Daniel read the message twice.
Then he turned the phone toward Evelyn.
She did not need to see it.
"I know."
"What does that mean?"
She sat on the edge of the trunk.
"It means they know what I did."
"What did you do?"
"I saved one of them."
"Mara?"
"No."
"Ella?"
"No."
Daniel stared at her.
"Jonah?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"Then who?"
She looked down.
"I saved you."
Daniel felt the room tilt.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"I don't understand."
"You weren't supposed to know any of this."
"Why would I be one of them?"
"Because you are."
Silence.
Daniel looked at the photograph.
Three children.
Jonah.
Mara.
Ella.
None of them was him.
"That doesn't make sense."
Evelyn reached for his hand.
"Your father wasn't your biological father."
Daniel pulled away.
The words seemed too large for the room.
"What?"
"Jonah raised you."
"You're saying Dad wasn't my father?"
"I'm saying he was your father in every way that mattered."
"That's not what I asked."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Your biological father was Samuel Ellis."
Daniel stared.
"The man on the birth certificate?"
"Yes."
"Jonah's father."
"Yes."
Daniel stood.
"So I'm related to Jonah."
"You were his nephew."
"Then why was I included?"
"Because Samuel's estate was tied to the children's trust."
Daniel shook his head.
"I wasn't born until 1988."
"The original trust was still active."
"That doesn't explain me."
"No."
"What does?"
Evelyn's voice broke.
"Because when Clara found the records, she discovered something none of us expected."
"What?"
"Samuel had another child."
Daniel stared at her.
"Who?"
Evelyn looked directly at him.
"You."
Daniel could not speak.
He turned toward the window.
Outside, the street was empty.
But the feeling of being watched remained.
"You're saying my grandfather was my father?"
"Yes."
"Then Jonah was my uncle."
"Yes."
"And Mara and Ella were my aunts."
"Yes."
Daniel laughed once.
It was not amusement.
"My whole family is a lie."
"No."
"What isn't a lie?"
"Your childhood."
He looked at her.
"How can you say that?"
"Because Jonah loved you."
"Did he know?"
"Yes."
"All along?"
"Not at first."
Daniel's face tightened.
"When did he find out?"
"After you were born."
"How?"
"Clara told him."
"And he stayed?"
"He chose to stay."
"Why?"
"Because he said a child shouldn't have to pay for the sins of adults."
Daniel sat on the floor beside the trunk.
For several minutes he said nothing.
Evelyn lowered herself beside him.
"I wanted to tell you."
"When?"
"When you were old enough to understand."
"And then?"
"Then every year I found another reason."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Where are Mara and Ella?"
"I don't know."
"But Marjorie raised them."
"According to the photograph."
"And one became her enemy."
"Yes."
"Which one?"
"I don't know."
Daniel stared at the back of the photograph.
"Then why would someone send me five thousand dollars?"
Evelyn considered the question.
"Because they want you to open the records."
"Why?"
"Maybe because someone wants the truth exposed."
"Or hidden."
"Yes."
Daniel looked at the letter from Clara.
"The money started moving again."
"That's what she wrote."
"Maybe she knew someone would eventually find us."
"Maybe."
Daniel stood.
"We need to find Mara and Ella."
Evelyn looked frightened.
"Daniel, if they're alive, whoever kept them hidden may still be protecting that secret."
"Or controlling them."
"Either way, we're stepping into something your father spent his life avoiding."
"He didn't avoid it."
Evelyn looked at him.
"He looked."
"And?"
"He died without finding the answers."
Daniel held up the photograph.
"Then we finish what he started."
Evelyn hesitated.
"Where will we begin?"
"St. Agnes."
"It closed years ago."
"I know."
"There's nothing left."
"Maybe not there."
He pointed to the ledger.
"But the records went somewhere."
Daniel took out his phone and searched the name.
After several minutes, he found an old municipal archive listing.
St. Agnes Children's Home records had been transferred to a county records center in 2004.
He wrote down the address.
Evelyn watched.
"You can't go there."
"Why?"
"Because the records are restricted."
"Then we'll request them."
"They'll ask why."
"Good."
"What if they refuse?"
"Then we'll know someone still has a reason to hide them."
Evelyn looked toward the trunk.
"There's something else."
Daniel turned.
"What?"
"Your father left instructions."
"Where?"
"In that room."
She pointed toward the filing cabinet.
Daniel opened the top drawer.
Old receipts.
Tax records.
Photographs.
Then an envelope.
His father's handwriting.
*For Daniel, when Evelyn can no longer protect him.**
Daniel's hand stopped.
He opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Son,*
If you're reading this, then your mother finally told you enough to make the rest impossible to hide.*
Daniel's eyes blurred.
He continued.
There were three children connected to the Ellis trust. I spent years believing the answer was buried with the records.*
I was wrong.*
The records were never the most important evidence.*
Daniel read the next line.
The person who knows what happened to Mara and Ella is still alive.*
He looked at Evelyn.
She whispered, "I never saw this."
Daniel continued.
Her name is Clara Vale.*
His heart stopped.
Evelyn stared at the page.
"That's impossible."
Daniel read the final sentence.
If she contacts you, listen before you decide whether to trust her.*
Then came the date.
The letter had been written only six months before Jonah died.
Daniel lowered it.
"Clara is alive."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
"Your friend disappeared."
"Yes."
"But Dad wrote that she was alive."
"Maybe he was wrong."
Daniel turned the page over.
There was an address.
A rural post office box.
The same town.
The same town listed on the mysterious transfer.
Daniel looked at his mother.
"We're going."
Evelyn did not argue.
She simply stared at the photograph of the three children.
For the first time, Daniel saw something change in her expression.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"You know where that address is."
Evelyn slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
She looked at him.
"The old Vale property."
Daniel's phone vibrated again.
An unknown message appeared.
*Don't come alone.**
A second message followed.
*Clara is waiting.**
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Address Jonah Left Behind Led Evelyn and Daniel to a House Where Someone Had Been Expecting Them for Years
The Transfer That Should Have Arrived Quietly, But Instead Opened a Door Neither of Us Knew Existed
Part 8 of 25
