Chapter 7 - THE GRANDMOTHER WHO NEVER DIED
Claire had spent eighteen years believing her grandmother was buried in a small cemetery outside Milwaukee.
Now she was staring at a photograph proving Margaret Hayes was alive.
"How is this possible?" she whispered.
Dana studied the image.
"The hospital records show a patient under the name Margaret Howard. She's been receiving private care for years."
"Who paid for it?"
Dana turned the tablet around.
A company linked to Anthony Moretti.
Vincent's face hardened.
"My father knew."
"Apparently," Dana replied.
Claire looked at the address.
"Then we go get her."
Vincent stepped in front of her.
"You're not going anywhere alone."
"The kidnappers asked for me to come alone."
"They want you frightened and isolated."
"And Lily is four years old, Vincent!"
Her voice broke.
He fell silent.
Claire wiped her tears.
"I will do anything to bring our daughter home."
Vincent's expression softened.
"So will I."
For a moment, they stood together as they once had—two people united by something greater than their anger.
Then Dana received an update.
The hospital had been evacuated twenty minutes earlier.
Margaret was gone.
A nurse had found a note beneath her pillow.
The girl must never see what happened to her mother.
Claire stared at the words.
"What does that mean?"
Dana shook her head.
"We don't know yet."
Vincent examined the note.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
But the paper carried a faint embossed symbol.
A black falcon.
Leo recognized it.
"That's Nathan Vale's private security emblem."
Vincent turned.
"Where is he?"
"His office is empty. His staff says he left Chicago yesterday."
Dana checked her phone.
"There's more. We found a second vehicle near the hospital."
A photograph appeared.
The driver was an older man with silver hair.
Claire felt her knees weaken.
She recognized him from a family photograph her mother had kept in a drawer.
Her biological grandfather.
Thomas Hayes.
The man who supposedly died before Claire was born.
Vincent caught her arm.
"Claire?"
She stared at the image.
"My family has been lying to me my entire life."
Dana zoomed in on the photograph.
Thomas was carrying a small medical case.
A case identical to one recovered from the scene of Elizabeth's death.
Claire swallowed.
"What was he doing at the hospital?"
Dana's answer came quietly.
"According to the records, he was declared dead eleven years before this photograph was taken."
Vincent looked at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
This one contained a video.
Lily sat on a chair in a brightly lit room, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
She looked frightened but unharmed.
A man's voice spoke off camera.
"Your mother has until midnight."
Lily looked toward the camera.
May you like
Then she whispered something that made Claire collapse into Vincent's arms.
"Mommy, Grandpa says Daddy killed Grandma."
