Chapter 4 - THE CHILD WHO WAS NEVER MENTIONED
Bailey read the sentence again.
If Bailey ever comes looking, tell her the girl survived.
The words seemed impossible.
“What girl?”
Lucas rubbed his forehead.
“I don't know.”
“You just said she may be the reason my mother disappeared.”
“I said I think.”
“That isn't good enough.”
“I know.”
Bailey pushed the photograph toward him.
“My mother never mentioned a little girl.”
“She didn't mention her to me either.”
“Then how did your mother know?”
Lucas looked exhausted.
“Because she was involved.”
“With what?”
“I don't know yet.”
Bailey stood.
“I’m done.”
Lucas looked up.
“With what?”
“With half-truths.”
She walked toward the door.
“Bailey.”
She stopped.
Lucas spoke quietly.
“My mother died believing your mother had saved that child.”
Bailey turned.
“What?”
Lucas reached into the folder.
He removed an old newspaper clipping.
The headline was faded.
LOCAL FAMILY SEEKS MISSING DAUGHTER AFTER CHARITY EVENT
The photograph beside it showed a little girl.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same girl from Bailey's photograph.
Bailey's hands trembled.
“She was missing?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
Bailey stared at the date.
The year her mother had suddenly stopped working at Meridian.
The year her mother became terrified of strangers asking questions.
The year Bailey remembered moving apartments.
“This can't be coincidence.”
“No.”
They returned to Meridian that afternoon.
Lucas insisted on seeing the security archives himself.
Howard met them downstairs.
“You shouldn't be here,” he told Lucas.
Lucas gave him a tired look.
“I own the building.”
Howard smiled.
“That's never stopped trouble from finding you.”
Bailey almost smiled.
Almost.
They entered the old security office.
Howard pulled up archived footage from fifteen years earlier.
Most files were damaged.
But one remained.
A charity event.
Lucas was younger.
His mother was beside him.
Bailey's mother appeared in the background.
Holding the same little girl.
Bailey leaned closer.
“Stop.”
Howard froze the frame.
Bailey stared.
Her mother was looking directly at the camera.
But she wasn't smiling.
She looked frightened.
Then Bailey noticed something around the girl's neck.
A necklace.
Small silver heart.
She remembered it.
Not from the photograph.
From her childhood.
Her mother had once owned that necklace.
Bailey had thought it was lost.
“What is that?”
Lucas leaned closer.
“My mother gave that necklace to the girl.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Howard looked at another screen.
“There’s something else.”
He opened an old access log.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Evelyn Carter.
Bailey's mother.
But beside her name was another designation.
Restricted Executive Access.
Bailey stared.
“She had access to executive offices?”
Lucas nodded.
“Apparently.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know until today.”
Bailey looked at him.
For the first time, Lucas seemed as lost as she was.
Then Howard frowned.
“Wait.”
He opened another file.
“There was an incident that night.”
“What incident?”
Howard read.
“Child reported missing from Meridian charity event.”
Bailey's heart pounded.
“Who reported it?”
Howard looked up.
“The child's father.”
“Name?”
Howard hesitated.
Then said:
“Daniel Mercer.”
Lucas went completely still.
Bailey noticed.
“You know him.”
Lucas's face hardened.
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Lucas stared at the screen.
“My former business partner.”
Daniel Mercer had disappeared from Meridian fifteen years earlier.
At least, that was what Lucas believed.
He had been removed from the company after an internal dispute.
Lucas explained that Daniel had controlled several charitable foundations connected to Meridian.
“He was brilliant,” Lucas said.
“And dangerous?”
“Sometimes those are difficult to separate.”
Bailey folded her arms.
“What did he want?”
Lucas didn't answer.
Howard did.
“Your mother thought he was stealing from the children's foundation.”
Bailey turned.
“How do you know that?”
Howard looked uncomfortable.
“She told me.”
“When?”
“The week before she left.”
Bailey stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew she was scared.”
“And you never told me?”
“You were twenty-two. Your mother begged me to keep quiet.”
Bailey's eyes filled.
“You let me believe she was just sick.”
Howard's face crumpled.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Bailey looked away.
Then she noticed something on the security desk.
An old visitor badge.
It had been sitting beneath a stack of files.
The photograph was almost faded.
The name was still readable.
DANIEL MERCER.
On the back, someone had written a single word.
WATCH.
Bailey picked it up.
Lucas saw it.
His expression changed.
“That was my father's handwriting.”
Bailey looked at him.
“Your father?”
Lucas nodded.
“My father died eighteen years ago.”
He turned the badge over.
Then stopped.
There was another line beneath the word.
THE GIRL IS NOT WHO YOU THINK.
Bailey stared.
“Lucas.”
He didn't answer.
Because his phone had begun ringing.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Lucas declined it.
A second later, a message appeared.
STOP LOOKING FOR THE GIRL.
May you like
Then another.
OR BAILEY WILL LEARN WHY HER MOTHER REALLY LEFT.
