Chapter 5
I stared at Sophie’s phone.
No one spoke.
My mother.
The words didn’t make sense.
“My mother lives in Vermont.”
Harris was already calling his team.
“She teaches elementary school.”
Nobody answered.
“She has nothing to do with Ethan’s family.”
Ethan looked at me helplessly.
I stood too quickly.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
Dr. Reynolds caught me.
“Emily.”
“My mother is not involved.”
“I didn’t say she was.”
“Richard did.”
I grabbed my phone.
My mother’s number.
I pressed call.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
My sister Grace.
No answer.
I texted both.
CALL ME NOW.
Nothing.
Harris approached.
“Emily, I need your mother’s full name.”
“Why?”
“To make sure she’s safe.”
I knew what that meant.
He wanted to investigate her.
“Claire Dawson.”
“Address?”
I gave it to him.
He stepped outside.
I felt Ethan watching me.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re thinking something.”
“I’m trying not to.”
“My mother is not like yours.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“She would never hurt anybody.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why did your father say her name?”
“I don’t know.”
I remembered Richard’s exact words.
She knows about Caroline.
Your mother.
Not she helped Margaret.
Not she caused the crash.
She knows about Caroline.
Maybe Claire had information.
That was different.
At least I desperately wanted it to be.
Twenty minutes later, my mother called.
I answered immediately.
“Mom?”
“Emily?”
She sounded breathless.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Why didn’t you answer?”
“I was outside talking to the police.”
My stomach dropped.
“What police?”
“Boston detectives called the sheriff.”
I closed my eyes.
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
“Of course.”
“Do you know someone named Caroline Bennett?”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Silence.
“Mom?”
“How do you know that name?”
Every person in the room heard her through the speaker.
I felt something inside me sink.
“You know her.”
My mother’s voice became small.
“Emily, this is not a conversation for the phone.”
“It is now.”
“Please.”
“Richard Carter called us.”
Another silence.
Then my mother whispered, “Richard is alive?”
Ethan leaned toward the phone.
“You knew my father?”
My mother gasped.
“Is that Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Emily, get away from him.”
Ethan recoiled.
I gripped the phone.
“Why?”
“Because the Carters destroy everyone who gets close to them.”
Margaret.
Victor.
The crash.
Caroline.
My mother knew something.
“How did you know Caroline?”
“She was my college roommate.”
I sat down slowly.
“What?”
“We met at Boston University.”
“You never told me.”
“I haven’t spoken her name in almost thirty years.”
“Why?”
My mother started crying.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of who?”
“The Carters.”
Ethan looked sick.
“Which Carter?”
My mother’s answer came immediately.
“Margaret.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me everything.”
“Not on the phone.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
“Someone tried to kill my baby tonight.”
She stopped breathing.
“What?”
“I’m pregnant.”
A sob escaped her.
“Oh, Emily.”
“And Margaret knew. She tried to make me sign away custody rights.”
My mother began crying harder.
“Then it’s happening again.”
“What is happening again?”
“Emily, you need to leave that hospital.”
“Richard said the same thing.”
“Listen to him.”
“Tell me why.”
My mother’s voice trembled.
“Because Caroline was pregnant with Richard’s child.”
“We know.”
“And Margaret found out.”
“We know that too.”
“What you don’t know is what happened next.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What happened?”
“Caroline told Richard she was leaving Boston. She was terrified Margaret would hurt the baby.”
I looked at Sophie.
Tears streamed down her face.
“My mother really believed that?”
Claire answered, “Yes.”
“What did Margaret do?” I asked.
“She offered Caroline money to disappear.”
“Did she take it?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“One night Caroline called me.”
My mother’s voice broke.
“She said someone had broken into her apartment.”
“Margaret?”
“She didn’t know. But papers were missing. Medical records. Ultrasound pictures.”
I looked instinctively toward my stomach.
“And three weeks later Caroline disappeared,” Sophie whispered.
My mother gasped.
“Who was that?”
“Her daughter.”
The phone went quiet.
“My God.”
Sophie moved closer.
“My name is Sophie.”
Claire began sobbing.
“I held you when you were a baby.”
Sophie covered her mouth.
“You knew me?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what happened to my mother.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
“You were her best friend.”
“And I failed her.”
The pain in my mother’s voice was raw.
“She called me the night she disappeared. I was supposed to meet her.”
“Where?”
“At a train station.”
“What happened?”
“She never arrived.”
“Did you call police?”
“Yes. I told them everything.”
“What did they do?”
“They interviewed Richard.”
“And Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“And Victor Shaw?”
My mother went silent again.
“Mom?”
“How do you know Victor?”
“He attacked me tonight.”
My mother screamed.
It wasn’t surprise.
It was terror.
“Emily, get out!”
“Why?”
“Because Victor is not just some former employee.”
“Then who is he?”
“He is Margaret’s brother.”
Ethan stared at me.
“No.”
Claire continued.
“Half brother. Different fathers. Margaret hid it because Victor had a criminal record.”
Harris had returned and was listening from the doorway.
He wrote something quickly.
My mother said, “Victor did anything Margaret asked.”
Sophie whispered, “Including making my mother disappear?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that!”
“I don’t!”
Sophie cried openly now.
“I have spent my entire life wondering if my mother abandoned me.”
“She loved you.”
“Then where is she?”
Claire’s voice cracked.
“I wish I knew.”
Harris stepped forward.
“Mrs. Dawson, Detective Harris.”
My mother became quiet.
“I need you to come to Boston.”
“No.”
“For your protection and to give a formal statement.”
“I said no.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret will know.”
“She is currently in police custody.”
Another silence.
Then my mother laughed bitterly.
“You think that stops Margaret?”
Harris’s expression changed.
“What do you mean?”
“She has judges.”
“Names?”
“Police officers.”
“Names.”
“Attorneys. Politicians. Hospital board members.”
“Mrs. Dawson.”
“She has had thirty years to build protection around herself.”
Harris looked toward the door.
That seemed to disturb him more than anything else.
I remembered Laura Mills.
Twenty years of friendship.
Margaret’s reach was everywhere.
“Mom,” I said, “why didn’t you tell me any of this when I married Ethan?”
“I tried.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I begged you to slow down.”
“You said his family was too powerful.”
“Because I couldn’t tell you why.”
“You should have.”
“Yes.”
Her answer came quietly.
“I should have.”
That hurt more.
Because she wasn’t defending herself.
“Did you know Richard personally?”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Very.”
Ethan watched the phone.
“What does that mean?”
My mother inhaled shakily.
“Richard helped me leave Boston after Caroline vanished.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret threatened me.”
“With what?”
“My baby.”
Everything stopped.
I looked at the phone.
“What baby?”
My mother began crying again.
“You.”
The world shifted.
“Me?”
“I was pregnant with you when Caroline disappeared.”
I stared at Ethan.
His face had gone pale.
“You told me Dad died before I was born.”
“He did.”
“My father was Michael Dawson.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would Margaret threaten me?”
“She believed I had evidence about Caroline.”
“What evidence?”
“A cassette tape.”
Harris moved instantly.
“Do you still have it?”
My mother hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I won’t say on the phone.”
Harris paced.
“What’s on the tape?”
“A conversation between Margaret and Victor.”
Sophie stood.
“About my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you give it to police?”
“I tried.”
Sophie stared at the phone.
“What?”
“I gave Detective Alan Whitmore a copy in 1997.”
Harris stopped walking.
His expression turned hard.
“Whitmore?”
“You know him?”
“He became deputy commissioner.”
“Then you understand why I ran.”
“What happened to the copy?”
“Whitmore told me it contained nothing useful.”
“And the original?”
“I kept it.”
“Good.”
“No.”
My mother’s voice changed.
“Not good.”
“Why?”
“Because someone came to my house tonight.”
My heart slammed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
“The sheriff arrived while the man was trying to get through the back door.”
“Where is he now?”
“He ran.”
“You need to leave.”
“I know.”
A crash sounded through the phone.
Then my mother screamed.
“Mom!”
The line went chaotic.
Glass breaking.
Footsteps.
A man shouting.
“Claire!”
My mother ran.
I could hear her breathing.
“Mom!”
“Emily!”
“Where are the police?”
“I don’t know!”
Another crash.
Then the call disconnected.
I screamed her name even though the phone was dead.
Harris was already yelling orders into his radio.
I tried calling again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Grace suddenly called.
I answered.
“Grace!”
She was crying.
“Emily, what is happening?”
“Where are you?”
“Outside Mom’s house.”
My blood froze.
“Get away from there.”
“There are police everywhere.”
“Is Mom okay?”
“I don’t know. They won’t let me inside.”
Harris took the phone.
“Grace, this is Detective Harris. Stay with a uniformed officer. Do not enter the house.”
He ended the call and looked at me.
“Local deputies are responding.”
“Responding? They were already there!”
“The first deputy’s radio went silent six minutes ago.”
I started shaking.
Someone had attacked my mother while police were outside.
Margaret really did have people everywhere.
Ethan reached toward me.
I pulled away.
“Don’t.”
He lowered his hand.
Harris’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Harris.”
His expression darkened.
“What?”
He walked toward the window.
“When?”
Silence.
Then he looked at me.
“Keep searching.”
He hung up.
“What happened?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“Harris.”
“The local deputy was found unconscious behind your mother’s garage.”
“And Mom?”
“Missing.”
I stopped breathing.
Sophie sat beside me.
“Oh God.”
“Her car is still there,” Harris said. “Her phone was found in the kitchen.”
“Then someone took her.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“Yes, we do.”
I stood despite the pain.
“I’m going to Vermont.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
“You are recovering from emergency surgery.”
“My mother was kidnapped because of my husband’s family!”
Ethan flinched.
Harris stepped closer.
“If the same people who targeted you took Claire, leaving a secured hospital is exactly what they want.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Stay alive.”
I hated him for how simple he made it sound.
The phone in my hand buzzed.
A text message.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
I opened it.
My mother sat in a wooden chair.
Her hands were tied behind her.
Blood marked the corner of her mouth.
On her chest was the old cassette tape.
Below the image were six words.
BRING THE TRUST DOCUMENTS. COME ALONE.
My knees weakened.
A second message arrived.
THREE HOURS.
Then a third.
NO POLICE OR CLAIRE DIES.
Ethan whispered, “They want the trust.”
Harris took my phone.
“They want more than that.”
“What?”
He zoomed in on the photograph.
Behind my mother was a wall.
On it hung an old framed sign.
CARTER MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES.
Ethan stared at it.
“That logo hasn’t been used in twenty years.”
“Where would it still be?”
Ethan looked at me.
“The original factory.”
“Where?”
“Outside Worcester.”
Harris was already moving.
Then Ethan grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Harris turned.
“What?”
“The factory burned down.”
“When?”
“1998.”
One year after Caroline disappeared.
Sophie slowly stood.
“My mother worked there.”
Ethan nodded.
“So did Victor.”
Harris studied the picture again.
“If the building burned down, where was this photo taken?”
Ethan stared at the old logo.
Then his face changed.
“There was another building beneath it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dad once told me the factory had a Cold War shelter underneath the west wing.”
“A basement?”
“More like a bunker.”
“Does it still exist?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I think so.”
Sophie looked at him.
“Was my mother ever down there?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
She moved closer.
“Was she?”
“I don’t know.”
But something in his face told me he had remembered something.
“What?” I demanded.
“When I was little, I overheard my parents arguing.”
“About what?”
“I didn’t understand it then.”
“Tell us.”
Ethan looked at Sophie.
“My father kept shouting that they couldn’t leave her downstairs.”
Sophie stopped breathing.
“Her?”
“And my mother said…”
He closed his eyes.
“What did Margaret say?”
May you like
Ethan’s voice broke.
“She said, ‘Then you should have thought of that before you got her pregnant.’”
