever wanted her dead would try again.
Months later, she discovered she was pregnant.
She gave birth to Nora in secret.
Vivian had been Rebecca's closest friend.
For years, she helped hide them.
"Then what happened?"
"Rebecca died three years ago."
"For real?"
"Yes."
"How?"
Vivian looked down.
"Cancer."
Daniel closed his eyes.
His sister had lived four more years.
Four years Daniel could have had with her.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"You let me mourn her."
"I promised her."
"You let my parents bury an empty coffin!"
"Rebecca was terrified."
"And Nora?"
"Rebecca made me promise to protect her."
Daniel pointed toward the hidden room.
"You call that protection?"
Vivian flinched.
"No."
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere safe."
"Where?"
Vivian hesitated.
Daniel picked up his phone again.
"Okay."
"Wait."
"Address."
She gave it.
An apartment twenty minutes away.
Daniel drove there with police.
The apartment was empty.
A blanket lay on a couch.
A child's backpack sat near the door.
But Nora was gone.
Vivian stared around in disbelief.
"No."
Daniel turned on her.
"You said she'd be here."
"She was."
A detective found the back window unlocked.
Another found a note.
It contained three words.
YOU BROKE THE RULES.
Vivian nearly collapsed.
Daniel caught her before she hit the floor.
"Who wrote this?"
Vivian stared at the message.
"The person Rebecca was hiding from."
"Who?"
She whispered a name.
"Charles Carter."
Daniel's father.
The room seemed to tilt.
"No."
"Daniel—"
"No."
His father had died two years earlier.
Vivian shook her head.
"Charles wasn't working alone."
Daniel stared at her.
"Then who?"
Before she could answer, his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Daniel answered.
Silence.
Then breathing.
A child's breathing.
"Nora?"
Vivian grabbed his arm.
A tiny voice came through.
"Uncle Daniel?"
His heart stopped.
"Yes."
He had never heard Nora call him that.
"I'm here."
"Please help me."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Nora, look around."
"It's dark."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Good. Stay calm."
Then another voice appeared.
Adult.
Distorted.
"You should have left the wall closed."
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Vivian whispered, "They have her."
And Daniel finally understood something Rebecca had understood years before.
Whatever secret had begun inside Carter Development had never died with his father.
May you like
Someone was still protecting it.
And now that person had Nora.
