Chapter 8: Evelyn
Sarah refused to withdraw the complaint.
Daniel expected nothing less.
But she blamed herself when another photograph of Rosa arrived the following morning.
This time, Rosa had a bruise across her face.
Bennett examined the envelope.
“No fingerprints.”
“What are you doing to find her?” Sarah demanded.
“Everything we can.”
“That means nothing.”
“It means we traced the paper, the ink and the delivery route. We are also monitoring every known property connected to Richard, Jason and Martin Hale.”
Sarah looked at Daniel.
“They’re going to kill her.”
“No,” Bennett said. “They need leverage. Rosa is more valuable alive.”
A woman appeared at the hospital that afternoon.
She was twenty-nine, with dark hair and Miriam’s unmistakable green eyes.
She stopped in the doorway.
“Sarah?”
Sarah stared at her.
“Evelyn?”
The woman flinched.
“So you know.”
Daniel stepped between them instinctively.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Evelyn Cross. Miriam Whitmore was my mother.”
Sarah felt the room tilt.
“That’s impossible.”
“No. It’s just inconvenient.”
Evelyn placed a folder on the bed.
It contained a birth certificate.
Miriam Whitmore was listed as the mother.
The father’s name was blank.
Sarah looked up.
“Why did she give you away?”
“She didn’t.”
Evelyn sat down.
“Richard did.”
Years earlier, before Sarah was born, Miriam had briefly left Richard after a violent argument. She discovered she was pregnant while staying with a friend.
Richard convinced her to return.
But when Evelyn was born, he claimed the child was not his.
He arranged a private adoption without Miriam’s consent, telling her the baby had died from complications.
Miriam learned the truth decades later.
“That’s why she changed the will,” Evelyn said. “She was trying to find me.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“The photograph.”
“She found me six months before she died.”
“Why didn’t she tell us?”
“She was afraid of Richard.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Did you send the dashboard video?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have the rest?”
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“I do.”
“Why not give it to the police?”
“Because Rosa is in it.”
Sarah stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Rosa filmed the argument. She was sitting inside her car in the garage. After Miriam’s crash, she gave me a copy.”
“Why didn’t Rosa go to the police?”
“She tried. Richard threatened her children.”
Bennett entered quietly.
“Where is the original video?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Somewhere Richard can’t reach.”
“Then give it to me.”
“Find Rosa first.”
Bennett’s patience thinned.
“You are withholding evidence in a murder investigation.”
“I’m protecting the woman who kept me alive.”
Sarah looked at Evelyn.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“Richard found out Miriam had located me. He sent Martin Hale to frighten me. Rosa warned me before he arrived.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“Why come here now?”
“Because Jason is desperate.”
Evelyn looked directly at Sarah.
“And desperate men repeat old crimes.”
Her phone rang.
She answered, listened for several seconds, then activated the speaker.
Rosa’s frightened voice filled the room.
“Evelyn, don’t give them the video.”
A man spoke behind her.
“Tell Sarah to meet us alone.”
Sarah recognized the voice.
Martin Hale.
“Midnight,” he said. “The old Whitmore factory.”
Then Jason came onto the line.
“Bring the original will.”
The call ended.
Sarah looked at the others.
There was only one problem.
May you like
No one knew where the original will was.
Except Evelyn.
