Chapter 9 - The Mother Who Never Stopped Looking
The attack lasted less than a minute.
Adrian's security team returned fire, forcing the attackers into the parking lot.
When the police arrived, two men were arrested.
Vincent wasn't among them.
He had escaped federal custody during a transfer between facilities.
Emma had been wounded in the shoulder.
She survived.
Claire sat beside her in the ambulance, holding her hand.
"Please don't die," Claire whispered.
Emma looked at her.
"I've spent six years waiting to tell you the truth."
"Then stay alive long enough to tell me everything."
Emma managed a weak smile.
By sunrise, Adrian had moved everyone to a secure property outside Boston.
Lily was sleeping in a bedroom on the second floor.
Claire sat beside her, unable to stop looking at the little girl's face.
Her sister.
The word still felt impossible.
Lily stirred.
"Claire?"
"I'm here."
"Why are you crying?"
Claire brushed her hair away.
"Because sometimes people cry when they're happy and scared at the same time."
Lily considered that.
Then she reached for Claire's hand.
"Are you going to leave?"
Claire shook her head.
"Never because of something you did."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Lily smiled sleepily.
Then she said something that made Claire's heart stop.
"Mommy said you would come back."
Claire leaned forward.
"What did you say?"
Lily closed her eyes.
"Mommy said my big sister would come back one day."
Claire covered her mouth.
Rebecca had told Lily about her.
Somehow, despite everything, she had kept hope alive.
At ten, Adrian received a call.
The caller was a woman.
He recognized the voice immediately.
"Adrian?"
He stopped breathing.
"Rebecca?"
Silence.
Then a quiet sob.
"Yes."
For several seconds, Adrian couldn't speak.
Finally, he whispered:
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Rebecca, I've spent a year believing you were dead."
"I know."
"Why?"
She cried harder.
"Because I thought Vincent would kill the girls."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"The girls?"
"Both of them."
He looked toward the staircase.
"Claire knows."
A long silence followed.
Then Rebecca whispered:
"Is she safe?"
"She's here."
"Please let me speak to her."
Adrian handed the phone to Claire.
She took it with trembling fingers.
"Hello?"
A woman began crying on the other end.
"Claire?"
Claire closed her eyes.
"Who is this?"
"It's your mother."
The words shattered something inside her.
"Why didn't you come for me?"
Rebecca sobbed.
"I tried."
"Why did you let me grow up believing I was someone else's child?"
"Because Margaret loved you. And because Vincent was watching every person connected to us."
Claire wiped her face.
"You could have told me."
"I wanted to. Every birthday. Every Christmas. Every night I couldn't sleep."
"Then why now?"
Rebecca's voice became urgent.
"Because Vincent has found the girls. And there's something you need to know about your father."
Claire went still.
"My father?"
"Margaret told you he disappeared?"
"Yes."
Rebecca inhaled shakily.
"He didn't disappear."
Claire felt Adrian watching her.
"Then where is he?"
Rebecca's answer came slowly.
"Your father is the reason Vincent never managed to destroy us completely."
That afternoon, Adrian arranged a meeting at the secure property.
Rebecca agreed to come.
She arrived in a gray SUV, accompanied by two federal agents.
Claire stood near the entrance.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
Rebecca stepped out.
Her hair was shorter than in the photographs.
Her face was thinner.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
Claire's eyes.
Rebecca looked at her.
Then she began crying.
"Claire."
Claire didn't run toward her.
She couldn't.
Twenty-eight years of unanswered questions stood between them.
Rebecca approached slowly.
"I know I don't deserve forgiveness."
Claire swallowed.
"Did you ever stop loving me?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not for one second."
"Did you look for me?"
"Every day."
"Did you know where I was?"
"Yes."
Claire's face tightened.
"Then why?"
Rebecca's voice broke.
"Because Margaret was the only person Vincent couldn't control. She promised to protect you. And I had to let her."
Claire looked away.
Then a small voice came from the staircase.
"Mommy?"
Rebecca turned.
Lily stood there in her pink pajamas.
For one frozen second, Rebecca seemed unable to believe her eyes.
Then she dropped to her knees.
"Lily."
The little girl ran into her arms.
Rebecca held her tightly.
She kissed her hair, her forehead, her cheeks.
"I'm here, baby. I'm here."
Lily began sobbing.
"You're not going away again?"
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"No, sweetheart."
But before anyone could respond, Adrian's security chief rushed into the room.
"Sir, we have a problem."
Adrian turned.
"What?"
"We identified the person who helped Vincent escape custody."
"Who?"
The security chief handed him a photograph.
Adrian stared at it.
Then his face went completely blank.
It was Daniel Price.
His attorney.
His oldest friend.
The man who had supposedly spent years protecting his family.
But the photograph showed Daniel standing beside Vincent hours before the escape.
And behind them stood another man.
A man Claire recognized from the original photograph in Rebecca's bedroom.
The silver-haired stranger.
Adrian whispered one word.
"Father."
May you like
His father had been dead for eleven years.
Or so he had believed.
