Chapter 7
The next ninety minutes were the longest of my life.
I sat beside Rachel in Eleanor's kitchen.
My phone lay on the table.
Every time the screen lit up, my heart jumped.
Every time it wasn't Agent Carter, I felt sick.
Maya was upstairs asleep.
Marcus stood near the window.
Brooks was on the phone with someone from his former department.
Nobody said much.
There was nothing left to say.
Then my phone rang.
Agent Carter.
I answered before the first ring ended.
"Did you find her?"
A pause.
Then four words.
"Daniel, she's alive."
I covered my mouth.
For a moment, I couldn't make a sound.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
"Daniel?"
I looked at her.
"She's alive."
Rachel began crying.
Marcus turned away, wiping his eyes.
I leaned against the table.
"Is she okay?"
"She's receiving medical attention."
My heart dropped.
"What happened?"
"We located her at the property. She was conscious and able to identify herself."
I closed my eyes.
"Can I talk to her?"
"Not yet. Medical staff need to evaluate her, and investigators have to ensure her safety."
"Please tell her I'm coming."
"We will."
I sank into a chair.
Three years.
Three years of searching.
Three years of grief.
Three years of trying to explain to an eight-year-old why her mother wasn't coming home.
And now Alicia was alive.
Somewhere in Georgia.
Breathing.
Speaking.
Waiting.
I began crying so hard I couldn't stop.
Rachel wrapped her arms around me.
"We found her," she whispered.
I shook my head.
"She found us."
The following morning, Agent Carter met me at a hospital in Savannah.
She led me into a private conference room.
Brooks was waiting there.
So was a doctor.
I immediately grew frightened.
"What's wrong?"
The doctor spoke gently.
"Alicia has experienced prolonged confinement and psychological trauma. She is physically stable, but she needs careful medical and emotional support."
I sat down.
"Can I see her?"
"Yes. But we need you to understand that she may respond differently than you expect."
I nodded.
I didn't care if she remembered every moment.
I didn't care if she couldn't explain what happened.
I only wanted her safe.
The doctor continued.
"She has asked about her daughter several times."
My eyes filled.
"Of course she has."
Agent Carter sat across from me.
"Daniel, before you see Alicia, there's information you should know."
I looked at her.
"Tell me."
She explained that Alicia had been held under the false identity of Laura Mitchell.
Records described her as a patient who required long-term psychiatric supervision.
Those records appeared to have been falsified.
Rebecca Sloan had admitted helping transfer Alicia between facilities.
She claimed Evelyn Whitmore and Dr. Nathaniel Price arranged the confinement to stop Alicia from revealing the financial scheme.
"Why didn't Alicia escape?" I asked.
Carter's expression softened.
"She tried."
I felt my throat tighten.
"More than once. According to Rebecca, she was told that contacting you or Maya would place both of you in danger."
I stared at the table.
"They threatened our daughter."
"That's what we're investigating."
I thought of Maya's fear.
Vanessa's threats.
The photograph of Rachel's house.
The anonymous messages.
It had never stopped.
For three years, they had been controlling Alicia through the people she loved most.
"How did she finally call me?"
"Rebecca provided her access to a phone. Alicia initially called Vanessa because she believed Vanessa might help her reach you."
I shook my head.
"Vanessa."
Carter nodded.
"We're still investigating how much Vanessa knew and when."
I remembered her confession.
Her panic.
The way she had tried to warn me.
Maybe she was afraid of Evelyn.
Maybe she was trying to protect herself.
But none of that erased what she had done to Maya.
The doctor stood.
"Daniel, she's ready."
I followed him down a quiet hallway.
My legs felt weak.
We stopped outside a hospital room.
The door was partially open.
Through the gap, I saw a woman sitting beside the window.
She wore a pale hospital gown.
Her hair was shorter than I remembered.
She looked thinner.
Older.
But I knew her.
I would have known her anywhere.
"Alicia."
She turned.
For one terrible second, she simply stared.
Then her hands flew to her mouth.
"Daniel?"
I crossed the room.
She stood unsteadily.
I caught her before she could fall.
And suddenly, I was holding my wife.
Not a memory.
Not a photograph.
Not a voice on the phone.
My wife.
Her arms wrapped around me.
She buried her face against my chest.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed.
I shook my head.
"No."
"I'm so sorry."
"No, Alicia. Don't."
She was shaking.
"I tried to come home."
"I know."
"They told me you'd moved on."
I closed my eyes.
"They lied."
"They showed me pictures of you with another woman."
I held her tighter.
"She never replaced you."
Alicia pulled back.
Her eyes searched mine.
"Are you married?"
"No."
She looked confused.
"I thought—"
"The wedding didn't happen."
Tears spilled down her face.
"Why?"
I hesitated.
Then told her the truth.
"Because Vanessa hurt Maya."
Alicia went still.
"What?"
"She's safe now."
"Daniel, what happened to our baby?"
I guided her back to the bed.
I told her about the dressing room.
The slap.
The ruined dress.
Maya's fear.
Alicia covered her mouth.
Her entire body shook.
"She hurt my little girl?"
I knelt in front of her.
"Yes. And I should have seen what was happening sooner."
Alicia touched my face.
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
She began crying again.
"Where is Maya?"
"With Rachel."
"Does she remember me?"
The question broke my heart.
I took Alicia's hands.
"Every day."
Her lips trembled.
"Does she hate me?"
I shook my head.
"She never stopped waiting for you."
Alicia bent forward and cried into my shoulder.
I held her for a long time.
When she finally lifted her head, there was something different in her expression.
Fear.
"Daniel."
"What is it?"
"I need to tell you something about the night I disappeared."
I pulled my chair closer.
She swallowed.
"I found proof that the foundation was stealing money from patients and using false medical records to cover it."
"I know."
"No, Daniel."
Her fingers tightened around mine.
"That wasn't the worst part."
I stared at her.
"What was?"
She looked toward the door.
Then whispered, "Some of the patients weren't supposed to be patients at all."
I felt cold.
"What do you mean?"
"They were people who found out too much."
My chest tightened.
Alicia began trembling.
"Celeste wasn't the first person they silenced."
I waited.
"And I wasn't supposed to survive long enough to tell you."
Before she could continue, someone knocked.
Agent Carter stepped inside.
Her expression was serious.
"Daniel, Alicia, we need to speak privately."
I stood.
"What happened?"
Carter glanced at Alicia.
"Evelyn Whitmore has been taken into custody."
Relief rushed through me.
But Carter wasn't finished.
"Thomas Mercer is also in custody."
I looked at Alicia.
Her face went pale.
Then Carter spoke again.
"However, we found evidence that someone else inside the foundation was giving orders."
I felt my stomach twist.
"Who?"
Carter placed a photograph on the bedside table.
Alicia looked at it.
Then began shaking her head.
"No."
Her voice was barely audible.
"No, that's impossible."
I picked up the photograph.
And realized the man staring back at me was someone who had stood beside me at Alicia's memorial service.
Someone who had held Maya when she cried.
Someone I had trusted my entire life.
May you like
My own uncle.
Richard Bennett.
