Chapter 14 - Evelyn's Game
Security footage showed Evelyn walking out of the station in a stolen paramedic jacket during the blackout.
No one forced her.
No one escorted her.
She simply left.
Ortiz rewound the footage twice.
"She planned this."
Daniel felt betrayed in a way he couldn't explain. Evelyn was his biological mother. He had known her less than a day, yet some part of him had already wanted to believe her.
Rachel said, "What if she worked with Thomas from the beginning?"
Margaret answered quietly. "They have always hated each other. But hate doesn't stop people from sharing a goal."
The next decrypted folder from Richard's flash drive changed the case again.
It contained scanned letters from Evelyn to Richard spanning twenty years.
Not pleas.
Threats.
I KNOW WHERE THE CHILDREN WENT.
PAY WHAT YOU OWE OR I SPEAK.
Daniel read them with growing disgust.
"She blackmailed him."
Ortiz nodded. "For years."
"Then she knew I was alive."
"At least by 2004."
Daniel's throat tightened.
Evelyn had told him she believed he was dead until recently.
Another lie.
Then a final letter appeared.
IF DANIEL EVER LEARNS THE TRUTH, YOU LOSE EVERYTHING. SO DO I.
Rachel whispered, "She didn't want to find you. She wanted to keep the secret buried."
Daniel sat back.
"Then why take Emma from Thomas?"
Ortiz looked at the timeline. "Maybe she didn't rescue Emma. Maybe they staged a transfer."
Daniel stood. "Where would she go?"
Margaret answered immediately. "The lake house."
Richard had owned a small cabin on Lake Delavan under a company name. Daniel had spent summers there as a boy.
Police raced north.
The cabin was empty, but warm.
Coffee steamed in a mug.
A laptop was open on the kitchen table.
On screen was a spreadsheet listing twelve children from the ledger, with current names and addresses.
Every row had a status.
Eleven said LOCATED.
Daniel's row said ACTIVE.
Beside it was Emma's name.
Ortiz's face hardened. "This isn't about old crimes anymore. They're tracking descendants."
In the bedroom, Rachel found a wall covered with photographs.
Daniel at graduation.
Daniel and Rachel at their wedding.
Margaret grocery shopping.
Emma leaving the hospital after birth.
Years of surveillance.
Then Daniel spotted one photograph pinned apart from the others.
It showed Thomas and Evelyn outside the cabin three weeks earlier.
They were shaking hands.
On the back, in Richard's handwriting, were three words:
THEY FOUND IT.
"Found what?" Rachel asked.
A floorboard creaked under Daniel's shoe.
He lifted the rug.
Beneath it was a steel hatch.
Ortiz opened it.
Inside the crawlspace sat a plastic case.
Daniel lifted the lid.
Not money.
Birth certificates.
Twelve of them.
And on top, a thirteenth.
Emma Cross.
The date of birth was correct.
The parents were not.
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Under MOTHER: Evelyn Vale.
Under FATHER: Thomas Vale.
