Her face was pale.<\/p>\n
Margaret Bell sat at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
She looked older than Eleanor remembered, thinner and exhausted, but her eyes were steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew you'd come,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n
Jason entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Sophie?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily immediately pointed toward the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s with Chloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason went to check.<\/p>\n
Both children were safe.<\/p>\n
Only then did he return to the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Margaret folded her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't have much time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've had twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I have spent every one of them regretting what I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor sat across from her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Bell was never supposed to control the hospital records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason's jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he discovered that certain children had been entered under false identities. Some were mistakes. Some were deliberate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was responsible?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked toward the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name seemed to confirm what the notebook had already suggested.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Bell?\u201d Eleanor asked.<\/p>\n
Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cBell did not begin it. He discovered it. Then he realized he could profit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
Michael said nothing.<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel found the first ledger. He thought exposing Bell would be enough. He was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel was threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy Bell?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Bell kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw Bell kill anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked directly at Jason.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel disappeared before his death was officially recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Eleanor leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis body was identified later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael suddenly stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel told me he didn't trust Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason felt a coldness move through him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose body was identified?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret whispered, \u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer was worse than anything else.<\/p>\n
Jason walked toward the window.<\/p>\n
All his life, he had believed his father had died.<\/p>\n
Now he was being asked to accept that even the body might not have been Daniel.<\/p>\n
Margaret reached into her handbag.<\/p>\n
She removed a folded sheet of paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel gave this to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason took it.<\/p>\n
The handwriting was unmistakable.<\/p>\n
If they tell you I died, don't believe them.<\/p>\n
Jason's hands began to shake.<\/p>\n
Below the sentence was an address.<\/p>\n
Not Boston.<\/p>\n
Not the hospital.<\/p>\n
A small town in Vermont.<\/p>\n
Michael looked at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've seen that address.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Daniel's second file.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted someone to find him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Bell threatened my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret did not answer.<\/p>\n
Instead, she said, \u201cBell had people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor remembered Sophie\u2019s ledger entry.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie was protected because Daniel believed Bell would eventually use her connection to Jason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnection to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father knew something about Sophie\u2019s birth records.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent again.<\/p>\n
Emily stepped into the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am saying that your family was never supposed to find out how closely your lives were connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason's voice was low.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sound came from outside.<\/p>\n
A car door closing.<\/p>\n
Michael immediately moved toward the curtains.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason stepped beside him.<\/p>\n
Across the street stood Richard Bell.<\/p>\n
He was not hiding.<\/p>\n
He looked directly at the house.<\/p>\n
Then he raised his phone.<\/p>\n
Jason's phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
A message appeared.<\/p>\n
YOU HAVE THE WRONG STORY.<\/p>\n
A second message followed.<\/p>\n
COME OUT ALONE.<\/p>\n
Jason put the phone away.<\/p>\n
Michael grabbed his arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we don't give him the advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is one thing you don't understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBell isn't afraid of the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward Jason's jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's afraid of what Daniel wrote beside one particular name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason reached inside and opened the notebook.<\/p>\n
The name was there.<\/p>\n
Sophie.<\/p>\n
Protected.<\/p>\n
But underneath it, barely visible beneath the faded ink, was another word.<\/p>\n
DAUGHTER.<\/p>\n
Jason stared at it.<\/p>\n
He looked toward the living room.<\/p>\n
Sophie was laughing with Chloe.<\/p>\n
For a moment, the sound seemed impossibly distant.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaughter of whom?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
Margaret closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what Daniel died trying to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face was pale. Margaret Bell sat at the kitchen table. She looked older than Eleanor remembered, thinner and exhausted, but her eyes were steady. \u201cI knew you'd come,\u201d Margaret … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3958,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943\/revisions\/3958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}