Chapter 12 - The Man Who Knew Her SisterDaniel Mercer had been missing for six years.
That was the first thing Caleb's investigators discovered.
The second was more troubling.
Daniel had not disappeared voluntarily.
He had been reported missing after failing to appear at a court hearing connected to financial fraud.
But the case had quietly disappeared.
No trial.
No conviction.
No explanation.
Caleb sat in his office reading the report while Olivia stood beside the window.
“So someone stole money from my sister?”
“Possibly.”
“And then disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he come back now?”
Caleb looked at her.
“Because someone found the account.”
Olivia's expression tightened.
“Or because someone wants what was inside it.”
Their attorney, Marcus Reed, placed another file on the desk.
“There is something else.”
He opened it.
“This account wasn't just a savings account.”
“What was it?”
“An escrow account.”
Olivia frowned.
“For what?”
Marcus looked at Caleb.
“We don't know.”
Caleb leaned forward.
“Find out.”
Marcus hesitated.
“The records are old. Some of the institution's archives were transferred after a merger. It could take weeks.”
“Then take weeks.”
That evening, Olivia received another letter.
This one had no legal letterhead.
Only three handwritten words.
Stop looking backward.
Olivia's hands went cold.
Caleb read it.
“Did you recognize the handwriting?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then she looked at the bottom.
There was a small symbol.
A triangle with a line through it.
She suddenly remembered something.
“My sister had that.”
Caleb stared at her.
“Are you sure?”
“She had it on a necklace.”
“What happened to the necklace?”
“I don't know.”
Olivia sat down.
Her sister had worn the necklace constantly during the final months of her pregnancy.
Olivia had assumed it was sentimental.
But she had never asked about it.
Now she wondered why.
The following day, Caleb visited the hospital where Olivia's sister had died.
The old records had been transferred to an archive.
After several hours of searching, the hospital administrator found something.
A visitor log.
One name appeared repeatedly during the final month.
Daniel Mercer.
Olivia stared at the page.
“He visited her?”
“Seven times.”
“Why?”
Nobody knew.
But one nurse remembered him.
She was now retired, living outside the city.
Caleb contacted her.
The woman agreed to meet.
Her name was Evelyn.
She arrived carrying a worn handbag and sat across from Olivia.
“I remember your sister.”
Olivia swallowed.
“What do you remember?”
“She was scared.”
Olivia's face changed.
“Scared of what?”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“She kept asking me whether anyone had come looking for her.”
“Who?”
“She never said.”
“Did Daniel Mercer come?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
Evelyn looked at Caleb.
“He told her the babies were in danger.”
Olivia's breath caught.
“What?”
“He said someone wanted the children.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“But your sister gave him something.”
“What?”
“A small envelope.”
Olivia looked at Caleb.
“What was inside?”
Evelyn sighed.
“I don't know.”
She paused.
“But I remember what your sister said afterward.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘If anything happens to me, give this to my sister.’”
Olivia's heart stopped.
“Did she give it to you?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who has it?”
Evelyn looked frightened.
“I don't know.”
That night, Caleb increased security around the estate.
Olivia slept beside the children.
She watched them breathe.
Leo.
Maya.
Noah.
Her sister had died believing they might be in danger.
And somehow, six years later, someone was still looking for them.
At three in the morning, the security alarm sounded.
Caleb jumped out of bed.
The house lights came on.
Security rushed toward the rear garden.
Someone had crossed the property line.
But whoever it was had already escaped.
On the ground beneath the nursery window lay a small object.
A silver necklace.
Olivia recognized it immediately.
Her sister's necklace.
And attached to it was a folded photograph.
May you like
On the back were five words.
Your sister never died alone.
