Chapter 17 - THE WOMAN WHO LIED
Daniel found Margaret’s house locked and empty.
The neighbors said she had left in a hurry, taking only a suitcase. Her phone went straight to voicemail.
Inside her desk, Daniel discovered a photograph of Claire as a teenager, standing beside a man Daniel had never seen before.
On the back were two words:
Thomas Hale.
Victor’s older brother.
Daniel took the photograph to Vanessa.
She stared at it, then sat down.
“Thomas died before Victor disappeared,” she said. “At least, that’s what everyone was told.”
“Why was he with Claire?”
“Because Claire believed Thomas had evidence against your father.”
Daniel felt anger rising again. Every answer led to another betrayal.
He called Detective Harris, who agreed to meet him at the station. But before Daniel arrived, an unknown number sent him a message.
Come to the old courthouse. Alone. Margaret is waiting.
Daniel knew it could be a trap. He went anyway, leaving Emma with a trusted neighbor and asking Harris to track his location.
Inside the abandoned courthouse, he found Margaret sitting beneath a broken chandelier.
“You should have stayed away,” she said.
“You knew Claire had twins. You knew Evelyn existed.”
Margaret began to cry. “I knew there were two babies. I didn’t know where the second one went.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Robert told me the second child had died. Claire believed him until she discovered the adoption records.”
“Then why didn’t you help her?”
Margaret looked away.
“Because Thomas Hale threatened to expose a secret of mine. I was afraid of losing everything.”
Daniel stepped closer. “You let your daughter search alone while you protected yourself?”
“I was trying to protect Claire.”
“You abandoned her!”
Margaret slapped him.
Daniel stared at her, stunned by the sudden violence.
She immediately covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I have lived with that regret every day.”
Before Daniel could respond, the courthouse doors slammed shut.
Victor emerged from the shadows, no longer in custody because, as he explained with a cruel smile, someone had arranged his transfer and bribed the guards.
“You always were too trusting, Daniel.”
Daniel lunged at him, but Victor’s men seized him. One punched Daniel in the stomach; another struck his face and forced him to his knees.
Victor crouched beside him.
“Your mother-in-law knows who took Evelyn. And she knows who killed Claire.”
Daniel looked at Margaret.
She was shaking her head, terrified.
Victor smiled.
“Tell him, Margaret. Or I’ll tell him myself.”
Margaret opened her mouth.
Then a gunshot echoed through the courthouse.
Victor turned toward the sound.
May you like
And Daniel saw someone standing behind the shattered doorway.
Someone he thought was dead.
