Chapter 4: The Man Who Knew Where Rachel Was
“Your wife is waiting.””
Marcus Reed's words hung in the alley.
David stood motionless, the letter trembling between his fingers. Behind him, Harper and Maya clung to each other. Elena had backed against the brick wall, her face drained of color.
For six years, Marcus had been more than David's head of security.
He had been the man who walked Harper into kindergarten on her first day because David had been stuck in a board meeting. He had been the person who stayed at the hospital when Harper had pneumonia. He had even helped David choose Rachel's headstone.
And now he was telling him that his supposedly dead wife was waiting for him.
David took one step toward the SUV.
“Get out of the car.””
Marcus remained behind the wheel.
“David, please. We don't have time for this.””
“I said get out.””
Marcus sighed, opened the driver's door, and stepped onto the wet pavement.
He was a broad-shouldered man in his late forties, with close-cropped brown hair and a scar running beneath his left ear. His dark security uniform was immaculate.
His eyes moved toward the girls.
“Harper. Maya. Come with me.””
Harper immediately hid behind David.
“You know my name?”” Maya asked.
Marcus nodded.
“I've known your name since the day you were born.””
David's blood ran cold.
“You were there?””
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“At St. Catherine's.””
David grabbed the front of his uniform.
“You were at the hospital the night Rachel died?””
Marcus didn't resist.
“I was.””
“And you let me believe she was dead?””
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I did what I was ordered to do.””
David shoved him against the SUV.
“By whom?””
Marcus glanced at Elena.
She shook her head frantically.
“Don't,” she whispered.
Marcus looked back at David.
“By Rachel.””
Silence.
David released him.
“What?””
“Your wife asked me to help her disappear.””
David stared at Marcus as if the man had started speaking another language.
“No.””
“She was alive, David. She was alive when I drove her out of that hospital.””
“Then why didn't she come home?””
Marcus looked toward Harper and Maya.
“Because she believed Richard would kill all three of you if she did.””
David laughed once, bitterly.
“You expect me to believe Rachel abandoned her husband and children?””
“I expect you to understand that she thought it was the only way to keep them alive.””
Elena stepped forward.
“Marcus, stop. You don't get to rewrite what happened.””
Marcus turned.
“You've had six years to tell him the truth, Elena.””
“And you've had six years to admit what you did.””
David raised his hand.
“Enough!””
Both of them fell silent.
He looked at Marcus.
“Where is Rachel?””
Marcus hesitated.
“An hour from here.””
“Take me to her.””
“I can't.””
David's expression hardened.
“Why?””
“Because she's not safe anymore.””
“She's been alive for six years, and you expect me to stand here while you tell me I can't see my wife?””
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“Richard found out that the twins were together. He's been watching the building since yesterday. He knows Rachel's location may have been compromised.””
David looked at Elena.
“Is that true?””
She nodded.
“That's why I brought Maya to your office. I thought if the girls were together, we could force Rachel to come out of hiding.””
“You used my daughter as bait?””
“I was trying to save both girls.””
“You put them in front of a man who wanted to take them!””
Elena looked down.
Marcus opened the rear door of the SUV.
“Get inside. I'll explain everything on the way.””
David didn't move.
“Give me one reason I should trust you.””
Marcus reached into his jacket.
David immediately raised his fist.
“Slowly.””
Marcus pulled out a photograph.
He handed it over.
It showed Rachel sitting in a small garden, wearing a white sweater. She was holding a little girl in her arms.
Maya.
But something else caught David's attention.
Rachel was visibly pregnant.
The photograph had a date printed in the corner.
Three months after her supposed death.
David stared at it.
“Where was this taken?””
“The Ashford estate outside Connecticut.””
David looked up.
“Richard kept her at his estate?””
“Not willingly.””
Marcus looked toward the girls.
“Rachel escaped twice. Both times, Richard's people found her. The third time, she disappeared completely.””
David's voice became quiet.
“And you helped her?””
“I helped her get out. I couldn't take the children with her.””
“Why?””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Because Richard had already arranged for Maya to be moved. He threatened to make Harper disappear if I interfered.””
David looked at his daughter.
Harper was staring at him.
“Daddy, is Mommy alive?””
He crouched.
He wanted to tell her yes.
He wanted to promise that Rachel would be home by dinner.
Instead, he took her small hands.
“I think she might be, sweetheart.””
Harper's eyes filled.
“Can I see her?””
David swallowed.
“I'll do everything I can.””
Marcus cleared his throat.
“We need to move.””
David stood.
“Everyone gets in. But if I discover you've lied about anything else, Marcus, you'll wish you had never met me.””
Marcus nodded.
They climbed into the SUV.
The drive north took nearly an hour.
The city gradually disappeared behind them. Glass towers gave way to warehouses, then wooded roads and quiet residential neighborhoods.
Harper sat beside Maya in the back seat.
They had already discovered three things they both liked: strawberry milk, chocolate-chip pancakes, and a cartoon about a talking dog.
David watched them through the rearview mirror.
They were identical, yet different.
Harper was talkative and impatient.
Maya was quieter, constantly touching the silver bird necklace around her neck.
They looked like two pieces of a life that had been deliberately torn apart.
Elena sat in the passenger seat.
Marcus drove.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Finally, David broke the silence.
“Tell me what happened that night.””
Marcus kept his eyes on the road.
“Rachel gave birth shortly after midnight. Both girls were healthy. But Richard arrived at the hospital before you did.””
David frowned.
“Richard was never at the hospital.””
“He was. You arrived twenty minutes later.””
“Why didn't I see him?””
“Because he was in the private maternity wing.””
Marcus continued.
“He argued with Rachel. She wanted both children to leave the hospital with you. Richard wanted Maya.””
“Why Maya?””
“He claimed she had a medical condition.””
David turned.
“What condition?””
“An inherited blood disorder. He said Maya needed specialized treatment at an Ashford facility.””
David shook his head.
“Maya looks perfectly healthy.””
“Because she was.””
Elena turned around.
“That's what the genetic reports showed. There was no disorder.””
David stared at her.
“So Richard invented a disease?””
“Yes.””
Marcus nodded.
“Rachel realized what he was doing. She tried to call you, but the hospital phones had been disconnected in that wing. Richard had already paid the attending physician.””
David felt sick.
“And then?””
“Rachel asked me to take her away. She said she would come back for both girls once she had enough evidence to destroy Richard.””
David looked at the road.
“Why didn't she take Harper?””
Marcus's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Because you had already arrived.””
David remembered that moment.
He had entered the hospital room and found Rachel pale and exhausted. She had kissed his forehead and asked him to hold Harper.
She had said she was tired.
He had told her to sleep.
He had no idea it would be the last time he saw her.
“Did she know she was leaving me?””
Marcus nodded.
“She wrote you a letter.””
David held up the envelope.
“I have it.””
Marcus glanced at the handwriting.
“That's not the original.””
David looked at him.
“What?””
“Rachel wrote several letters. Richard intercepted the first ones.””
Elena slowly turned toward Marcus.
“Then where is the original?””
Marcus didn't answer.
A few minutes later, he turned onto a narrow road lined with tall oak trees.
At the end stood a modest white farmhouse surrounded by a wooden fence.
A woman was waiting on the porch.
David's heart stopped.
She had shoulder-length brown hair.
She wore a simple gray sweater and dark jeans.
She looked thinner than he remembered.
But he knew that face.
He had kissed it a thousand times.
“Rachel…”
The woman stepped forward.
Her eyes moved to the SUV.
Then she saw the girls.
Her hands flew to her mouth.
“Harper?””
Harper opened the door before David could stop her.
“Mommy?””
Rachel dropped to her knees.
“Oh, my babies.””
Harper ran toward her.
Maya followed.
Rachel wrapped both girls in her arms and began sobbing.
David stood beside the SUV, unable to move.
For six years, he had visited a grave.
For six years, he had told his daughter that her mother was gone.
And now Rachel was holding their children in the sunlight.
She looked up at him.
“David.””
He took one step forward.
Then another.
His voice broke.
“You're alive.””
Rachel nodded.
“I'm sorry.””
David looked at the two girls.
Then back at his wife.
“Why didn't you come home?””
Rachel's expression collapsed.
“Because I wasn't the only one Richard was threatening.””
She glanced toward Marcus.
Then she whispered:
“David, before you ask me anything else, you need to know that someone in this house has been sending Richard information about us.””
A floorboard creaked behind them.
The farmhouse door slowly opened.
May you like
And a voice from inside said:
“Rachel, you weren't supposed to bring him here.””
