CHAPTER 13 – Ashes Don't Tell Lies
"The cabin is already burning."
The detective's voice crackled over the radio.
Every person in the nursery froze.
Marcus Reed was the first to move.
"How far?"
"About forty minutes from your location."
Captain Elena Brooks grabbed her radio.
"Dispatch every available unit."
"I want fire crews, State Police, and forensic investigators at Black Pine Ridge immediately."
She turned to Marcus.
"If Ghost set that fire..."
"...he isn't trying to escape."
Marcus nodded grimly.
"He's destroying evidence."
Richard Carter reached for his car keys.
"I'm coming."
Captain Brooks shook her head.
"No."
Richard looked at her.
"My company is involved."
"My son is involved."
"My family is involved."
Marcus quietly added,
"And the evidence belongs to all of us."
Captain Brooks hesitated for only a second.
"Fine."
"But you follow every instruction."
Richard nodded.
"I will."
Lila slowly stood.
"I'm going too."
Marcus immediately objected.
"No."
"Dad—"
"No."
She looked straight into his eyes.
"If that cabin holds the truth about my first baby..."
"...I'm not staying behind."
Marcus wanted to refuse.
He looked at the bruises covering her arms.
The swelling beneath her eyes.
The protective way she held her stomach.
Then he remembered something his late wife used to tell him.
Don't mistake protecting her for deciding her life.
He sighed.
"You stay beside me."
"Every second."
Lila nodded.
"I promise."
Thirty-five minutes later...
A convoy of police vehicles climbed the narrow mountain road.
The smell of smoke reached them before the cabin came into view.
Orange flames licked through the pine trees.
Firefighters were already battling the blaze.
Captain Brooks jumped from her SUV.
"Report!"
The fire chief pointed toward the cabin.
"The structure is partially involved."
"We got here before the whole thing collapsed."
Marcus looked at the burning roof.
"If Ghost wanted everything destroyed..."
"...why didn't he use more accelerant?"
The fire chief frowned.
"He did."
"What?"
"We found gasoline everywhere."
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
"Then why is half the cabin still standing?"
The chief looked toward the back of the property.
"Because someone interrupted him."
Captain Brooks immediately asked,
"Did anyone see another vehicle?"
One state trooper nodded.
"A black pickup."
"It left the property about ten minutes before we arrived."
Marcus looked toward the muddy access road.
"Too late."
The trooper shook his head.
"Not entirely."
He held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside...
A leather glove.
Captain Brooks accepted it.
"Blood."
The trooper nodded.
"Fresh."
Marcus smiled faintly.
"Ghost made a mistake."
The firefighters finally forced open the front door.
Smoke poured into the cold afternoon air.
Captain Brooks looked toward Marcus.
"You stay outside."
Marcus knew exactly why she said it.
Lila.
He nodded.
"I'll protect my daughter."
The forensic team entered first.
Minutes felt like hours.
Everyone waited.
Finally...
One investigator emerged carrying a scorched metal lockbox.
"We found this in the basement."
Marcus frowned.
"The basement survived?"
"Mostly."
"The fire burned downward slowly."
Captain Brooks took the box.
"The lock?"
The investigator smiled.
"It failed from the heat."
She opened it carefully.
Inside...
Three external hard drives.
Several passports.
Two handguns.
Stacks of cash.
And...
A thick brown envelope.
Its corner was burned black.
But the writing remained visible.
PRIVATE – LILA
Lila's knees nearly gave out.
Marcus caught her before she fell.
Captain Brooks carefully opened the envelope.
Inside were hospital records.
Original ultrasound photographs.
Insurance policies.
Handwritten notes.
Then...
A sealed laboratory envelope.
Marcus frowned.
"What is that?"
The investigator looked at the label.
"DNA Laboratory."
Lila looked confused.
"DNA?"
Captain Brooks slowly opened it.
Everyone gathered closer.
The report was dated...
Three years earlier.
Richard Carter frowned.
"I've never seen this."
Captain Brooks began reading silently.
Then stopped.
Her eyes widened.
Marcus noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
She looked from the report...
...to Derek, who had just arrived under heavy police escort...
...then back to Lila.
"This..."
She whispered.
"...doesn't make sense."
Derek smiled.
Even in handcuffs.
Marcus hated that smile.
Captain Brooks read the report again.
Then finally spoke.
"The laboratory tested tissue recovered after Lila's miscarriage."
Lila felt her heart pounding.
"And?"
Captain Brooks looked directly at her.
"The fetus..."
"...was genetically related to you."
Lila frowned.
"Of course."
Captain Brooks swallowed.
"But..."
She looked toward Derek.
"...Derek Carter was excluded as the biological father."
Silence.
The mountain itself seemed to stop breathing.
Lila stared at the report.
"No."
Her voice barely existed.
"That's impossible."
Marcus immediately stepped beside her.
"There has to be a mistake."
Richard looked equally stunned.
Derek laughed.
A slow...
Cruel...
Satisfied laugh.
"I wondered when someone would finally find that."
Lila turned toward him.
"What are you talking about?"
He tilted his head.
"You've spent three years crying over a baby..."
"...that wasn't mine."
Marcus took one threatening step forward.
"If you're lying—"
"I'm not."
Derek interrupted.
He looked directly at Lila.
"You really don't remember?"
Lila's breathing became uneven.
"Remember what?"
Derek smiled wider.
"The accident."
Marcus felt every instinct screaming that something was wrong.
This wasn't triumph.
It was manipulation.
Captain Brooks seemed to reach the same conclusion.
She quietly folded the report.
"Nobody says another word."
She looked toward the forensic biologist.
"I want this report verified independently."
The scientist nodded immediately.
"I already noticed something unusual."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
He carefully examined the laboratory seal.
"This envelope..."
"...has been opened before."
Marcus frowned.
"So?"
The scientist pointed to the adhesive strip.
"It was resealed."
Richard stared at the report.
"You mean..."
The scientist nodded.
"I don't believe these are the original pages."
Silence.
Then he reached deeper into the envelope.
His fingers stopped.
"Wait..."
"There's something else."
He slowly pulled out a tiny folded piece of paper that had been hidden between the report pages.
It wasn't a lab document.
It was a handwritten note.
Old.
Yellowed.
The handwriting was unmistakably feminine.
Lila recognized it immediately.
Her hands flew to her mouth.
"No..."
Marcus looked at her.
"You know that writing?"
Tears streamed down her face.
"It's..."
She couldn't finish.
Richard whispered,
"Whose is it?"
Lila slowly unfolded the note.
The signature at the bottom stole the breath from everyone.
It read:
— Mom
Lila's mother.
May you like
The woman who had died ten years earlier.
End of Chapter 13
