Chapter 6 - BLOOD DOESN’T LIE
“No.”
Emily stared at Detective Ruiz.
“It’s my decision.”
“No, it isn’t. Kidnappers don’t get to dictate police procedure.”
“Nora raised me.”
“And that’s why you’re not thinking clearly.”
Margaret stepped between them.
“What if Thomas really kills her?”
Ruiz looked at Margaret.
“Then running into a trap won’t bring her back.”
Emily pulled the locket from her neck.
“This is what he wants.”
Margaret stared at it.
“No.”
“What?”
“Give him mine.”
Emily shook her head.
“They’re identical.”
“Not inside.”
Margaret opened her locket.
A tiny photograph rested beneath the glass.
Margaret holding a baby.
Emily opened hers.
Empty.
Margaret touched the edge of Emily’s locket.
“There used to be a picture in yours too.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I put it there myself.”
Ruiz’s phone rang.
She listened, then looked at Emily.
“The DNA lab finished early.”
Nobody spoke.
Ruiz put the phone on speaker.
A lab director read the result.
“Maternal relationship probability exceeds 99.99 percent.”
Emily sat down.
Margaret stopped breathing.
The doctor continued.
“Margaret Ashford is biologically consistent with being Emily Bennett’s mother.”
The world did not explode.
That surprised Emily.
No music.
No thunder.
Just the soft hum of a hospital vending machine.
Margaret whispered, “My baby.”
Emily looked at her.
She wanted to run.
She wanted to hug her.
She wanted Nora.
She wanted to be six years old again, before she knew any of this.
Margaret didn’t touch her.
That helped.
Emily stood and crossed the space herself.
Margaret wrapped her arms around her.
For twenty-two years, one woman had grieved a dead child.
For twenty-two years, another woman had raised a stolen one.
Emily stood between both lives.
And sobbed.
Ruiz gave them one minute.
Then she said, “There’s more.”
Emily wiped her face.
“What?”
“Thomas emptied three corporate accounts this morning. Four-point-two million dollars is missing.”
Margaret pulled away.
“He’s running.”
“Maybe.”
Ruiz held up her phone.
“His private plane is still at Teterboro.”
“Then where is he?”
A uniformed officer entered.
“Detective?”
He handed Ruiz an evidence bag.
Inside was a phone.
“Found outside Nora Bell’s room.”
Ruiz turned it on.
One video file.
They played it.
Nora sat tied to a chair.
A dark cloth covered the wall behind her.
Thomas stepped into frame.
He looked calm again.
That frightened Emily more than his anger.
“Emily,” he said, “I imagine you know the DNA results by now.”
Margaret clenched her fists.
Thomas smiled slightly.
“So congratulations, Margaret. You were right.”
His face turned cold.
“But biology is not the same thing as family.”
Emily stepped closer to the screen.
Thomas continued.
“Bring both lockets to the old Ashford house at nine tonight.”
Margaret whispered, “Why both?”
Thomas answered as if he heard her.
“You’re probably wondering why I care about two cheap pieces of silver.”
He held up a legal document.
“Because they aren’t jewelry.”
He turned the paper toward the camera.
“They’re keys.”
Margaret stared.
“No.”
Emily looked at her.
“What?”
Margaret’s face drained of color.
“My father’s trust.”
Thomas smiled on the screen.
“At midnight on Emily’s twenty-third birthday, ownership of thirty-five percent of Ashford Industries transfers to Margaret’s first living child.”
Emily frowned.
“My birthday isn’t for another month.”
Margaret whispered, “The birthday Nora gave you isn’t real.”
Emily felt the floor shift under her.
Thomas gave one last smile.
“Your real birthday is tomorrow.”
May you like
The screen went black.
---
