## CHAPTER 11 — THE WOMAN IN BLUE
Logan reached the estate in less than an hour.
The gates had been locked.
No vehicle had entered or left.
Every guard denied seeing the woman in the blue coat.
The camera footage showed no face.
She kept her head lowered as she led Noah into the east wing.
Then both disappeared near the false wall.
The red door had been sealed by police.
Now it stood open.
Logan descended into the hidden facility with Hale and six officers.
“Noah!” he shouted.
His voice echoed through the corridor.
A faint humming answered.
Claire’s lullaby.
They found Noah inside the observation room.
He was alone, sitting on the bed with the music box in his lap.
Logan rushed to him.
“Are you hurt?”
Noah shook his head.
“Where is the woman?”
“She had to go.”
“Who was she?”
Noah looked confused.
“She said you weren’t ready.”
“For what?”
“To remember.”
Logan searched the room.
On the one-way glass, someone had written a message in red lipstick.
ASK LOGAN WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LAKE.
Logan stared at the words.
Elena arrived behind him.
“What lake?”
He did not answer.
A memory had already surfaced.
Seven years earlier, during Claire’s pregnancy, Logan had awakened inside the Mercer lake house with blood on his shirt.
His father told him he had fallen through a glass door after drinking.
Claire had been crying.
She refused to explain why.
Two days later, Logan left for London.
He had never questioned the gaps in his memory.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said.
Elena studied him.
“Were you drugged too?”
The possibility made him unsteady.
Noah tugged his sleeve.
“The lady said you tried to save her.”
“Save Claire?”
Noah nodded.
“She said Grandfather made you forget.”
Detective Hale photographed the message.
Then she noticed a small camera mounted beneath the bed.
It had been installed after the police search.
Someone had entered the secured wing.
Someone with access to the estate and law-enforcement movements.
Hale’s phone rang.
Her face changed as she listened.
“What happened?” Logan asked.
She ended the call.
“Vanessa was attacked during transport.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Who attacked her?”
“We don’t know.”
Hale looked at the lipstick message.
“But before losing consciousness, Vanessa gave the officers a warning.”
“What warning?”
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“She said the woman in the blue coat wasn’t Claire.”
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