I stared at the phone until the screen went dark.
Nobody spoke.
The room seemed suddenly smaller than before, filled with the faint electrical hum of the restaurant and the distant clatter of dishes from the kitchen.
“Call her,” Julian said.
I was already dialing.
The call went straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
I tried a third time.
Still nothing.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Don't call again.”
I turned on him.
“My sister is missing.”
“And whoever took her expects you to panic.”
“I am panicking.”
“I know.”
“Then don't tell me to stop.”
Arthur took a breath.
“The message was designed to make you move without thinking.”
I held up the phone.
“They knew about the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“They knew about Chloe.”
“Yes.”
“They knew the old estate.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“Then they have been watching us.”
He nodded.
“For some time.”
Julian moved toward the door.
“I'm going to check the cameras.”
Arthur stopped him.
“No.”
Julian turned.
“What?”
“If someone is watching this building, they'll expect us to separate.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Stay together.”
I hated agreeing with Arthur.
But the situation had changed.
The threat wasn't abstract anymore.
It had Chloe's name attached to it.
I opened the ledger again.
The pages shook slightly in my hands.
“Why the old Vance estate?”
Arthur answered.
“Because the estate was where your mother kept the original trust records.”
“It's abandoned.”
“Officially.”
“What does that mean?”
“Daniel maintained a private room there.”
I looked at him.
“You said he was dead.”
“He is.”
“But his room may not be.”
I closed the ledger.
“We're going.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“My sister is there.”
“You don't know that.”
“The caller said—”
“The caller wanted you to believe that.”
I stepped toward him.
“If Chloe is there, every minute matters.”
“And if she isn't, you're walking into a trap.”
Julian looked at me.
“He's right about one thing.”
I stared at him.
“We can't go blindly.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I forced myself to breathe.
“What do we know?”
Arthur answered immediately.
“The estate has three entrances. The main gate, the service road, and an underground access tunnel.”
I looked at him.
“You know an awful lot about the place.”
“I grew up there.”
That was the first time he had admitted it.
I studied his face.
“You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
“You spent years keeping my mother away from your family.”
“She chose to stay away.”
“She was afraid of you.”
“She was afraid of what the family had become.”
His answer was quieter than I expected.
I opened the ledger again.
“Then let's find out what happened.”
We left Bellamy's through the rear entrance.
Julian drove.
Arthur sat in the passenger seat.
I sat in the back with the ledger pressed against my chest.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Then Julian broke the silence.
“There is something else you need to know.”
I looked at the back of his head.
“What?”
“The night your mother disappeared, I wasn't alone when I found her.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who was with you?”
“Daniel.”
Arthur turned sharply.
“You never told me that.”
“I didn't trust you.”
Arthur stared at him.
“You should have.”
“No.”
Julian's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“I saw Daniel pull your mother from the road.”
I leaned forward.
“You said she was hit by a car.”
“She was.”
“Daniel hit her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what do you know?”
“He was driving the car.”
Silence.
Arthur looked stunned.
“Daniel told me he found her.”
Julian shook his head.
“He found her because he was looking for her.”
I felt sick.
“Did he hit her?”
“I never saw the impact.”
“Then why did you say he was responsible?”
“Because he admitted he had been following her.”
I closed my eyes.
The pieces were becoming uglier.
Daniel had followed my mother.
He had found her after the accident.
He had taken her to a private clinic.
Julian had helped hide her.
Arthur had known about the trust.
Evelyn had known about Daniel's actions.
Margaret had helped my mother disappear.
And somehow Chloe had now been pulled into the middle.
We reached the old estate just after sunset.
The gates stood open.
That was wrong.
Arthur noticed it too.
“They should be locked.”
Julian stopped the car.
Nobody moved.
Then I saw something hanging from the gate.
A strip of blue fabric.
My mother's favorite coat had been blue.
I stepped out.
Arthur grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I pulled away.
“It could be a message.”
“It could be bait.”
I walked closer.
The fabric wasn't from my mother's coat.
It was from Chloe's scarf.
I knew it immediately.
I had bought it for her last winter.
My hands went cold.
“She was here.”
Arthur looked at the ground.
There were tire marks near the gate.
Fresh.
Julian crouched beside them.
“Two vehicles.”
“One leaving?”
“One arriving.”
Arthur looked toward the house.
“Then we're not alone.”
We entered through the side door.
The house smelled of dust and damp wood.
Every room was dark.
I called Chloe's name.
No answer.
“Chloe!”
My voice echoed through the hallway.
Nothing.
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A single knock.
We all froze.
Another knock.
Three slow taps.
Arthur raised one finger.
Stay.
He moved toward the staircase.
Julian followed.
I stayed behind them until we reached the upper floor.
The sound came from the old study.
Arthur opened the door.
Empty.
Except for a chair.
A chair with Chloe's scarf hanging over the back.
I rushed toward it.
There was a phone beneath the scarf.
Chloe's phone.
The screen was cracked.
I picked it up.
One message remained open.
A photograph.
It showed my mother.
Taken years earlier.
Standing in the estate library.
Behind her was a man.
I zoomed in.
Daniel.
Beside him was another person.
I recognized the face.
Evelyn.
But the third figure was someone I had never seen before.
A woman.
Margaret stepped into the doorway behind us.
She had followed us.
I turned sharply.
“You came here?”
She looked at the photograph.
Her face went white.
“I know her.”
“Who is she?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Her name is Celia.”
“Who is Celia?”
“She was your mother's sister.”
I stared at her.
“My mother had a sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because she died.”
“When?”
Margaret didn't answer.
Arthur did.
“She didn't.”
The room went silent.
I looked at him.
“What?”
Arthur's face had gone rigid.
“Celia disappeared twenty-two years ago.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
Arthur looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I thought she was dead.”
“Then why is she in this photograph?”
Nobody had an answer.
I looked at the picture again.
The woman standing beside my mother was older than I was, but there was something unmistakable about her eyes.
The same pale blue as my mother's.
The same eyes I had seen in the mirror all my life.
A noise sounded downstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
Arthur closed the study door.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Laura.”
“No one separates me from Chloe again.”
He looked at me.
Then nodded.
We moved downstairs together.
A figure crossed the hall.
Julian switched on the light.
The room was empty.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“You should never have opened the second ledger.”
I turned.
A woman stood at the end of the corridor.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Pale blue eyes.
My breath caught.
She looked at me.
Then at Arthur.
Then at Margaret.
“My God,” she whispered.
I knew her face.
Not from photographs.
From my own reflection.
She was my mother's sister.
Celia.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: The Woman We Thought Was Dead Knew Why My Mother Vanished, but Her Story Made the Ledger and Chloe’s Disappearance Even More Dangerous
The Dinner Was Expensive, but the Real Cost Began When the Couple Walked Away Without Looking Back
Part 9 of 12
