Chapter 6 - Daniel's Sister
I did not tell Daniel.
For twelve minutes.
Then I told him everything.
Maybe that made me cautious.
Maybe it made me a coward.
I did not care.
My father had left one warning that mattered more than any stranger's instructions.
Do not confront anyone alone.
Daniel read the email twice.
His face went gray when he saw the photograph.
"That's Evelyn."
"You are sure?"
"She's my sister."
His voice broke on the last word.
I had never seen him look vulnerable before.
"When did you last see her?"
"The week your father died."
"You said she disappeared four days later."
"She did."
"Did you report her missing?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"She sent a letter six weeks later saying she was safe and did not want contact."
"You believed it?"
Daniel looked away.
"I wanted to."
The motel address was forty minutes outside the city.
Detective Ortiz told us not to go.
Then she went herself.
She allowed me and Daniel to follow only after making it clear that we would remain in our car until she cleared the location.
At six twelve in the morning, dawn had begun to flatten the sky when we pulled into the motel parking lot.
Room 18 was at the far end.
The curtains were closed.
Ortiz knocked.
No answer.
She knocked again.
"Police."
Nothing.
The manager unlocked the door.
The room was empty.
The bed had not been slept in.
A paper coffee cup sat on the table.
So did a disposable phone.
Ortiz bagged it.
Then Daniel noticed the bathroom mirror.
Three words had been written in lipstick.
ASK ABOUT BLUE HERON.
My stomach tightened.
The checks in the lockbox had been made out to Blue Heron Consulting.
Daniel stared at the mirror.
"Evelyn always wore that shade."
"You can tell from lipstick on glass?"
"I bought it for her every Christmas because she refused to choose anything else."
The pain in his voice made the motel room feel smaller.
Ortiz asked the manager for security footage.
Twenty minutes later, we watched a grainy recording from the night before.
At 11:04 p.m., a woman wearing a hood walked into Room 18.
At 11:37, a man arrived.
He stayed six minutes.
When he left, the camera caught his face.
Dr. Stephen Hale.
Daniel swore softly.
At 11:52, the hooded woman left through the rear walkway.
Ortiz froze the frame.
The woman's face was partly visible.
Daniel leaned toward the monitor.
"Evelyn."
So she was alive.
And she had met with my father's cardiologist less than an hour before my birthday.
"Why contact me?"
I asked.
No one answered.
The disposable phone turned out to contain one saved audio file.
Ortiz played it at the station.
A woman's voice filled the room.
"Clara, if Daniel is with you, I am sorry."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I notarized the amendment."
The voice trembled.
"But I did not do it because Marlene paid me."
I leaned forward.
"I did it because Dr. Hale showed me a medical competency letter saying Robert could no longer make decisions safely."
Daniel whispered.
"No."
"I believed the letter was real."
Evelyn took a breath.
"Then Robert called me himself."
Her voice cracked.
"He was furious."
"He told me he had never been declared incompetent."
"He told me Hale was lying."
I felt my pulse in my throat.
"I went back to Hale."
"He offered me money to keep quiet."
"I refused."
"Two days later, someone broke into my apartment."
Daniel covered his mouth.
"I ran."
"I was ashamed."
"And I was afraid."
The recording continued.
"Blue Heron Consulting belongs to Hale's brother-in-law."
"Marlene transferred money there."
"Some of that money came back to Hale through a medical equipment company."
Ortiz began writing fast.
"But Hale was not the one making the decisions."
A long pause.
"There is someone else."
Every muscle in my body tightened.
"Robert called him the Broker."
"I don't know his real name."
"I only know he met Marlene at the Hawthorne Club."
The recording ended.
Daniel looked at Ortiz.
"Can you trace where she is?"
"We'll try."
My phone buzzed.
Jason.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the message.
MOM IS GONE.
I called him.
"What do you mean gone?"
"She left the house while I was talking to Nicole."
"When?"
"Maybe twenty minutes ago."
"Did she take anything?"
"A suitcase."
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know."
Then Jason said something strange.
"Clara, there's a man here."
"What man?"
"He says he represents Northstar."
I looked at Daniel.
"Northstar doesn't have anyone scheduled to be there."
Daniel stood immediately.
"Put Jason on speaker."
I did.
"Jason," Daniel said, "do not let that man inside."
Too late.
We heard a crash through the phone.
Nicole screamed.
May you like
The baby began crying.
Then the call cut off.
