Chapter 7: The Photograph That Should Not Exist
Richard stared at the photograph on his phone.
Emily was standing beneath a row of hospital windows.
Claire was in her arms.
Six months after Emily's funeral.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
“That's impossible.””
Margaret said nothing.
Olivia leaned between the front seats.
“Let me see it.””
Richard handed her the phone.
She studied the image.
“The metadata says it was taken six months after Emily died.””
Daniel looked over her shoulder.
“Metadata can be changed.””
Richard stared at Margaret.
“Did you fake this?””
Margaret shook her head.
“No.””
“Did you know about it?””
“No.””
“Then explain why Claire is in a photograph with a dead woman.””
Margaret's voice trembled.
“I can't.””
Richard turned toward her.
“You always say that when the truth gets close.””
“I am telling you the truth.””
“No.””
His voice rose.
“You've lied to me for six years.””
Caleb flinched.
Richard immediately lowered his voice.
“I'm sorry.””
He reached back and squeezed the boy's knee.
“None of this is your fault.””
Caleb looked at the photograph.
“Is that Mommy?””
Richard nodded.
“Yes.””
“And that's Claire?””
“Yes.””
Caleb studied the picture.
“Why does Mommy look different?””
Everyone went silent.
Richard looked again.
The face was Emily's.
The hair was Emily's.
Even the small silver necklace around her neck was one Richard had given his wife.
But something about the photograph felt wrong.
Olivia noticed it too.
“Zoom in.””
Richard enlarged the image.
Olivia pointed.
“The reflection.””
In the hospital window behind Emily, the reflection of the woman didn't match her body.
Richard leaned closer.
The woman in the reflection was wearing different clothes.
And she wasn't holding Claire.
Daniel inhaled sharply.
“It's a composite.””
Olivia nodded.
“Someone merged two separate photographs.””
Richard stared.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“To make you believe Emily was alive.””
Richard's stomach tightened.
Margaret suddenly whispered,
“Or to make someone else believe she was.””
Richard turned.
“What does that mean?””
She stared at the photograph.
“Emily told me once that she had a twin.””
Richard blinked.
“What?””
Margaret shook her head.
“No. Not a twin.””
She closed her eyes.
“A half-sister.””
Daniel looked at her sharply.
“You never mentioned that.””
“Because I didn't think she mattered.””
Richard stared.
“Who was Emily's half-sister?””
Margaret swallowed.
“Lena.””
Olivia frowned.
“Where is she?””
Margaret looked down.
“She disappeared before Emily met you.””
Richard felt a chill.
“Disappeared how?””
“She left town.””
“When?””
“About a year before your wedding.””
“Did she look like Emily?””
Margaret hesitated.
“Almost identical.””
Richard looked back at the photograph.
Olivia's face changed.
“Someone may have used Lena to create the illusion that Emily survived.””
Daniel nodded.
“And if they needed a living woman who looked like Emily…”
He didn't finish.
Richard did.
“They could make people believe Claire had been with her.””
The Mercedes fell silent.
Then Caleb spoke softly.
“Dad?””
Richard looked at him.
“Yeah?””
“Why would somebody lie about Mommy?””
Richard swallowed.
“Because they wanted us to believe something that wasn't true.””
“Like when Grandma said you weren't my dad?””
Margaret closed her eyes.
Richard's hands tightened around the wheel.
“Yes.””
Caleb looked down.
“People lie a lot.””
Richard glanced at him in the mirror.
“Sometimes.””
The boy's voice was almost inaudible.
“But you won't lie to me.””
Richard's eyes burned.
“No.””
He reached back again.
“Not anymore.””
Daniel suddenly pointed through the windshield.
“There.””
A black sedan sat parked beneath the next streetlight.
Its engine was running.
Richard slowed.
The sedan immediately pulled away.
Daniel checked his mirror.
“It saw us.””
Richard turned onto a side road.
The black sedan followed.
Olivia looked at him.
“Are we being tracked again?””
“Yes.””
Richard accelerated.
Caleb gripped his seat.
“Dad…”
“I've got you.””
They turned twice.
The sedan stayed behind them.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I'll call someone.””
Richard glanced at him.
“Who?””
“Someone I trust.””
The call connected.
Daniel said,
“It's me.””
A woman's voice replied.
“Did you find Richard?””
“Yes.””
“Is Caleb with him?””
Daniel looked at the boy.
“Yes.””
The woman exhaled.
“Then listen carefully.””
Richard glanced at the speaker.
“Who is this?””
The woman paused.
Then answered,
“Someone who owes your wife a debt.””
Richard's jaw tightened.
“What's your name?””
“Rachel Mercer.””
Daniel froze.
“Rachel?””
The woman continued.
“I knew Emily.””
Richard leaned toward the phone.
“How?””
“I worked at the hospital where the twins were born.””
His heart thudded.
“You were there?””
“Yes.””
“Then tell me what happened.””
Rachel's voice became quieter.
“Emily gave birth to both babies. Caleb was taken to the nursery first.””
“And Claire?””
“She disappeared before the nurse could finish the paperwork.””
Richard stared at the windshield.
“Disappeared?””
“She wasn't taken from the nursery.””
“Then where was she?””
Rachel hesitated.
“She was handed directly to someone.””
“Who?””
“I never saw his face.””
Richard's knuckles whitened around the steering wheel.
“What about Emily?””
Rachel was silent.
“Rachel.””
“I saw her after the delivery.””
“What did she say?””
“She asked me for paper.””
“Why?””
“To write two letters.””
Richard's voice cracked.
“To who?””
“One was for you.””
“And the other?””
Rachel hesitated.
“For Claire.””
Richard closed his eyes.
“Do you still have them?””
Rachel whispered,
“No.””
Daniel suddenly spoke.
“Rachel, where did you get the photograph?””
There was a pause.
“What photograph?””
“The one of Emily and Claire.””
Rachel stopped breathing.
“I don't know what you're talking about.””
Daniel looked at Richard.
Then back at the phone.
“Someone sent it tonight.””
Rachel's voice became frightened.
“Destroy it.””
Richard frowned.
“Why?””
“Because if they know you have it, they'll come for Caleb.””
Richard looked at his son.
“Who are ‘they’?””
Rachel didn't answer.
“Rachel!””
The call ended.
Richard stared at the screen.
Daniel shook his head.
“She knows more.””
Olivia looked at him.
“You knew her?””
“I knew of her.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Daniel didn't respond.
Richard turned.
“Tell me.””
Daniel looked exhausted.
“Rachel was one of the nurses who helped Emily.””
“And?””
“She was also the last person to see Claire at the hospital.””
Richard stared.
“So why does she sound terrified?””
Daniel said quietly,
“Because the person who took Claire was wearing a doctor's coat.””
Margaret suddenly whispered,
“Victor.””
Daniel looked at her.
“No.””
Margaret shook her head.
“It was Victor.””
“You didn't see him.””
“I know what he looks like.””
“Then you know it wasn't him.””
Richard looked between them.
“You're both hiding something.””
Daniel finally spoke.
“The person who took Claire wasn't working for Victor.””
“Who, then?””
Daniel hesitated.
“Your father.””
Richard slammed the brakes.
The Mercedes stopped in the middle of the empty road.
“What?””
Daniel stared ahead.
“I should have told you sooner.””
Richard's voice became dangerously calm.
“My father died when I was twelve.””
“No.””
Daniel looked at him.
“He disappeared.””
Margaret nodded slowly.
Richard stared at both of them.
“You've both known this.””
“We knew he was alive,” Daniel said.
“Where?””
“We didn't know.””
Richard's anger erupted.
“You knew my father might be alive, and nobody told me?””
Daniel didn't argue.
“We were trying to keep you away from the people looking for him.””
“By lying?””
“Yes.””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Everyone seems to have the same excuse.””
His phone vibrated.
A new message.
One sentence.
*COME TO THE OLD RIVERSIDE STATION ALONE.*
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Claire.
Standing inside a train station.
Holding the same stuffed rabbit from the photograph.
Richard's heart stopped.
A final message appeared.
*BRING THE ORIGINAL DNA REPORT.*
Richard looked up.
Daniel's face had gone white.
Olivia whispered,
“They know about the report.””
Margaret shook her head.
“No.””
Richard turned toward her.
“What?””
“That station hasn't been used in twenty years.””
“Then why would they take her there?””
Margaret looked terrified.
“Because that's where your father disappeared.””
Richard stared at the photograph again.
There was one detail he hadn't noticed.
On the wall behind Claire was an old station clock.
Its hands were frozen at 11:14.
Margaret saw it too.
She covered her mouth.
“That's the time Emily died.””
Richard looked at her.
“No.””
Margaret nodded.
“Eleven fourteen.””
Then Caleb suddenly spoke from the back seat.
“Dad?””
Richard turned.
The boy was staring at the photograph.
His face had gone pale.
“I know that girl.””
Richard froze.
“You've never met Claire.””
Caleb shook his head.
“Not Claire.””
He pointed at the woman standing behind her.
A woman whose face was partially hidden by a newspaper.
Caleb whispered,
“That lady was at my school yesterday.””
Richard's blood ran cold.
Olivia slowly took the photograph from his hand.
“Are you sure?””
Caleb nodded.
“She was watching me.””
And then Richard noticed what the woman was holding.
A hospital bracelet.
May you like
With one name printed across it.
*EMILY HALE.*
