Chapter 8 - Daniel Hale’s Last Christmas Secret
Elena did not sleep.
She sat beside Lucy’s bed until dawn, listening to the wind push snow
against the windows.
Gideon remained outside the door.
“You should rest,” she said.
“So should you.”
“Not happening.”
“Agreed.”
She looked at him.
“Why does everyone keep dragging Lucy into this?”
“Because Daniel hid something through her.”
“She was three when he died.”
“Exactly. Nobody would suspect a child.”
Elena hated the logic because it sounded like Daniel.
He had hidden birthday money in cereal boxes because burglars “never eat
bran.”
“What did he leave her?”
Then Elena remembered the bank envelope.
FOR LUCY WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH.
They had respected Daniel’s instruction.
Now Lucy was in danger because of whatever it contained.
Elena retrieved the envelope.
Inside was a Christmas card with a drawing of three bells.
Lucy recognized it immediately.
“Daddy drew that.”
“Where?”
“My music box.”
Elena stared.
Daniel had given Lucy a wooden music box on her third Christmas.
It sat in their apartment.
Caleb sent officers.
The box was retrieved before noon.
Inside the lid were three painted bells.
Gideon pressed them in the order shown on Daniel’s card.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a flash drive.
Daniel’s final video began.
He looked exhausted.
“If you found this, then Lucy did what she always does. She noticed what
adults ignored.”
Elena began crying.
“North Star is controlled by Arthur Vale’s son, Thomas. Arthur died, but
Thomas inherited his father’s secrets. Thomas discovered Gideon Cross
has a biological child.”
Caroline gripped the table.
Gideon whispered, “What?”
Daniel continued.
“The child was born without Gideon’s knowledge.”
Caroline stood abruptly.
“No.”
Gideon looked at her.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
She shook her head.
“Years ago, during fertility treatment, Voss collected embryos.”
Silence.
Caroline’s face turned white.
“He told us none were viable.”
Daniel’s video continued.
“One embryo was transferred illegally to a surrogate. Thomas Vale has
spent years searching for the child because the trust gives Gideon’s
first biological child controlling shares at age eighteen.”
Gideon looked physically sick.
“Where is the child?”
Daniel answered as if he heard him.
“I found the surrogate. Her name was Rachel Monroe. She disappeared
after the birth.”
A photograph appeared.
A young woman holding a newborn.
Elena gasped.
She knew Rachel.
Everyone turned.
“She was Daniel’s sister.”
Gideon stared.
“You told me Daniel had no siblings.”
“He didn’t talk about her. They were estranged.”
Elena moved closer to the image.
Rachel had disappeared years before Elena met Daniel.
Then Daniel revealed the final twist.
“Rachel did not keep the baby. She placed the child privately with a
family outside Chicago. I found the adoption record, but I did not copy
the name. If Thomas ever got my files, I wanted one secret he couldn’t
steal.”
“Then how do we find the child?” Caroline whispered.
Daniel smiled sadly on-screen.
“Caroline knows.”
She stared.
“No, I don’t.”
“The Christmas song,” Daniel said. “The one Rachel asked you to play at
the shelter.”
Caroline covered her mouth.
Years earlier, before marrying Gideon, she had volunteered at a women’s
shelter.
Rachel had stayed there.
On Christmas Eve she asked Caroline to play “Silent Night” while she
handed her baby to the adoptive parents.
“I never knew that was Gideon’s child.”
“Who adopted the baby?” Elena asked.
Caroline’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never knew their names.”
“But you saw them.”
“Yes.”
“Could you recognize them?”
Caroline nodded.
Mrs. Bell entered carrying a tray.
Caroline looked at her.
The tray crashed to the floor.
Porcelain shattered.
Gideon turned.
“What?”
Caroline stared at Mrs. Bell.
“You.”
The old housekeeper went pale.
“You were there.”
Mrs. Bell began crying.
“I promised Rachel.”
Gideon whispered, “Where is my child?”
Mrs. Bell looked toward the Christmas tree.
May you like
Then at the family photographs lining the hall.
“Closer than you think.”
