Chapter 16 The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Audrey stared at the photograph.
Rachel was alive.
That was the first thing she told herself.
The second was harder to accept.
The woman standing beside Rachel was Elise Mercer.
Caleb's mother.
A woman everyone believed had died years ago.
Audrey looked up.
“Is that her?”
Caleb's face had lost all color.
“Yes.”
“You're sure?”
“I'd know my mother anywhere.”
Ethan took the phone from Audrey.
His eyes moved over the photograph.
“Where was this taken?”
Caleb pointed at the background.
“Those windows.”
Audrey leaned closer.
There were tall arched windows behind Rachel.
One of them had a cracked blue pane.
She recognized it.
“The chapel.”
Caleb nodded.
“The old Parker chapel.”
“But you said it was abandoned.”
“It was.”
“Then why is she there?”
Caleb's expression hardened.
“Because someone has been using it.”
Ethan handed the phone back.
“Who?”
Caleb looked at Richard.
Richard shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You know more than you're saying.”
“I've spent years trying to find that place.”
“Why?”
“Because Elise took something from me.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“You mean something she discovered.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Don't start.”
Audrey stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both men looked at her.
She held up the phone.
“Rachel is in that chapel. I'm going.”
Ethan immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Audrey looked at him.
“I have to.”
“You're not going alone.”
“The message says alone.”
“That's exactly why you shouldn't go.”
Audrey stared at him.
“Rachel is my sister.”
“I know.”
“Then don't ask me to sit here.”
“I won't.”
He took a breath.
“I'll go with you.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“If whoever took Rachel expects me alone, then bringing you could put her in danger.”
Ethan's expression tightened.
“So you trust a kidnapper's instructions?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Making a choice.”
The words silenced him.
Audrey looked at Caleb.
“You know the chapel.”
“Yes.”
“Show me the way.”
Caleb shook his head.
“I'll take you.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“No.”
Caleb met his gaze.
“If you follow us, Rachel may not survive the night.”
Audrey's heart clenched.
Ethan looked at her.
“Don't listen to him.”
She reached for his hand.
For a brief moment, neither spoke.
“I need you to trust me.”
His fingers closed around hers.
“I do.”
“Then let me do this.”
He hesitated.
Then he nodded.
“But I'm not staying behind.”
Audrey frowned.
“You just agreed.”
“I agreed to trust you.”
He released her hand.
“I didn't agree to stop protecting you.”
A faint smile touched her face despite everything.
It disappeared quickly.
“Then find another way.”
Ethan understood.
He turned toward Martin.
“Get every vehicle available.”
Martin nodded.
“Where are you going?”
“The chapel.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“And I want someone watching every road around it.”
Caleb looked at him.
“You think you can outmaneuver my mother?”
“I don't know.”
Ethan's eyes hardened.
“But I'm going to try.”
The old chapel stood at the edge of the Parker property.
Its stone walls were covered in ivy.
The roof had partially collapsed years ago, but one section remained strangely intact.
Caleb stopped the car beneath the trees.
Audrey looked through the windshield.
“There are no lights.”
“There shouldn't be.”
“Then how did Rachel get inside?”
Caleb opened his door.
“Someone brought her.”
They walked toward the chapel.
Rain had stopped, leaving the ground slick beneath their feet.
Audrey kept her phone in her hand.
“Call her.”
“I tried.”
“And?”
“Nothing.”
They reached the chapel doors.
They were unlocked.
Audrey pushed one open.
The hinges groaned.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and damp stone.
Old wooden pews stood beneath the broken roof.
Moonlight entered through the cracked windows.
Audrey looked around.
“Rachel?”
No answer.
Caleb pointed toward the altar.
“That's where the photograph was taken.”
Audrey moved forward.
A small table stood behind the altar.
On it was another photograph.
She picked it up.
It showed Rachel sitting in the same chair.
This time, the photograph had been taken from the front.
Rachel was looking directly at the camera.
Her expression was frightened.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
She knows what happened to Claire.
Audrey's heart raced.
Caleb took the photograph.
“My mother knows?”
“That's what it says.”
“She was there.”
“When?”
“The night Claire died.”
Caleb stared at the photograph.
“Then she knows who killed her.”
Audrey looked around.
“Where is Rachel?”
A voice came from the darkness.
“Closer than you think.”
Audrey spun around.
Rachel stepped out from behind one of the pillars.
Audrey ran toward her.
“Rachel!”
Rachel embraced her.
“I knew you'd come.”
Audrey held her tightly.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did anyone hurt you?”
“No.”
“Who brought you here?”
Rachel pulled back.
“I don't know.”
Caleb stared at her.
“Where is Elise?”
Rachel looked at him.
“I've never met her.”
Caleb frowned.
“But you were photographed with her.”
Rachel's face changed.
“What?”
Audrey showed her the photograph.
Rachel stared.
“That isn't me.”
Audrey's stomach dropped.
“What?”
Rachel pointed at the picture.
“Look at her hand.”
Audrey looked.
The woman in the photograph had a small scar across her wrist.
Rachel had none.
Caleb stepped closer.
“They look alike.”
Audrey stared.
Then she realized the truth.
The woman wasn't Rachel.
It was someone who had been made to look like her.
Someone had deliberately staged the photograph.
Rachel looked terrified.
“So who is she?”
A voice answered from behind them.
“Someone who needed Audrey to believe Rachel was in danger.”
They turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Older.
Elegant.
Silver-blond hair.
A dark coat.
She looked directly at Caleb.
His face changed.
“Mother.”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Caleb.”
He stared at her.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Audrey.
“Because your father was searching for me.”
Audrey stepped forward.
“Are you Elise?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
Elise's expression softened.
“I loved Claire.”
Audrey's throat tightened.
“Then tell me what happened.”
Elise looked toward the altar.
“Your mother discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That the trust wasn't created to protect your inheritance.”
Audrey frowned.
“Then why was it created?”
Elise looked directly at her.
“To protect you from your family.”
Caleb shook his head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Elise walked toward them.
“Your grandfather discovered that Richard had been moving money through companies connected to the Parker estate.”
Audrey looked at Caleb.
“That's what the ledger showed.”
Elise nodded.
“But James made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted Evelyn.”
Audrey's expression hardened.
“Everyone keeps blaming her.”
“Because she made the final decision.”
“What decision?”
Elise took a breath.
“She agreed to sacrifice Claire's reputation to protect Audrey.”
Audrey stared.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because Richard threatened to expose Audrey's existence to people who wanted the trust.”
Audrey felt a chill.
“Who?”
Elise looked toward Caleb.
“Your father's old partners.”
Caleb's expression darkened.
“People who were willing to kill for money.”
Elise nodded.
“Claire wanted to fight.”
“And Evelyn stopped her.”
“Yes.”
Audrey's voice shook.
“But Claire died.”
Elise looked away.
“Things went wrong.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
Elise faced her.
“It isn't.”
She reached inside her coat.
Audrey tensed.
Elise removed a small envelope.
She held it out.
“This belongs to you.”
Audrey took it.
The envelope was old.
Her mother's handwriting appeared on the front.
For Audrey, when she is old enough to understand.
Audrey looked at Elise.
“Why didn't you give me this before?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Audrey almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Elise's eyes filled with sadness.
“You have every right to hate us.”
“I don't hate you.”
“You should.”
Audrey opened the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
She read the first sentence.
My daughter, if you are reading this, then I failed to protect you.
Audrey's eyes blurred.
She continued.
But there is something I need you to know about the man you will one day marry.
Her breath caught.
Again, Ethan.
Again, his name.
But this time the words were different.
Ethan was never supposed to inherit the trust.
Audrey frowned.
She read on.
The person who was supposed to inherit it was his younger brother.
Audrey stopped.
She looked at Elise.
“Ethan has a brother?”
Elise nodded.
“Yes.”
Caleb stared at her.
“What?”
Elise looked at him.
“Richard had another son.”
Audrey's pulse quickened.
“Where is he?”
Elise's face became solemn.
“He died twenty years ago.”
Audrey looked back at the letter.
A name appeared beneath the paragraph.
Nathan Calloway.
Ethan's supposed younger brother.
But Audrey had never heard that name.
Not once.
She looked at Caleb.
Then at Elise.
“Why was I never told?”
Elise's answer came quietly.
“Because Nathan didn't die.”
Audrey's heart stopped.
Caleb stepped forward.
“What are you saying?”
Elise looked toward the chapel doors.
“He disappeared.”
A shadow moved outside.
Elise's face changed.
“They found us.”
Audrey's phone vibrated.
One message.
From an unknown number.
Ask Elise why Nathan disappeared.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Audrey opened it.
A young man stood beside Richard Calloway.
He looked remarkably like Ethan.
Beneath the photograph was a date.
October 18, 2006.
The same night James disappeared.
The same night Claire died.
The same night Audrey's childhood memories ended.
Audrey looked at Elise.
“Who took this?”
Elise whispered,
“Nathan.”
Audrey stared at the photograph.
“But if he took it, he was alive that night.”
Elise nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then where is he now?”
Elise looked toward the dark doorway.
“I don't know.”
Caleb suddenly turned.
Someone was standing outside.
A man.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
His face was partly hidden by the shadows.
Audrey could only see his eyes.
Ethan's eyes.
The man stepped into the chapel.
Elise whispered his name.
“Nathan.”
And Audrey realized that the greatest secret of her husband's family had just walked through the door.