Chapter 13 - THE CHILD IN THE LETTER
Emily read the last sentence again.
Then a third time.
Her fingers tightened around the yellowed paper until the edges bent.
“I pray he never finds out about the child.”
For several seconds, nobody in the study moved.
Outside the tall windows, police lights flashed across the front lawn, washing the walls in alternating red and blue.
Daniel had been taken away less than twenty minutes earlier.
Patricia was already in custody.
Victoria had disappeared upstairs with an attorney.
And yet somehow, Emily knew the worst part of the night had just begun.
Marcus stood across from her desk.
His face had gone pale.
Emily slowly lifted her eyes.
“What child?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Marcus.”
He swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Emily stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
“Don’t.”
Her voice was quiet.
That made him look even more nervous.
“Don’t stand there and lie to me after everything that happened tonight.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You brought me this letter.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where my father hid it.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he wanted me to read it.”
Marcus looked toward the door.
Emily stepped around the desk.
“And now you’re telling me you don’t know who he meant?”
Marcus rubbed both hands over his face.
“I know what I suspected.”
Emily’s heartbeat changed.
Not faster.
Harder.
“What did you suspect?”
Marcus looked directly at her.
“That your father wasn’t talking about you.”
Emily frowned.
“Obviously.”
“He was talking about another child.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Emily stared at him.
“My father had another child?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“Then whose child?”
Marcus hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Emily stepped closer.
“Whose child?”
“Daniel’s.”
The words landed like a fist.
Emily stopped breathing.
“No.”
Marcus said nothing.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Daniel doesn’t have a child.”
“That’s what he told you.”
Emily stared at him.
“He would have told me.”
Marcus gave her a painful look.
“Emily, tonight you learned that your husband forged your signature, helped move your money, worked with Patricia behind your back, knew Victoria was alive, and left your father without calling for help.”
Emily’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t call him my husband.”
Marcus went silent.
Emily turned away.
For five years she had defended Daniel.
At dinners.
At board meetings.
Against rumors.
Against people who told her he enjoyed her money too much.
She had believed the quiet moments mattered more.
Coffee in bed.
His hand at the small of her back.
His voice saying, “You and me against the world.”
Now every memory felt contaminated.
“What makes you think he has a child?”
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He removed a small black key.
Emily looked at it.
“What is that?”
“Your father gave it to me six days before he was hospitalized.”
“For what?”
“A private deposit box.”
“Where?”
“First National on Madison.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve had this for years?”
“Yes.”
“And you never opened it?”
“He told me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he said only you were supposed to see what was inside.”
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“My father is dead.”
Marcus looked down.
“I know.”
“And you waited until now?”
“I was scared.”
Emily took another step toward him.
“Of Patricia?”
“Yes.”
“Of Daniel?”
Marcus paused.
Then he said, “Of what the truth might do to you.”
Emily snatched the key from his hand.
“You don’t get to make that decision for me.”
“I know.”
A knock came at the study door.
Detective Aaron Blake stepped inside.
He was still wearing the same dark suit from Daniel’s arrest.
“Ms. Hale?”
Emily turned.
“What now?”
Blake glanced at Marcus, then at the letter in Emily’s hand.
“Daniel wants to speak to you.”
Emily almost smiled.
“No.”
“He says it’s about a child.”
Her stomach dropped.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Emily stared at the detective.
“He said those exact words?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Blake took out his notebook.
“He said, ‘Tell Emily Marcus doesn’t know the whole truth about the child.’”
Emily looked at Marcus.
Marcus whispered, “Oh God.”
Blake continued.
“He also said if you open the deposit box before hearing him out, someone else could get hurt.”
Emily’s expression hardened.
“Is that a threat?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Emily walked toward the door.
Marcus caught her arm.
“Emily.”
She looked down at his hand.
He immediately released her.
“Don’t go alone.”
“I’m going to a police station.”
“That has never stopped Patricia’s people before.”
Emily considered that.
He was right.
She turned to Blake.
“You take me.”
“Of course.”
“And Marcus comes with us.”
Blake nodded.
They were halfway down the mansion’s grand staircase when Emily’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She stopped.
Marcus looked at the screen.
“Don’t answer.”
Emily answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman whispered, “Emily?”
Emily froze.
The voice was trembling.
Young.
Terrified.
“Yes?”
“My name is Claire.”
Emily looked at Marcus.
He didn’t recognize the name.
The woman continued.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Who are you?”
More silence.
Then the sound of a child crying in the background.
Emily’s skin went cold.
Claire whispered, “Daniel told me if anything ever happened to him, I was supposed to call this number.”
Emily couldn’t speak.
The crying continued.
A small voice.
A little boy.
“Mommy?”
Emily gripped the phone.
“Claire, where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is outside.”
Marcus moved closer.
Emily put the call on speaker.
Claire’s breathing quickened.
“I think they found us.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
A loud bang came through the phone.
Claire gasped.
Emily’s entire body stiffened.
“Claire?”
Another bang.
Then a man’s voice in the distance.
“Open the door!”
The child started crying harder.
Emily grabbed Blake’s arm.
“Trace the call.”
He was already reaching for his phone.
“Claire,” Emily said. “Listen to me. Do not open that door.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know. Stay away from the windows.”
“Daniel said you would know what to do.”
Emily closed her eyes for one second.
Even now.
Even after everything.
Daniel had built another secret around her.
“How old is the child?”
Claire didn’t answer.
“Claire.”
The pounding stopped.
That was somehow worse.
Then Claire whispered, “He’s four.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
“What’s his name?”
The line crackled.
“Ethan.”
A crash exploded through the speaker.
Claire screamed.
The call ended.
Emily stared at the dead screen.
Detective Blake was already running toward the door.
Marcus followed him.
Emily stood frozen for half a second.
Then she ran too.
Because suddenly the sentence in her father’s letter was no longer a mystery.
May you like
It was a warning.
And someone had just broken into the home of Daniel’s four-year-old son.
