Chapter 5 - The Woman in Bellhaven
They left for Bellhaven before sunrise.
Daniel wanted Noah to remain at the estate with Margaret.
Noah refused.
Daniel tried authority.
Noah responded with logic.
"If Mom went to Bellhaven because of me, I should know why."
Daniel tried bribery.
Noah looked offended.
Daniel finally gave up.
The drive took ninety minutes.
Bellhaven was a former manufacturing town built along a wide river.
Ruth Calder lived in a small yellow house near the railroad tracks.
Her yard was immaculate.
Her curtains were closed.
Marcus knocked.
No answer.
Daniel tried.
"Ms. Calder?"
Nothing.
Then Noah stepped forward.
"My mom's missing."
Silence.
"My name is Noah."
A lock clicked.
The door opened three inches.
Ruth Calder was seventy-one.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Fearful blue eyes.
She looked past Daniel toward the road.
Then at Noah.
"Where's Emily?"
"We don't know," Daniel said.
Ruth immediately tried to close the door.
Daniel blocked it with his palm.
"I'm Daniel Mercer."
"I know who you are."
"Then you know why I'm here."
Ruth's eyes moved to Noah.
"No child should be involved in this."
"He already is."
After several seconds, she let them inside.
The living room smelled faintly of coffee and lavender.
Photographs of grandchildren covered the fireplace.
Daniel placed the hospital bracelet on the table.
Ruth sat heavily.
"I told Emily to throw that away."
"Why?"
"Because people did terrible things over that bracelet."
Daniel remained standing.
"Was my daughter alive?"
Ruth looked at him.
"Yes."
One word.
Twenty years.
Daniel turned away.
The room blurred.
Noah reached for his hand.
Daniel looked down, surprised.
The child said nothing.
He simply held on.
Daniel let him.
"Tell me everything," Daniel said.
Ruth took a long breath.
The baby was premature but stable.
There had never been a fatal respiratory failure.
Thomas Mercer arrived with Richard before sunrise.
Hospital administrator Leonard Pike entered the maternity ward.
Emily had been given a sedative after complications from delivery.
While she slept, documents were prepared.
When she woke, she was told the baby required emergency transfer.
That was a lie.
The newborn was moved through a private adoption agency.
Daniel's father paid the hospital administrator.
He also paid an attorney.
Emily refused to sign surrender papers.
So someone copied her signature.
"Who?"
Ruth shook her head.
"I never knew."
"Where did the baby go?"
"To a couple named Alden."
Daniel gripped the back of a chair.
"Claire Alden."
Ruth looked startled.
"You know the name?"
"It was inside the bracelet."
Ruth nodded.
"I wrote it."
"Why?"
"Because I was ashamed."
She looked toward Noah.
"I thought someday someone might need to know."
Daniel struggled to keep his voice controlled.
"What was my daughter's new first name?"
"Claire."
"Where are the Aldens?"
"I don't know."
"That's not good enough."
Ruth flinched.
Noah squeezed Daniel's hand again.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"I'm sorry."
Ruth wiped her eyes.
"They were decent people."
Daniel stared.
"Decent people don't buy stolen children."
"They didn't know."
That stopped him.
"The agency told them the mother had voluntarily surrendered the child."
"Did my father choose them?"
"I think Richard did."
Daniel felt another piece slide into place.
"Why?"
"Your father wanted the baby far enough away that Emily couldn't find her."
Ruth looked at Daniel.
"But close enough that someone could keep track of her."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Daniel did not believe her.
Not fully.
"What brought Emily here?"
"She found me three months ago."
"How?"
"Hospital pension records."
Ruth almost smiled.
"Your Emily is persistent."
Daniel noticed the possessive wording.
Your Emily.
Once, she had been.
"What did she want?"
"The truth."
"You gave it to her?"
"Some of it."
"Why not all?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of Richard?"
Ruth looked toward the window.
"Of everyone with the name Mercer."
Daniel absorbed that.
Fair.
He had spent years becoming powerful without asking what had been done to create the ground beneath his feet.
"Emily came back three days ago," Ruth continued.
"She said she'd found Claire."
Daniel stopped breathing.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Did Emily speak to her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"She wanted to tell you first."
Daniel looked down.
"Why?"
Ruth's expression softened.
"Because she said you had already lost your daughter once."
Daniel closed his eyes.
After twenty years of believing Emily had taken money and disappeared, he discovered she had been trying to protect him from losing the same child twice.
Ruth walked to a cabinet.
She removed an old cassette.
"This is why Emily came."
"What is it?"
"A recording."
"Of whom?"
"Your father."
Daniel stared at the cassette.
Ruth handed it to him.
"Two days after the birth, I confronted Thomas Mercer."
"You recorded him?"
"I had a small tape recorder in my pocket."
Daniel's heart pounded.
"Why didn't you take it to the police?"
"Because I had two young children."
Tears filled Ruth's eyes.
"And your father knew where they went to school."
Noah looked confused.
Daniel wished he did not understand.
Ruth continued.
"I kept the tape for twenty years."
"Did Emily make a copy?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Three days ago."
Daniel looked at Marcus.
"Then whoever searched her apartment may be looking for it."
Ruth nodded.
"She said if Richard knew she had the recording, he'd try to stop her."
"Why now?"
"Because Thomas is dead."
Ruth's answer was immediate.
"And because Richard is trying to become permanent chairman of the Mercer Foundation next month."
Daniel frowned.
"What does that have to do with Claire?"
Ruth's face changed.
"You don't know."
"Know what?"
Ruth looked almost afraid to say it.
"Thomas Mercer didn't just hide your daughter."
She leaned forward.
"He put something in her name."
Daniel stared.
"What?"
"A trust."
"How much?"
Ruth shook her head.
"I don't know."
Daniel's phone rang.
Marcus answered his instead.
He listened.
His face tightened.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"The board moved the meeting."
"When?"
"Now."
Daniel looked at Ruth.
Then at the tape.
"Richard's forcing the vote?"
Marcus nodded.
"And there's more."
He turned the phone around.
A financial news alert filled the screen.
MERCER CEO ACCUSED OF SECRET PAYMENTS TO FORMER GIRLFRIEND.
Underneath was a photograph of Emily.
The article claimed she had attempted to extort Daniel for millions.
Noah read enough to understand.
"That's a lie."
Daniel looked at him.
"I know."
Noah's eyes filled with fury.
"My mom doesn't steal."
"I know."
"Then fix it."
Daniel looked at the cassette in his hand.
For the first time that morning, he knew exactly what he had to do.
"I will."
But Ruth caught his sleeve before he reached the door.
"Daniel."
He turned.
"There's something else."
Her voice dropped.
"When Emily left here three days ago, she wasn't alone."
"Who was with her?"
Ruth swallowed.
"A girl."
Daniel's entire body went still.
"How old?"
"Nineteen."
Ruth's eyes filled.
May you like
"And she had your eyes."
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