Chapter 8 - THE TWELVE NAMES
Olivia agreed to meet us.
Not at the Grand Oak.
Not at her apartment.
At Maple Street Books.
She arrived after closing.
Her hair was tied back.
Her eyes were swollen.
For the first time since I'd known her, she looked like someone who had run out of excuses.
I stood behind the register.
Daniel remained near the door.
Sarah sat at the small reading table.
Olivia looked at me.
“Emily.”
I said nothing.
She swallowed.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don't know what I feel.”
Her face crumpled.
“That might be worse.”
I folded my arms.
“Tell us about the twelve children.”
Olivia opened her handbag.
Inside was a notebook.
Old.
Brown.
Worn at the edges.
She placed it on the table.
“My father kept records.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“Of the placements?”
Olivia nodded.
“Names. Dates. Payments.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Where did you get it?”
“I took it from his office.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
I stared.
“You had this when you sent me on the date?”
Olivia looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of your father?”
She nodded.
“And of what I'd done.”
***
The notebook contained twelve names.
Children moved through Harbor House under false paperwork.
Some had been adopted by families who believed the placements were legal.
Others had been transferred through shell organizations.
Several were still missing.
Sarah photographed every page.
Then she looked at Olivia.
“Why did your father want Emily's locket?”
Olivia hesitated.
“Because Margaret Carter kept the original records.”
“Where?”
Olivia looked at me.
“In something she gave Emily.”
I touched the locket.
“The paper?”
Olivia shook her head.
“Not the paper.”
“Then what?”
“The locket itself.”
Daniel leaned closer.
I opened it.
The silver backing was scratched.
One hinge had been repaired.
I remembered my mother telling me never to let anyone replace it.
I had assumed she was sentimental.
Now I understood.
The hinge concealed a tiny compartment.
Inside was a strip of microfilm.
Sarah stared.
“That's it.”
I held the locket carefully.
“My mother hid the records in here?”
Olivia nodded.
“Dad searched for it for years.”
I looked at her.
“And you were supposed to get it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever try?”
Olivia began crying.
“Once.”
“When?”
“The night you got drunk after Jason left.”
I stared.
She covered her face.
“I opened your jewelry box.”
My stomach turned.
“You went through my things?”
“I couldn't find it.”
“Because I was wearing it.”
She nodded.
I stepped away.
For six years, Olivia had been inside my life.
Inside my apartment.
Inside my grief.
And she'd been searching for evidence my mother died protecting.
***
Sarah took the microfilm for examination.
The records were worse than we'd imagined.
Harbor House had operated a trafficking network disguised as charitable placements.
Martin Bennett handled the children.
Thomas Vale handled payments.
Jason Mercer Sr. suppressed complaints.
Several public officials had accepted bribes.
Margaret Carter discovered the scheme.
She collected evidence.
Then she helped Hannah escape.
The microfilm included photographs.
Bank records.
Signed documents.
And one final statement.
Written by my mother.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, FIND THE CHILDREN.
I stared at the words.
For years, I'd believed my mother died in a car accident.
Now I wasn't sure.
***
That night, Daniel came to the bookstore.
I was sitting on the floor between the history shelves.
He sat beside me.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then I whispered:
“Do you think they killed her?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I don't know.”
I nodded.
“I keep thinking about all the things she never told me.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“But I wish she'd trusted me.”
Daniel was silent.
Then he said:
“Maybe she was waiting until you were old enough.”
I stared at the locket.
“She never got the chance.”
He touched my hand.
I let him.
***
The next morning, Sarah called.
The microfilm contained a bank transfer made two days before my mother's fatal accident.
The recipient was a mechanic.
The payment came from a company controlled by Thomas Vale.
I closed my eyes.
My mother hadn't died because of bad weather.
Someone had paid to tamper with her car.
May you like
And the man responsible was still alive.
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