CHAPTER 6 THE SECRET MY FATHER TOOK TO HIS GRAVE CHANGED EVERYTHING I BELIEVED ABOUT MY FAMILY
Helen's voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Thirty-one years ago, your father had another child."
I stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"It wasn't before your parents married."
"It was after."
She slid an old photograph across the table.
A smiling infant.
My father holding him.
A date written neatly on the back.
Only six months before the child supposedly died from sudden illness.
Helen shook her head.
"He never believed the official story."
My pulse pounded in my ears.
"You think..."
"I think that little boy disappeared."
Detective Harris leaned forward.
"We've reopened the case."
Another investigator entered carrying newly recovered financial records.
Large payments had been made from one of Victoria's private accounts to a former hospital administrator shortly after the baby's reported death.
The administrator had vanished overseas years later.
No one knew why.
Until now.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Audrey woke to find a bouquet of fresh white roses beside her bed.
There was no card.
Only a folded note tucked beneath the ribbon.
Three handwritten words.
She's watching you.
The hospital immediately reviewed security footage.
No visitor.
No florist.
No nurse carrying flowers.
Someone had entered Audrey's room without appearing on any camera covering the hallway.
When Detective Harris received the report, she looked directly at me.
"Daniel..."
"This case is much bigger than domestic abuse."
"Someone has been protecting your mother for decades."
"And whoever it is..."
"They're still close enough to reach your wife."
As I rushed back toward the hospital, my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
I answered.
A calm male voice spoke only one sentence before hanging up.
May you like
"Your father didn't lose one child..."
"He lost two."
