CHAPTER 4: THE SISTER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Claire did not run when Officer Ortiz saw her.
She raised both hands.
“Please,” she said. “I’m here to help.”
The fire alarm continued shrieking as nurses moved patients away from the east wing. Smoke drifted through the corridor, thin and gray, but enough to turn the hospital into confusion.
Officer Ortiz moved between Claire and my bed.
“Step into the room slowly.”
Claire obeyed.
She was thirty-seven, with Caleb’s dark eyes but none of his physical confidence. Her blouse was wrinkled, her hair damp with sweat, and there was dried blood on one sleeve.
I stared at it.
“Whose blood is that?”
Claire looked down as if she had forgotten it was there.
“Mine.”
She pushed up her sleeve.
A shallow cut ran along her forearm.
“What happened?” Ortiz asked.
“Caleb happened.”
The alarm stopped abruptly.
The silence that followed felt almost as threatening.
Hospital security announced that the smoke had come from a trash fire in the stairwell. It was contained. No evacuation was needed.
Officer Ortiz’s jaw tightened.
“A distraction.”
Claire nodded.
“He told someone to start it.”
“You’ve been in contact with him?”
“He called me twenty minutes ago.”
“From where?”
“A blocked number.”
Ortiz held out her hand.
“Give me your phone.”
Claire passed it over.
Then she looked at me.
“I know Emma told you not to trust me.”
“How do you know about the recording?”
“Because I helped her make it.”
The room went still.
I searched Claire’s face for a lie.
“What?”
“She came to me six weeks ago. She’d seen a message on Caleb’s laptop. She was terrified.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I tried to understand what was happening first.”
“That is not an answer.”
Claire flinched.
“No. It isn’t.”
Anger moved through me, hot enough to overpower the pain.
“My daughter came to you because she was afraid her father wanted me dead, and you investigated?”
“I was afraid no one would believe us without proof.”
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“But you didn’t.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because every time I mentioned Caleb’s temper, you defended him.”
The truth struck cleanly.
I hated her for saying it.
I hated myself more because she was right.
Officer Ortiz interrupted.
“Where is Emma?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
I gripped the bed rail.
“Exactly?”
“Vivian took her.”
“We know that.”
“No. You don’t understand. Vivian didn’t take Emma to protect Caleb.”
Claire stepped closer, but Ortiz raised one hand, stopping her.
“My mother took Emma because she finally realized Caleb intended to silence everyone who knew about the accident.”
“Then why did she lie to the police?”
“Because she didn’t trust them. Caleb has a friend in the department.”
Ortiz’s expression hardened.
“Name.”
“Detective Marcus Hale.”
The name meant nothing to me, but Ortiz reacted immediately.
“He works major crimes.”
“He also golfs with Caleb and handles security consulting for Walker Development.”
Officer Ortiz took out her radio, then hesitated.
If Claire was telling the truth, contacting the wrong person could reveal everything.
“Why would Emma say not to trust you?” I asked.
Claire looked toward the evidence folder.
“Because I told her I needed time before going to the police. She thought I was protecting Caleb.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
Officer Ortiz noticed.
“What are you leaving out?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I knew about the life insurance policy.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
“I notarized one of the documents.”
“You witnessed my forged signature?”
“I didn’t know it was forged at the time. Caleb brought the paperwork to my office. He said you had signed at home because you were sick.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Those three words contained an entire family’s failure.
Vivian wanted to believe Caleb was successful.
Claire wanted to believe he was misunderstood.
I wanted to believe he loved me.
And Emma had been the only one brave enough to look directly at the truth.
“What else?” Ortiz asked.
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Caleb has been moving money out of Walker Development for years. The company is close to collapsing. He borrowed against properties, created fake subcontractors, and hid losses from investors.”
“So my death would solve his financial problems?”
“The insurance money would cover part of it. He also planned to sell the house and claim you had authorized the transfer.”
I remembered signing stacks of documents Caleb placed in front of me over the years.
Tax forms.
School paperwork.
Insurance renewals.
I had signed without reading because he made impatience feel like punishment.
“How did he arrange the crash?”
“Daniel Mercer modified a stolen car. He was supposed to hit you at the intersection and make it look like reckless driving.”
The words felt unreal.
“Supposed to hit me?”
“Caleb told him you would be alone. He didn’t know you had changed your route to stop at Emma’s school.”
I remembered that afternoon.
Emma had forgotten her science project.
I had driven toward school to deliver it.
If I had followed my usual route, the collision might have happened on a quieter road.
A road without witnesses.
“Why is Daniel hiding?” Ortiz asked.
“Because Caleb refused to pay the rest.”
“And Caleb escaped because?”
“Daniel threatened to confess. Caleb wants to find him before police do.”
Officer Ortiz stepped into the hallway and made several calls using a secure line.
Claire moved closer to my bed.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“Rebecca—”
“You don’t get to apologize yet.”
She nodded slowly.
“That’s fair.”
“Where would Vivian take Emma?”
Claire thought for a moment.
“There’s an old church retreat near Millstone. Our grandfather donated the land decades ago. There are cabins behind the main building.”
“Address?”
“I can give you directions.”
Officer Ortiz returned.
“We have units going there now. Not local units. State police.”
Claire’s shoulders sagged with relief.
Then her phone rang in Ortiz’s hand.
Blocked number.
Ortiz answered on speaker.
No one spoke at first.
Then Caleb’s voice filled the room.
“Claire.”
She went pale.
“Caleb.”
“You should have stayed out of this.”
“Where is Emma?”
“You know where she is.”
“No, I don’t.”
He laughed softly.
“You were always a terrible liar.”
Officer Ortiz motioned for Claire to keep him talking.
“What do you want?” Claire asked.
“I want my wife to stop destroying our family.”
I could not remain silent.
“You destroyed it.”
There was a pause.
Then Caleb’s voice became soft.
“Rebecca.”
My skin crawled.
“You survived the crash,” he said. “You survived the hospital. You should be grateful.”
“Grateful?”
“You have no idea how many people are trying to help you.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
The phrase was so familiar that for half a second, I was back in the kitchen, apologizing for his cruelty.
Then I remembered the ultrasound.
Two heartbeats.
“You hit your pregnant wife.”
Silence.
Claire looked at me sharply.
Caleb spoke again.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m carrying twins.”
His breathing changed.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
For one wild moment, I wondered whether the news would reach some human place inside him.
Then he said, “That complicates things.”
Not our babies.
Not his children.
Things.
Officer Ortiz’s face hardened.
“Caleb Walker, surrender yourself.”
He laughed.
“Lena Ortiz. I wondered how long it would take you to get involved.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Marcus Hale told me.”
Ortiz’s eyes narrowed.
That confirmed Claire’s warning.
A detective inside the department was feeding information to Caleb.
“Where are you?” Ortiz asked.
“Close enough.”
A metallic sound came through the phone.
A car door closing.
Then Caleb spoke to me.
“Rebecca, tell the police you lied. Tell them the medication confused you. I’ll bring Emma back.”
My heart stopped.
“You have Emma?”
“I know where she is.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You’re the one hurting her. All you have to do is fix this.”
Officer Ortiz shook her head at me.
Do not agree.
But Caleb knew exactly how to reach the weakest place inside me.
“What proof do I have that she’s alive?”
A pause.
Then Emma’s voice came through the line.
“Mom?”
I broke.
“Emma!”
“Mom, don’t listen to—”
The sound cut off.
There was a struggle.
A muffled cry.
Then Caleb returned.
“She’s alive. For now.”
Claire gripped the edge of a chair.
“You said Vivian took her.”
“She did. I corrected the situation.”
“You’re sick.”
“No. I’m cleaning up your mess.”
The line went dead.
Officer Ortiz immediately began tracing the call.
I shook uncontrollably.
“He has her.”
“We don’t know that,” Ortiz said. “The call could be recorded.”
“That was Emma.”
“Yes.”
“I know my daughter’s voice.”
“I believe you. But Caleb may have forced Vivian to connect them by phone.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“If he reached the retreat before police, he could have taken both of them.”
Ortiz’s secure phone buzzed.
She answered.
Her face became grave.
“The state police reached the church property. One cabin has signs of a struggle. Vivian’s car is there.”
“Emma?”
“No.”
“Vivian?”
“No.”
My monitor began beeping faster.
Maya returned and checked my blood pressure.
“You need to stay calm.”
“My daughter has been kidnapped.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
The pain in my stomach sharpened.
Maya pressed the call button.
“Doctor!”
A warm sensation spread beneath the blanket.
I looked down.
Blood.
Too much blood.
The room erupted into motion.
The doctor entered, followed by another nurse.
“We need to stabilize her now.”
I grabbed Officer Ortiz’s hand before she could step away.
“Find Emma.”
“We will.”
“Promise me.”
Her expression changed.
Police officers were not supposed to make promises they could not guarantee.
But she looked me directly in the eye.
“I promise I will not stop.”
As they prepared to move me, Claire reached into her bag and pulled out a small brass key.
“There’s one place Caleb might go,” she said.
Officer Ortiz took it.
“What does this open?”
“A private records room beneath the old Walker Development building.”
“Why would he take Emma there?”
“Because Daniel Mercer kept proof of every job he did for Caleb.”
The doctor began pushing my bed toward surgery.
Claire walked beside us for several steps.
“If Daniel hid the evidence there, Caleb will want Emma to tell him what she copied.”
The elevator doors opened.
Before they moved me inside, Officer Ortiz’s phone rang again.
She listened.
Then she looked at Claire.
“Daniel Mercer just walked into a police station forty miles north.”
Hope flashed through me.
“Did he confess?”
“No.”
Ortiz’s voice became colder.
“He asked for protection because Caleb Walker has Vivian and Emma—and plans to kill them both before sunrise.”
May you like
The elevator doors closed.
And as I was taken toward emergency surgery, I realized I might wake up in a world where my daughter no longer existed.
