Chapter 7: The Mother Who Had Been Buried Alive
For several seconds, Daniel couldn't speak.
The woman on the phone was crying.
Not quietly.
She was sobbing so violently that her breathing came through the speaker in broken, desperate bursts.
"Daniel, sweetheart, you have to listen to me.""
Daniel gripped the phone.
"Who is this?""
A pause.
Then the answer came.
"It's Margaret.""
His face changed.
Margaret Whitmore was the woman who had raised him. She had been married to his father for more than thirty years and had supposedly died from cancer when Daniel was twenty-two.
He had attended her funeral.
He had watched her coffin being lowered into the ground.
"That's impossible," he whispered.
"You're dead.""
"No, darling. I was made to disappear.""
Daniel looked at Detective Miller.
The detective immediately motioned for everyone to remain quiet.
"Where are you?"" Daniel asked.
"Somewhere safe. I can't tell you over the phone.""
"Who made you disappear?""
Her breathing became uneven.
"Richard.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Why?""
"Because I found out what your father had done. And because I knew what Vanessa and Richard were planning.""
Daniel's voice cracked.
"What did my father do?""
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
Then she said something that made Daniel sit down.
"Your father wasn't the man you believed he was.""
The call disconnected.
Daniel stared at his phone.
Detective Miller reached for it.
"Don't call back. We'll have the number traced.""
"That's my mother.""
"I understand.""
"No, you don't."" Daniel stood abruptly.
"I've spent eleven years believing she was dead. Now she's calling me to say my attorney wants me killed.""
Miller remained calm.
"We'll find her. But we need to be careful.""
I watched Daniel walk toward the window.
For the first time, he looked less like the powerful owner of a luxury hotel and more like a frightened son who had just discovered his entire childhood might have been built on a lie.
"Emily," he said without turning around.
"Yes, sir?""
"Matthew trusted you. My mother contacted you through me. I need to know what else you remember.""
I thought carefully.
Then I remembered something from the storage unit.
The photograph of Matthew, Vanessa, and Daniel.
Eleven years earlier.
Vanessa had already been wearing a wedding ring.
"Detective, can I see that photograph again?""
Miller retrieved it from the evidence folder.
I pointed at Vanessa's hand.
"Look at the ring.""
He leaned closer.
Daniel turned around.
"What about it?""
"The date on the photograph is eleven years ago. But you said you met Vanessa eight years ago.""
Daniel examined it.
"That's impossible.""
Miller enlarged the photograph using his phone.
The ring was clearly visible.
It wasn't the diamond ring Daniel had given Vanessa on their wedding day.
It was a plain gold band.
On the back of the photograph, Matthew had written another sentence.
*SHE WAS MARRIED BEFORE DANIEL KNEW HER.*
Daniel lowered himself into a chair.
"Who was she married to?""
Nobody answered.
Then Miller's phone rang.
He listened briefly before speaking.
"Yes. Confirmed? Good. Send the address.""
He ended the call.
"We found a name connected to Vanessa's earlier marriage.""
Daniel looked up.
"Who?""
Miller placed a printed document on the table.
"Her first husband was named Thomas Reed. He died in a private clinic eight years ago.""
Daniel stared.
"Eight years ago?""
"According to the marriage record, Vanessa was still legally married to him when she met you.""
Daniel looked sick.
"She told me she had never been married.""
Miller continued.
"There's another problem. Thomas Reed's death certificate lists Dr. Samuel Price as the attending physician.""
The same doctor who had prescribed medication to Daniel after his accident.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
"Detective, do you think she did this before?""
Miller closed the document.
"That's what we're investigating.""
Daniel suddenly looked at the phone.
"Can you trace my mother's call?""
"Already working on it.""
A message arrived on Miller's phone.
He read it twice.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"We have a possible location.""
"Where?""
"An apartment complex outside Plano. The number is registered to a woman named Margaret Lewis.""
Daniel stood.
"That's her.""
Miller raised his hand.
"We're not going alone. We don't know who else may be watching that property.""
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"Then let's go.""
Twenty minutes later, three police vehicles pulled into a quiet residential complex.
The building looked ordinary.
Children's bicycles stood near the entrance. A delivery driver was carrying groceries upstairs.
Detective Miller approached apartment 306.
He knocked.
"Police. Margaret Lewis?""
No response.
He knocked again.
Then a woman's voice came from inside.
"Daniel?""
Daniel stepped forward.
"Mom?""
The door opened slowly.
A woman stood behind it.
Her hair was almost entirely gray. Her face was thinner than Daniel remembered, and she leaned heavily on a walking stick.
But her eyes were the same.
Daniel froze.
Then Margaret reached for him.
"My boy.""
He wrapped his arms around her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she pulled away and touched his face.
"You look so much like your father.""
Daniel swallowed.
"Why did you let me bury you?""
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"Because if I hadn't disappeared, you would have been next.""
She looked past him and noticed me.
"Who's this?""
"Emily. She saved my life.""
Margaret studied me.
Then her expression changed.
"Emily Carter?""
I nodded.
She grabbed my hand.
"Matthew told me about you.""
My stomach tightened.
"What did he tell you?""
She glanced toward the hallway.
"That you were the only person who might still have the original evidence.""
"What evidence?""
Margaret stepped aside.
On the kitchen table sat an old leather folder.
She opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Daniel picked it up.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he looked at his mother.
"Why does this say my biological father was Robert Whitmore?""
Margaret's lips trembled.
"Because Robert was your father.""
Daniel frowned.
"But you just said—"
"Not your biological mother, sweetheart.""
She placed another document on the table.
A photograph slipped from its pages.
It showed a young woman holding a newborn baby.
On the back was written:
*ELENA REED — DANIEL'S REAL MOTHER.*
Daniel looked at the photograph.
Then Margaret whispered:
"Vanessa is Elena's daughter.""
Daniel slowly raised his eyes.
"You're saying my wife is my sister?""
Margaret shook her head.
"No, darling. She's your half-sister.""
May you like
And suddenly, the woman Daniel had married was no longer just a suspect in his brother's murder.
She was the daughter of the woman who had given birth to him.
