Chapter 6 - THE CHILD WHO WAS NEVER HIS
They escaped through the rear exit seconds before Marcus entered the storage room.
Gavin drove without headlights until they reached the main road.
Nobody spoke.
Lucy held the ledger against her chest.
Daniel kept looking through the rear window.
Rosalia sat beside Gavin.
Her face was pale.
Finally, Gavin asked the question that had been haunting him.
“Who is Mia's father?”
Rosalia stared ahead.
“I don't know.”
“You said Marcus isn't.”
“He isn't.”
“Then who?”
“I told you, I don't know.”
Gavin tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Someone knows.”
Rosalia looked at him.
“Maybe.”
They drove to Lucy's sister's house outside Toledo.
It was empty because she was away visiting family.
They locked every door.
Then they opened the ledger again.
There were several references to Elena.
Most were coded.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
Nathan Cole.
Daniel recognized it.
“Nathan Cole was one of the partners at Harper & Cole.”
Gavin frowned.
“Could he be Mia's father?”
Rosalia shook her head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Nathan was killed five years ago.”
Everyone went silent.
Gavin looked at the ledger.
The dates didn't make sense.
Nathan had supposedly died six months before Mia was born.
Yet someone had continued making payments in his name.
Daniel whispered, “Maybe he didn't die.”
Gavin looked at him.
“What?”
“Maybe the death was part of the scheme.”
Lucy stared at him.
“You think they faked his death?”
Daniel nodded.
“It's possible.”
Gavin turned to Rosalia.
“Did you ever meet Nathan?”
Rosalia hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Elena met Marcus.”
“Why?”
“He helped my daughter get a job.”
Gavin felt another piece fall into place.
“What did he look like?”
Rosalia described him.
Tall.
Brown hair.
Small scar above his eyebrow.
Daniel suddenly grabbed his phone.
“Wait.”
He opened an old photograph.
A group of Harper & Cole employees stood outside their office.
One man stood near the center.
Tall.
Brown hair.
A scar above his eyebrow.
Rosalia pointed.
“That is him.”
Daniel stared.
“That photograph was taken three years ago.”
Gavin felt the room become colder.
“Nathan Cole is alive.”
Then they heard a noise outside.
A car door slammed.
Everyone froze.
Lucy looked through the window.
“There are two vehicles.”
Gavin moved toward the curtains.
“Don't.”
Rosalia grabbed his arm.
“That's what they want.”
“Then what do we do?”
Rosalia looked at the ledger.
“We find Elena.”
They called every shelter they could think of.
Nothing.
They contacted the police.
No record.
They called hospitals.
Nothing.
Then, at 3:14 a.m., Rosalia's phone rang.
It was Elena.
“Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Are you with Mia?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
“No.”
Rosalia closed her eyes.
“Please, Elena.”
“I need you to listen.”
Gavin motioned for her to put the call on speaker.
Elena continued.
“Marcus found out about the ledger.”
“We have it.”
Silence.
“What?”
“We found it.”
“You shouldn't have.”
“We need to know the truth.”
Elena started crying.
“The truth is why this happened.”
“What happened?”
“When I worked at Harper & Cole, I discovered money transfers.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“I discovered something else.”
“What?”
“Mia.”
Everyone became silent.
Elena continued.
“Marcus wasn't supposed to know she existed.”
Rosalia whispered, “Who is her father?”
Elena took a long breath.
“Nathan Cole.”
Gavin looked at Daniel.
Daniel's face went white.
“He wasn't dead,” Elena said.
“He was hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because he was the person moving the money.”
Gavin felt sick.
Elena continued.
“I had an affair with Nathan before I met Marcus.”
Rosalia closed her eyes.
“He promised to protect us.”
“But he disappeared.”
“And Marcus found me.”
Elena's voice cracked.
“I lied and told Marcus Mia was his.”
“Why?”
“Because Nathan told me if Marcus ever learned the truth, he would kill her.”
Gavin asked, “Where is Nathan now?”
“I don't know.”
“Then who is helping Marcus?”
“I think Nathan is.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
Elena continued.
“I found documents proving Nathan never died.”
Gavin stared at the ledger.
“Then why would he want the ledger?”
“Because it proves he stole millions.”
Daniel whispered, “Oh my God.”
Elena said, “And there is something else.”
“What?”
“Mia has a birthmark.”
Gavin frowned.
“What does that matter?”
“It matches Nathan's.”
Silence.
Then Elena whispered:
“Nathan knows.”
The call suddenly cut off.
Rosalia screamed her daughter's name.
Gavin tried calling back.
Nothing.
Then his phone received a text.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TO BRING THE LEDGER.
Below the message was a photograph.
Mia was sitting in a car.
A man's hand rested on her shoulder.
The silver eagle ring was visible.
Gavin stared.
“That's not Marcus.”
Daniel looked closer.
“No.”
Rosalia whispered the name.
“Nathan.”
Gavin's heart pounded.
They had been searching for the wrong man.
Marcus was dangerous.
May you like
But Nathan was the one controlling everything.
And he had Mia.
