Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
Victoria Reed had been declared dead nine years earlier.
That was the first thing Rachel discovered.
According to public records, Victoria had died in a boating accident off the coast of Maine.
Her body had never been recovered.
The official investigation concluded that she had fallen overboard during a storm.
But now she was speaking to me on the phone.
And she knew my father's name.
"How do I know you're really Victoria?" I asked.
The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she said, "Your father called you Little Sparrow."
My throat tightened.
Nobody outside my family knew that nickname.
"He said you used to climb the apple tree behind your house and refuse to come down until he promised you ice cream."
Tears burned behind my eyes.
I remembered that tree.
I remembered my father's laughter.
"Where are you?" I whispered.
"Not over the phone."
"Then how can I find you?"
"I'll contact your attorney with instructions."
"Why now?"
Her answer came immediately.
"Because Charles knows the trust has been activated."
I looked at Rachel.
Victoria continued.
"And because once he realizes what your father left behind, he'll stop pretending this is only about money."
The call ended.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Rachel took the phone from my hand.
"We need to assume your communications may be monitored."
I nodded.
"Do you think she's telling the truth?"
"I think someone has spent nine years making sure people believe she's dead."
That evening, Rachel arranged for me to stay at a private apartment in Manhattan.
It belonged to a company held by my trust.
Daniel didn't know it existed.
Neither did Charles.
The apartment overlooked the Hudson River.
It was quiet, modern, and completely anonymous.
For the first time since the wedding, I was alone.
I stood in the bathroom and examined my face.
The swelling had gone down, but a faint bruise had appeared along my cheekbone.
I touched it gently.
Then I remembered Daniel's expression when he struck me.
There had been no hesitation.
No shock at his own behavior.
Only anger that I had failed to obey him.
I took a photograph of the bruise.
Rachel had already arranged a medical examination and helped me report the assault.
The detective had been professional and direct.
He asked what happened.
I told him.
He asked whether Daniel had threatened me before.
I told him about the wrist-grabbing, the intimidation, and the increasing attempts to control my movements.
He wrote everything down.
When I finished, he said, "You did the right thing coming in."
I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
I had spent months recognizing the danger without fully accepting it.
And I had still walked down the aisle.
That was a truth I would have to live with.
At nine that evening, Daniel called.
I let it ring.
Then he called again.
And again.
Finally, he sent a message.
Evelyn, please. I made a terrible mistake. We need to talk.
A second message followed.
My father says you've frozen our financing.
Then another.
Do you understand what you're doing to this family?
I stared at the screen.
There it was.
The apology had lasted exactly one message.
The blame had arrived immediately afterward.
I turned off notifications.
At ten thirty, Rachel called.
"We found something."
I sat upright.
"What?"
"The first audit of Harrington Global's subsidiaries."
"And?"
"Several companies appear to have received payments for services they never provided."
"How much?"
"At least eighty-six million dollars."
I closed my eyes.
"Charles?"
"We don't know yet."
"But you suspect him."
"Yes."
I looked toward the dark river.
"What about Daniel?"
Rachel hesitated.
"Evelyn, his name appears on several authorization records."
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"How old are those records?"
"The earliest is from eleven years ago."
The year my father died.
I pressed my hand against my forehead.
"Rachel."
"Yes?"
"Daniel didn't meet me by accident."
"I know."
"No," I whispered.
"You don't understand."
I remembered the charity auction.
The way Daniel had approached me with two glasses of champagne.
The way he seemed to know my favorite books.
My favorite music.
Even the small coastal town where my parents used to take me every summer.
I had thought we were perfectly matched.
Now I wondered whether he had studied me.
Rachel spoke gently.
"We're going to find out."
Before I could answer, my apartment intercom buzzed.
I frowned.
Nobody knew I was there.
"Who is it?"
The concierge sounded nervous.
"Ms. Bennett, there's a gentleman downstairs asking for you."
"What's his name?"
A pause.
"Ethan Harrington."
I stood.
Daniel's younger brother.
The man who had watched his brother hit me and done nothing.
"What does he want?"
The concierge hesitated.
"He says he has something that belonged to your father."
I closed my eyes.
Of course he did.
Because apparently the Harrington family had been keeping pieces of my father's life like souvenirs.
"Tell him I'll be down in five minutes."
Rachel's voice sharpened.
"Evelyn, don't meet him alone."
"I won't."
I called the security desk.
Then I went downstairs.
Ethan stood in the lobby wearing jeans and a dark coat.
He looked exhausted.
His hands were shaking.
When he saw me, he immediately lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said.
I stopped several feet away.
"For what?"
"For this morning."
I waited.
He swallowed.
"For not stopping Daniel."
I studied him.
"Why are you here?"
He reached into his coat.
The security officer beside me shifted.
Ethan froze.
"Easy. It's just an envelope."
He slowly withdrew a yellowed packet.
My father's name was written across the front.
Ethan held it toward me.
"I found this in my grandfather's safe after he died."
I didn't take it.
"Why didn't you give it to me before?"
"Because I didn't understand what it meant."
"And now?"
May you like
His eyes filled with fear.
"Now I think my father is going to kill someone."
