Chapter 2 - The Maid Who Refused the Prize
Damian reached the second floor before Vincent could stop him.
“Boss.”
“Stay with Noah.”
“Absolutely not.”
Damian drew the pistol beneath his jacket.
Elena saw it.
“No guns near him.”
“This is my house.”
“And that’s your son.”
He looked back.
Noah stood below, trembling.
Damian holstered the weapon.
Vincent signaled two guards toward the opposite staircase.
Elena remained beside Noah.
“Can you stay here?”
Noah shook his head.
His eyes were fixed upstairs.
Then he reached for Elena.
She took his hand.
Damian wanted to object.
Instead, he watched his son climb.
Rebecca’s bedroom waited at the end of the hall.
Damian inserted the key.
The door opened.
Empty.
Curtains moved beside a partially open window.
Vincent crossed the room.
“Window latch is broken.”
Damian scanned the untouched bed, Rebecca’s books, her perfume bottles.
Then Noah entered.
He walked directly toward the dressing table.
“Noah?”
The boy crouched.
Reached underneath.
And removed an envelope taped beneath the drawer.
Damian’s name was written across it.
Rebecca’s handwriting.
His hands suddenly felt numb.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Rebecca stood beside another woman outside a hospital.
Damian recognized Rebecca immediately.
He did not recognize the woman.
Elena did.
The photograph slipped from her fingers.
“No.”
Damian looked at her.
“You know her?”
Elena backed away.
“No.”
“Elena.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Who is she?”
Elena’s voice broke.
“My mother.”
Silence.
Damian picked up the photograph.
On the back, Rebecca had written a date.
Six years earlier.
Below it were five words.
Ask Evelyn about the children.
“Elena.”
She was already shaking her head.
“My mother disappeared thirteen years ago.”
Damian turned the photograph over again.
“Then Rebecca knew her.”
“I can see that.”
“What children?”
“I don’t know.”
Noah suddenly pointed beneath the bed.
Vincent knelt.
He reached underneath and pulled out a small wooden box.
Locked.
Damian broke it open.
Inside lay medical documents, an old flash drive, and a hospital identification badge.
Elena picked up the badge.
Her knees almost failed.
EVELYN HART — PEDIATRIC CARDIAC SERVICES.
“My mother worked at St. Catherine’s.”
Damian’s gaze sharpened.
“So did Rebecca.”
Elena looked at him.
“What?”
“She was a pediatric cardiologist before Noah was born.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Because St. Catherine’s was also the hospital where Lily had died.
Her daughter.
The hospital that had refused surgery without a deposit.
She looked at Rebecca’s photograph again.
“No.”
Damian saw something terrible cross her face.
“What?”
“My daughter died there.”
Noah looked between them.
Elena’s hands shook.
Damian lowered his voice.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“What was her name?”
“Lily.”
Noah dropped Captain Buttons.
Everyone turned.
The boy stared at Elena.
His mouth opened.
His lips formed a shape.
L.
Elena crouched immediately.
“Noah?”
His eyes filled with tears.
He pointed at the flash drive.
Then at Elena.
Then he whispered one broken syllable.
“Li…”
Elena’s heart stopped.
Damian moved closer.
Noah recoiled.
Elena held up her hand.
“Don’t.”
She turned back.
“You don’t have to say it.”
Noah cried silently.
Elena signed safe.
Noah signed back.
Then he pointed toward the flash drive again.
Vincent found a laptop.
The drive contained one video.
Rebecca appeared on-screen.
She looked exhausted.
Terrified.
“If Damian is watching this,” she began, “then I failed.”
Damian’s face hardened.
Rebecca continued.
“There are things about St. Catherine’s you don’t know. Things about Noah. Things about Evelyn Hart.”
Elena gripped the table.
Rebecca looked directly into the camera.
“And if Elena Hart ever comes into this house, Damian, you must not let her leave until she knows why her daughter died.”
The video suddenly cut to black.
A knock sounded behind them.
Mrs. Whitmore stood in the doorway.
Her face was colorless.
“Elena,” she whispered.
“What?”
“There’s someone downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
Mrs. Whitmore swallowed.
“A man who says he’s your husband.”
Elena stared at her.
“My ex-husband disappeared two years ago.”
Mrs. Whitmore stepped aside.
A man was standing at the bottom of the staircase.
Evan Hart looked up at Elena and smiled.
Then he lifted a photograph.
May you like
It showed Lily alive.
The date printed on the corner was six months after Elena had buried her.
