Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HIS DEAD WIFE
Daniel waited until Emily had returned to her seat before approaching her again.
He had built an empire by recognizing danger before it became visible to everyone else. He could detect a lie in a boardroom, a weakness in a contract, or a betrayal in the careful silence of a business partner.
Yet the woman sitting three rows behind him had managed to turn his world upside down with a single sentence.
Your wife's father.
Daniel's father-in-law, Richard Ashford, was one of the most powerful men in London.
He owned a pharmaceutical conglomerate, controlled a network of private clinics, and had connections throughout the British financial establishment. He had also spent the last six months treating Daniel as though he were an incompetent stranger who had somehow been allowed to marry his only daughter.
Richard blamed Daniel for Olivia's death.
He had never said so directly.
He didn't need to.
Every phone call ended with a reminder that Olivia had been unhappy in New York. Every visit included questions about Grace's medical care. Every conversation eventually returned to the same accusation.
You were never there when she needed you.
Daniel had accepted the criticism because part of him believed it.
The night Olivia died, he had been in a conference room negotiating a merger. He had ignored three calls from the hospital because the meeting was minutes away from closing.
By the time he arrived, Olivia was gone.
Now, apparently, Richard had been searching for Emily Carter.
And Emily believed he had discovered her location.
Daniel crouched beside her seat.
“Tell me exactly what you meant.”
Emily's hands tightened around her phone.
“I shouldn't have said anything.”
“You mentioned my wife's father. You said someone wasn't supposed to know your daughter was alive. Those aren't casual remarks.”
“I know.”
“Is Sophie in danger?”
Emily glanced at the toddler, who was asleep against her shoulder.
“Not if we can get away from the airport before his people find us.”
Daniel felt a chill travel down his spine.
“Who are you running from?”
Emily stared at him for several seconds.
Then she said, “Your wife was my best friend.”
The words seemed to erase the noise around them.
“No,” Daniel replied automatically. “Olivia never mentioned you.”
“She mentioned very few people from her life before you met her.”
“That's not an answer.”
Emily reached into her handbag and removed a small photograph.
The edges were worn. The paper had softened from being handled too many times.
She passed it to him.
Daniel looked down.
Olivia stood in a garden, laughing in the sunlight. She was younger than he'd ever known her, with long blonde hair and a white summer dress.
Beside her stood a brunette woman with her arm wrapped around Olivia's waist.
Emily.
Between them, a toddler sat on a blanket holding a stuffed rabbit.
Daniel looked up.
“That's Sophie?”
Emily nodded.
“How old is this photograph?”
“Almost three years.”
Daniel did the calculation.
Olivia had known Emily long before Grace was born.
“Why did she hide you from me?”
“Because Richard made her choose.”
“Choose what?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Her family or the people she loved.”
Before Daniel could press her further, a flight attendant approached and asked everyone to fasten their seat belts.
Emily slipped the photograph into her bag.
“Please don't ask me anything else until we land.”
“I can't promise that.”
“Then promise me one thing.” Her voice trembled. “If Richard approaches you at the airport, don't let him take Grace.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“No one is taking my daughter.”
Emily looked at him with an expression so full of pity that it frightened him more than her fear had.
“You don't understand what he's capable of.”
The aircraft touched down at Heathrow shortly after dawn.
Daniel expected Emily to disappear into the crowd. Instead, he saw her standing near the baggage carousel, holding Sophie close and watching the arrivals doors.
When she spotted a tall man in a charcoal overcoat, she went rigid.
The man moved toward them.
Two security officers followed several paces behind.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
Richard Ashford.
His silver hair was perfectly combed. His dark suit was immaculate. At seventy, he possessed the kind of polished authority that made people step aside before he asked.
His eyes moved from Daniel to Grace.
Then to Sophie.
For the briefest moment, the old man's composure broke.
He looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“Emily,” he said quietly.
She stepped backward.
“Stay away from her.”
Richard's gaze shifted to Daniel.
“You should never have brought the child here.”
Daniel tightened his hold on Grace.
“She was born in New York. This is her mother's home.”
“Her mother is dead.”
“And that gives you no right to threaten people.”
Richard's face hardened.
“I am trying to prevent a catastrophe you cannot begin to understand.”
Emily clutched Sophie.
“You told everyone she died.”
The words stopped Daniel cold.
Richard looked at the toddler.
Then he said, in a voice that carried no warmth at all, “I was told the child died.”
Emily shook her head.
“You signed the order.”
Daniel looked between them.
“What order?”
Neither answered.
Then Grace began crying.
Richard flinched.
Not in irritation.
In recognition.
He took one involuntary step toward the baby, his eyes fixed on her face.
“Those eyes,” he whispered.
Daniel's pulse hammered.
“What about her eyes?”
Richard looked at him, suddenly older than he had moments before.
“Olivia had those eyes.”
Then he turned to his security officers.
“Get them out of here. All of them.”
Emily screamed when one officer reached for Sophie.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Touch either child, and you'll answer to me.”
Richard stared at him.
“You still think this is about money, Daniel.”
He leaned closer.
“Ask your wife's doctor what happened in the delivery room. Ask him why your daughter was recorded as having a condition she never had.”
Daniel's stomach dropped.
“What condition?”
Richard's expression became unreadable.
“Ask him why your wife spent her final hours begging me not to let you see the original medical records.”
Then he walked away.
Daniel stood frozen beneath the airport lights.
Grace was crying against his chest.
Emily was trembling.
May you like
And Sophie, still clinging to her mother, whispered something that made Daniel's blood run cold.
“Grandpa said the bad men would come back when Baby Grace woke up.”
