Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO VANISHED AGAIN
Daniel didn't speak for almost a minute.
Then he asked Sarah one question.
“Who reported her missing?”
“Her husband.”
I stared.
“Hannah is married?”
“Apparently.”
Sarah continued.
“Her husband says she left for work Monday morning and never came home.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Children?”
“One daughter. Eight years old.”
I covered my mouth.
Daniel had a niece.
A little girl he'd never met.
And now her mother was missing.
Again.
***
We drove to Portland that afternoon.
Grace's husband, Andrew Ellis, met us at the door.
He was a quiet man in his late thirties with tired eyes and a wedding ring he kept twisting.
When Daniel introduced himself, Andrew went pale.
“Brooks?”
Daniel nodded.
Andrew looked at me.
Then back at Daniel.
“Grace told me this day might come.”
My heart raced.
“She knew?”
Andrew stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The house smelled of cinnamon and children's shampoo.
Photographs lined the hallway.
Grace smiling beside Andrew.
Grace holding a baby.
Grace standing outside a school.
Daniel stopped before one photograph.
His hand lifted.
Then fell.
“Hannah.”
Andrew watched him.
“She told me her real name.”
Daniel looked at him.
“When?”
“Before we married.”
“Why didn't she contact me?”
Andrew's eyes filled.
“Because she thought you were involved.”
Daniel went still.
“In what?”
“The people who took her.”
I felt the room tighten.
Andrew continued.
“Martin Bennett told her the Brooks family had arranged her disappearance.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Grace eventually suspected he was lying.”
“Then why didn't she come home?”
Andrew looked toward the stairs.
“Because she had a daughter.”
Daniel's expression changed.
Andrew swallowed.
“She was afraid they would hurt her.”
***
We sat in the kitchen.
Andrew explained that Grace had lived under several names.
Margaret Carter had helped arrange the first move.
Ruth Ellison had provided shelter.
Later, a legal aid attorney helped Grace establish a new identity through a protected process.
She eventually became a teacher.
Met Andrew.
Married.
Had a daughter.
Built a life.
Then three weeks earlier, she received a letter.
Andrew handed it to us.
The envelope contained one sentence.
YOUR BROTHER IS LOOKING FOR YOU.
Daniel stared.
“Who sent it?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at Andrew.
“Did Grace tell anyone?”
“She said she needed time.”
“Then she disappeared?”
He nodded.
***
Their daughter, Sophie, appeared in the doorway.
She had dark hair.
Gray eyes.
And a small scar above her eyebrow.
Daniel stopped breathing.
The resemblance was impossible to miss.
Sophie looked at him.
“Are you my uncle?”
Daniel knelt.
“Yes.”
She studied him.
“Mommy said you were nice when you were little.”
His eyes filled.
“She said that?”
Sophie nodded.
“She said you used to let her win at cards.”
Daniel laughed through tears.
“She cheated.”
Sophie smiled.
“Mommy cheats too.”
Daniel reached for her hand.
Then stopped.
“May I?”
She nodded.
He held her small fingers.
I turned away.
Some moments were too private to watch.
***
That evening, Andrew showed us Grace's office.
Bookshelves.
Lesson plans.
Photographs.
A locked desk drawer.
Inside was a notebook.
On the first page, Grace had written:
IF I DISAPPEAR, DON'T TRUST MARTIN BENNETT.
Below it was a list of names.
Thomas Vale.
Jason Mercer Sr.
Martin Bennett.
And one more.
A name I recognized.
Olivia Bennett.
I stared.
Daniel looked at me.
“What?”
I pointed.
“Olivia.”
He read the page.
Then turned it.
Grace had written:
OLIVIA KNOWS WHERE THE CHILDREN WENT.
My stomach dropped.
Olivia hadn't just been following me.
She knew more than she'd admitted.
Much more.
***
I called her.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Emily?”
“Where is Grace Ellis?”
Silence.
Then Olivia began crying.
“I didn't know they'd take her.”
I closed my eyes.
“Who?”
“My father.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Olivia.”
She sobbed.
“He said Grace was going to expose everything.”
Daniel took the phone.
“Ms. Bennett.”
Olivia stopped crying.
“Mr. Brooks?”
“If my sister is harmed, the truth about Harbor House will come out anyway.”
A long silence.
Then Olivia whispered:
“She's not the only one.”
Daniel became still.
“What?”
Olivia's voice broke.
“There are twelve others.”
I stared.
Twelve.
Twelve children.
Twelve lives.
May you like
And Olivia knew where they'd gone.
---
