Chapter 11: The Daughter Nobody Remembered
Caleb kept me behind the metal table until the second shot never came.
Then he moved toward the broken window, crouching low and examining the darkness outside.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
Marcus pressed a hand against his bleeding mouth.
“Who fired?””
“I don't know.””
“Then go find out!””
Caleb turned on him.
“If you want to get yourself killed, you're welcome to walk outside. But I'm not letting Sarah become another name on Thomas's list of unfinished business.””
I sat up slowly.
“Rebecca. Who is she?””
Daniel had stopped moving.
His face had gone pale, and he kept staring at the doorway where Richard had disappeared.
“Daniel,” I said.
“Who is Rebecca?””
He shook his head.
“It's not what you think.””
“I don't even know what to think anymore. My mother supposedly had another daughter. Thomas paid for her care.
Someone stole money in her name. And now a man is shooting at us because her name has been mentioned.””
Daniel wiped blood from his lower lip.
“Rebecca was born before you.””
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
He looked at me with an expression that was almost pleading.
“I haven't seen her in twenty years.””
Caleb returned from the window.
“The shooter is gone. We need to leave before they come back.””
He checked his phone.
The screen was cracked, but it still worked.
“I've contacted a security team. They'll meet us at the north entrance.””
I stood.
“I'm not leaving until Daniel tells me what happened to Rebecca.””
Caleb looked at me.
“Sarah, someone just tried to kill us.””
“And someone may have done the same thing to my mother. I won't keep running away from questions.””
Daniel laughed softly.
“You sound just like her.””
I turned toward him.
“Like my mother?””
“Like Rebecca.””
He rubbed his hands together, struggling to find the words.
“Margaret had Rebecca when she was very young. Her father was a man named James Bell. They married briefly, but he disappeared before Rebecca turned three. Margaret raised her alone until Thomas came back into her life.””
“Thomas knew about Rebecca?””
“Yes. He helped Margaret financially. When she became pregnant with you, he tried to persuade her to move into the Whitmore estate. She refused.””
“Why?””
“Because she believed Evelyn would never accept her children.””
I looked at Evelyn's photograph in my mind, remembering the way she had stared at my mother's picture in the mansion.
“Did Thomas try to adopt Rebecca?””
Daniel nodded.
“He wanted to provide for both girls. But something happened. Rebecca disappeared from Margaret's life.””
“Disappeared how?””
“She was sent to a residential school in England. That's what Margaret told people. Later, we learned she'd been placed in a private care facility.””
“Why?””
Daniel swallowed.
“Because she had a serious medical condition.””
“What condition?””
He hesitated.
“I'm not sure. Something neurological. She had episodes where she lost consciousness and became confused. Margaret was terrified that she would never live independently.””
My throat tightened.
“And Thomas paid for her treatment?””
“Through a private trust.””
I thought of the fraudulent medical invoices.
“Did she actually receive the treatment?””
Daniel looked away.
“I don't know.””
I took a step toward him.
“You'd better start knowing.””
Caleb interrupted.
“We need to move. We'll continue this somewhere secure.””
Daniel nodded toward the warehouse's rear exit.
“There's a file cabinet in the old office. Thomas kept Rebecca's records there.””
Caleb hesitated.
“Why didn't you mention that before?””
“Because I didn't want you to find them.””
The honesty of the answer stunned me.
Marcus grabbed his brother's jacket.
“You knew she existed all this time?””
Daniel shoved him away.
“I knew about her. I didn't know where she was. There's a difference.””
“You let Sarah believe she had no family!””
“She wasn't my responsibility!””
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
Daniel stared at me, stunned.
“My mother spent her final years believing she'd failed both her daughters,” I said.
“If you knew where Rebecca was, if you knew anything that could have helped her, and you chose to stay silent, then you were part of what happened.””
For once, Daniel didn't argue.
We entered the old office.
Dust covered the filing cabinets, and water dripped steadily from a crack in the ceiling. Behind a desk, Caleb found a locked drawer marked with Thomas's initials.
Daniel gave him the combination.
Inside lay a thin folder containing medical reports, photographs, and a letter addressed to Thomas.
The letter was dated eleven years earlier.
Thomas, I can no longer accept the payments. Someone has been contacting the facility, claiming to be Rebecca's legal guardian. They say they intend to transfer her to another institution. I fear they are using her condition to gain access to the trust.
The signature belonged to Margaret.
I covered my mouth.
“She knew someone was using Rebecca.””
Caleb opened the medical file.
The last documented appointment had occurred three weeks before my mother's death.
After that, the records stopped.
No discharge paperwork.
No transfer documents.
No death certificate.
Nothing.
“Rebecca didn't die,” I whispered.
Caleb shook his head.
“Not according to these records.””
Marcus leaned over the desk.
“Could she have been moved somewhere else?””
“Possibly. But the person who arranged the transfer used a legal authorization signed by someone with access to the Whitmore estate.””
I looked at Daniel.
“Who?””
He stared at the signature on the document.
His hands began to shake.
“Richard.””
Caleb compared the signature with the payment authorizations.
“They match.””
Daniel sank into the chair.
“Richard told me Rebecca had been transferred to a specialist facility overseas. He said Thomas approved it.””
“And you believed him?””
“I was twenty-eight. I had no reason to think he would invent something like that.””
“You were old enough to run part of the company,” I replied.
Daniel lowered his head.
“I know.””
Caleb photographed every document before placing it in a protective folder.
Then he found a small envelope tucked behind the medical records.
Inside was a recent photograph of a woman standing outside a public library.
She appeared to be in her early forties, with dark hair and eyes that looked almost exactly like mine.
On the back, someone had written an address in Atlanta.
And beneath it, three words:
*She remembers everything.*
I stared at the photograph.
“Who took this?””
Caleb examined the paper.
“The date is from last week.””
Marcus looked toward the warehouse entrance.
“Richard was here recently.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“He came to me three days ago. He said he had found someone who could destroy the entire family if she started talking.””
My heart pounded.
“Rebecca?””
Daniel nodded.
“He said she had recovered enough to remember what happened to Margaret.””
I felt a strange mixture of terror and hope.
My sister was alive.
Somewhere in Atlanta, a woman who shared my mother's face might know the truth about our family.
Caleb took the address.
“We'll go there now.””
But as we reached the exit, Marcus stopped.
“Sarah, wait.””
I turned.
He looked at me with blood on his collar and shame in his eyes.
“I need to tell you something before you see her.””
“What?””
He swallowed.
“Rebecca isn't just your sister.””
I stared at him.
“Then what is she?””
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
Daniel closed his eyes.
May you like
And Marcus whispered the words that made the entire night seem unreal.
“She was the woman I was supposed to marry before I met you.””
