Chapter 11: The Sister Who Never Existed
“Tell me the truth,” I said.
Elena stood beneath the garden lights, her face pale and wet with tears.
“I don't know what Isabelle told you, but you cannot believe everything she says.””
“That's a convenient answer.””
“Dominic, please.””
“Is your name Elena Voss?””
She hesitated.
That hesitation was enough to make Raymond raise his weapon.
“Answer him,” he ordered.
Elena looked at my daughters.
Then she whispered, “No.””
Mara covered her mouth.
Ethan stepped between them.
“Who are you?””
Elena's shoulders slumped.
“My name is Claire Mercer.””
I recognized the surname.
Mercer was the name of the medical examiner who had certified Isabelle's death.
I felt a cold pressure build behind my ribs.
“You're related to the examiner?””
“He was my father.””
Raymond swore under his breath.
Claire continued before I could interrupt.
“My father worked for Vincent for years. He falsified medical records, changed identities, and made people disappear. When I discovered what he was doing, I tried to expose him.””
“And instead, you became part of it?””
“No. I helped Isabelle escape.””
I stared at her.
“Explain.””
Claire took a shaky breath.
“Fourteen months ago, Vincent arranged for Mara to meet Isabelle outside the preschool. He told Mara that Isabelle was planning to take Ethan away from her. Mara believed him. She brought a gun.””
Mara bowed her head.
“I thought I was protecting my son.””
“You shot Isabelle,” Claire said.
“But you didn't kill her.””
I stopped breathing.
“What?””
“The bullet struck her shoulder. She survived. Vincent's men took her before the police arrived.””
Mara looked up, horrified.
“I thought she was dead.””
“You were supposed to think that,” Claire replied.
“Vincent needed you to disappear. He needed Dominic to believe his wife was dead. And he needed a body that could pass for Isabelle's.””
My hands curled into fists.
“Whose body?””
Claire looked at Mara.
“Your sister's.””
Mara staggered against the SUV.
“No. You told me Elena died years ago.””
Claire shook her head.
“I'm not Elena.””
“Then who was Elena?””
“A real woman. Isabelle's sister. She died in a car accident when we were teenagers.””
The words seemed to drain the warmth from the night.
Mara had been manipulated into shooting Isabelle. Claire had helped replace Isabelle's identity with that of a dead woman. Vincent had used my grief to ensure I never questioned the funeral.
But one question remained.
“Why did you come to work for me?”” I demanded.
Claire looked at the girls.
“Because Isabelle asked me to.””
“She's been alive this whole time?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“I don't know her current location. She contacted me through an intermediary. She told me to get close to the girls and wait until they felt safe enough to speak.””
I remembered the singing in the kitchen.
The sudden change in my daughters.
“Why did they start talking that day?””
Claire glanced at Nora.
“Because they recognized me.””
Nora stepped away from Grace.
“You told Mommy you would come back.””
Claire knelt in front of her.
“I promised her I would protect you.””
“You said the bad man couldn't find us.””
Claire's face crumpled.
“I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry.””
Nora backed away.
“You lied.””
The two words were quiet, but they hurt Claire more than any accusation I could have made.
I looked toward the road.
“We're leaving. Raymond, take the girls to a secure location. Ethan, come with me.””
“Where are you going?”” Ethan asked.
“To the clinic in Switzerland.””
Claire stood abruptly.
“You can't go there.””
“Why not?””
“Because that's where Vincent keeps the original records. If he knows you've found the ledger, he'll destroy everything.””
“Then we have to get there before him.””
Raymond opened the SUV's rear door.
“Sir, we need to move.””
As we climbed inside, my phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed a woman lying in a hospital bed, her face turned toward the camera.
Isabelle.
Her eyes were closed, and a bandage covered her shoulder.
The image had been taken recently.
Beneath it was a message.
You want to know the truth? Come alone.
A second message followed.
Bring the ledger.
Then a third.
And leave the children with the woman you trust.
I looked through the window at Claire.
She was standing beside Mara, watching us with an expression I couldn't read.
“Who sent this?”” Ethan asked.
I checked the number.
It belonged to a phone registered to my own security company.
Vincent had found a way to contact us again.
I handed the phone to Raymond.
“Can you trace it?””
He studied the screen.
“Not from here. But the message came through the estate's internal server.””
I looked at my daughters.
Olivia was staring at the photograph.
“Daddy?””
“Yes, sweetheart?””
She pointed to the hospital bed.
“That's not Mommy.””
My heart lurched.
“What do you mean?””
“Mommy has a little moon on her wrist.””
I stared at the photograph.
The woman's right wrist was visible beneath the hospital blanket.
There was no crescent-shaped scar.
No birthmark.
No sign of the woman I had loved.
Then Sophie leaned forward.
“Daddy, look at the window.””
Behind the hospital bed, reflected in the glass, stood a man wearing a silver ring.
Vincent.
But he wasn't looking at the woman in the bed.
He was looking directly at the camera.
As though he knew I would see the photograph.
As though he wanted me to understand that he could reach anyone, anywhere.
My phone rang again.
This time, I answered on speaker.
Vincent's voice filled the car.
“You've learned quite a lot tonight, Dominic.””
“Where is my wife?””
“Alive. For the moment.””
“If you touch her—”
“You'll do what? Kill me? You should have done that eighteen years ago.””
I leaned forward.
“What do you want?””
“The ledger. Bring it to the clinic in Switzerland. Come alone, and I'll give you Isabelle.””
“And if I don't?””
Vincent's voice turned cold.
“Then your daughters will lose their mother a second time.””
The call ended.
I looked at Raymond.
“Get us to the airport.””
Ethan shook his head.
“You can't trust him.””
“I know.””
“Then why go?””
I looked at the photograph of the woman in the hospital bed.
“Because if there's even a chance my wife is alive, I'm not letting Vincent decide her fate.””
Ethan studied me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“I'm coming with you.””
Before I could object, Olivia reached across the seat and grabbed my hand.
“Daddy, Mommy said if you ever saw the moon disappear, you should remember the lighthouse.””
I turned toward her.
“What lighthouse?””
May you like
She whispered, “The place where she told us the real story.””
And suddenly, I knew where we had to go first.
