Chapter 7 - Jane WThey couldn't raid a medical center on a stranger's word. Owen contacted a detective, Nadia Brooks, who had worked Claire's missing-person case and disliked the way it had been closed.
“Give me documents I can use in court,” Nadia said. “Not just a rich man's suspicion.”
Emma brought her Saint Agnes papers. Owen provided financial transactions. Daniel supplied the picture. Nadia stared at the date and called for a records subpoena.
That night Emma came to the Mercer house at Daniel's request. Vivian was staying elsewhere. Leo met Emma in the hall and held up a stuffed rabbit by one ear.
“She needs soup,” he declared.
Emma crouched. “Maybe we can make her pretend soup.”
They sat at the kitchen island with toy dishes while Daniel watched his son laugh, a sound he had begun to think he'd never hear again. Emma never demanded a smile. She simply made space for one.
After Leo went upstairs, Daniel said, “Claire once told me people show you who they are when nobody is watching.”
For a little while the kitchen was just a kitchen. Water boiled, a spoon clinked, and Leo insisted that the stuffed rabbit needed a napkin. Daniel watched Emma honor that solemn request, and felt something in his chest uncurl that he had been holding tight since Claire vanished.
Emma nodded. “She used to say that to me too.”
Daniel offered her a job helping with Leo. Emma shook her head. “I won't be a replacement for his mother.”
“That's not what I'm asking.”
“Then I can visit as his friend. But I need you to understand my brother is still at risk.”
Before she left, the doorbell rang. No visitor appeared on the camera. A courier package rested on the porch.
Inside was a child's drawing of the same blue door Leo kept sketching. Across it someone had written: JANE W IS NOT CLAIRE.
At the bottom, in Claire's distinctive cursive, were six words Daniel knew she would never write lightly:
May you like
IF YOU LOVE HIM, DON'T COME.
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