Chapter 6 - THE GIRL CAMILLE HID IN SEATTLE
Grace Pierce had existed for eleven months.
On paper.
Before that, Grace Holloway.
Before that, Anna Mercer.
Before that, no stable identity Grant could trace.
Camille had created a legal shield around her using trusts, guardianship documents, and educational records.
Not perfect.
But enough to hide an eighteen-year-old from people searching under the Vale name.
Nolan sat across from Rebecca.
“Why Seattle?”
“Camille thought distance was safer.”
“Who raised Grace?”
“A woman named Dr. Mara Ellison.”
Nolan’s head snapped up.
Ivy’s Seattle specialist.
The doctor he had flown across the country to meet.
Rebecca nodded.
“Camille arranged the appointment.”
Nolan felt betrayed again.
“The appointment was never just about Ivy.”
“No.”
Grant said:
“It may still be medically legitimate.”
Nolan looked at him.
“That doesn’t make the lie smaller.”
No one argued.
They contacted Dr. Ellison.
Her office receptionist said she had canceled all appointments that morning.
No explanation.
Her home phone disconnected.
Grant traced her vehicle.
Last detected outside a ferry terminal.
Nolan stood.
“We go now.”
They did.
The ferry terminal cameras showed Dr. Ellison arriving at 6:41 a.m.
Beside her:
A young woman.
Eighteen.
Dark hair.
Gray coat.
Carrying one suitcase.
Nolan stared at the image.
Grace.
She looked like Camille.
Not exactly.
But enough to make his chest ache.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Rachel’s daughter.
Camille’s niece.
Eli’s sister.
Eli touched the screen.
“That’s her?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.”
He stared.
“I have a sister.”
Nolan watched the boy absorb a family he had been denied.
Then Grant found the next camera.
Mara and Grace were not alone.
Lorraine followed them into the terminal three minutes later.
Nolan’s pulse jumped.
“Did she take them?”
Camera showed Lorraine approaching.
Grace turned.
Mara stepped between them.
Then another man appeared.
Robert Vale.
The trustee.
Nolan’s stomach tightened.
Robert and Lorraine.
Together.
Grace backed away.
The camera angle shifted.
Then Mara fell.
Not dramatically.
She simply collapsed beside the ticket kiosk.
People rushed toward her.
Grace screamed.
Lorraine grabbed Grace’s arm.
Robert opened a side door.
They disappeared.
Nolan stared.
“What happened to Mara?”
Grant called authorities.
Hospital.
Dr. Mara Ellison had been admitted unconscious.
Suspected poisoning.
Alive.
Grace missing.
Eli went pale.
“They found her.”
Nolan felt fury.
“Not for long.”
Rebecca grabbed his arm.
“You don’t understand Robert.”
“Then explain.”
“He doesn’t threaten people.”
“What does he do?”
“He makes records say whatever he needs.”
The answer chilled Nolan.
Dead people alive.
Living people dead.
Children erased.
Wills rewritten.
Doctors compromised.
Robert did not need a gun if paperwork could make a person disappear.
Nolan looked at Ivy.
“We get Grace back.”
Grant said:
“We need to know why she matters right now.”
“She’s a child.”
“She’s eighteen.”
“She’s still family.”
Grant accepted that.
Rebecca looked at Nolan.
“There’s more.”
Of course.
“Grace isn’t only Rachel’s daughter.”
Nolan stared.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca looked sick.
“Theodore ordered a DNA test after she was born.”
“Why?”
“Rachel refused to name the father.”
Eli looked at her.
“My mom never told me?”
“No.”
“Who was Grace’s father?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“But?”
“The DNA test matched someone in the Vale family.”
Nolan frowned.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It wasn’t Theodore.”
“Then Robert?”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Nolan felt nauseated.
“Robert Vale was Grace’s father?”
“No.”
She opened her eyes.
“The sample belonged to Theodore’s son.”
Nolan froze.
“Theodore had a son?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Hidden.”
Again.
Always hidden.
“Name.”
“Alexander Vale.”
Grant’s expression changed.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Nolan looked at him.
“You know the name.”
Grant nodded slowly.
“Alexander was officially declared dead twenty-six years ago.”
Rebecca whispered:
“He wasn’t.”
Eli stared.
“So my sister’s father was our uncle?”
Rebecca looked horrified.
“No.”
Then she realized how it sounded.
“No—Rachel was not Theodore’s biological daughter.”
Silence.
Nolan felt his grip on reality weaken.
“Then whose daughter was she?”
Rebecca answered:
“Lorraine’s, from before she married Theodore.”
Meaning Alexander and Rachel were not biologically related.
Meaning Grace could be Theodore’s granddaughter through Alexander.
And Rachel’s daughter through Lorraine.
Two separate family branches tied together.
“Why would that matter?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Because Grace may have the strongest claim to the original Vale trust.”
Stronger than Eli.
Stronger than Ivy.
Possibly stronger than Robert.
That explained the kidnapping.
Then Grant’s phone rang.
Hospital.
Dr. Mara Ellison was awake.
Her first words after regaining consciousness were not about Grace.
They were:
“Tell Nolan Camille was right.”
Nolan grabbed the phone.
“Right about what?”
Mara’s weak voice came through.
“Her death certificate.”
Nolan stopped breathing.
“What about it?”
“It’s wrong.”
His chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
Mara whispered:
“Camille didn’t die from heart failure.”
May you like
Pause.
“She died from the same poison they just gave me.”
