PART 2.
The headlights stopped outside Gideon Crosswell’s mansion, and Lily’s terrified whisper still hung in the room.
“The man who killed your daughter.”
Gideon had spent a year believing Ren’s death was an accident.
But as armed guards moved toward the entrance, Lily suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t let him see us.”
Then Emma pointed at Ren’s photograph and whispered something even more impossible.
“She knew we would come here.”
For the first time since his daughter’s funeral, Gideon wondered whether Ren’s death had been hiding a secret someone was still willing to kill for.
The headlights remained motionless beyond the rain-streaked windows.
For three seconds, nobody in the dining room moved.
Then Gideon Crosswell became the man Chicago feared again.
“Lock the house.”
His voice was quiet.
That made his guards move faster.
The security doors engaged throughout the mansion.
Two men disappeared toward the foyer while another reached beneath his jacket.
Lily pulled Emma against her.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Don’t let him take us.”
Gideon crouched in front of her.
“Who is he?”
Before Lily could answer, one of his guards spoke through the radio.
“Boss, vehicle stopped at the front entrance.”
“What vehicle?”
“Black Mercedes.”
“Plate?”
A pause.
Then:
“Registered to Dr.
Adrian Vale.”
Gideon froze.
He knew that name.
Everyone connected to Ren’s final night knew that name.
Dr.
Adrian Vale had been the pediatric specialist who pronounced Gideon’s daughter dead.
Gideon slowly turned toward Lily.
“You know Dr.
Vale?”
The child’s eyes filled with tears.
“He knows us.”
That answer was enough.
Gideon stood.
“Take the girls upstairs.”
“No!”
Lily grabbed his sleeve with surprising strength.
“You can’t leave us alone.”
“You won’t be alone.”
“You don’t understand.”
Her voice cracked.
“He has people everywhere.”
Gideon stared at her.
“So do I.”
Something about the answer seemed to calm her, but only slightly.
Emma slipped from her chair and approached Gideon.
She reached into the pocket of her oversized coat.
Lily saw what she was doing.
“Emma, no!”
But Emma had already removed something.
A small silver bracelet.
She placed it in Gideon’s palm.
His heart stopped.
A tiny sunflower charm hung from the chain.
And beside it was a silver letter.
R.
Gideon knew that bracelet.
He had fastened it around Ren’s wrist on her fourth birthday.
It had been buried with her.
Or so he had believed.
“Where did you get this?”
Emma’s lower lip trembled.
“The lady gave it to us.”
“What lady?”
Lily closed her eyes.
Emma whispered:
“Miss Claire.”
Gideon’s blood turned cold again.
Claire Bennett had been Ren’s nanny.
She had disappeared three days after Ren died.
Police believed she had fled because she blamed herself for the accident.
Gideon had spent six months searching for her.
He never found her.
Until now.
A bell sounded from the front entrance.
Someone was requesting access.
Gideon handed the bracelet to his lieutenant, Marcus.
“Take them to my office.
Nobody enters.”
Lily refused to move.
“He’ll lie.”
Gideon looked toward her.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Then the front intercom activated.
“Mr.
Crosswell?”
The voice was calm.
Professional.
Familiar.
Dr.
Adrian Vale.
“I apologize for arriving unexpectedly.
I believe two children may have entered your property.”
Gideon’s eyes never left Lily.
“How would you know that?”
“They ran away from a temporary care facility this afternoon.”
Lily shook her head violently.
“No.”
Vale continued.
“They’re frightened children, Gideon.
One of them has significant emotional difficulties.
She invents stories.”
Lily whispered:
“He always says that.”
Gideon’s jaw tightened.
Vale couldn’t hear her.
Gideon pressed the intercom button.
“What are their names?”
Another hesitation.
“Lily and Emma Mercer.”
For the first time, Lily looked genuinely shocked.
Those names were real.
Vale continued.
“Their mother died recently.
They’ve been through considerable trauma.”
“Where’s their father?”
“Unknown.”
“And you personally drive through a storm to collect runaway children?”
Silence.
Gideon almost smiled.
There it was.
The mistake.
People lied best when they prepared answers for expected questions.
They failed when Gideon asked the question they hadn’t rehearsed.
“I oversee the facility,” Vale finally replied.
“No, you don’t.”
Vale’s voice hardened slightly.
“Gideon—”
“You’re a pediatric cardiologist.”
No answer.
Gideon turned toward Marcus.
“Find everything on Lily and Emma Mercer.”
Marcus nodded.
Then Gideon pressed the intercom again.
“You have sixty seconds to leave my property.”
“I strongly advise against that.”
“Fifty-five.”
“These children may be dangerous to themselves.”
“Fifty.”
“Gideon, listen carefully.
This situation involves your daughter.”
Gideon stopped counting.
Everyone in the room went silent.
Vale continued.
“I know why Ren died.”
Lily began shaking.
Gideon looked toward the front doors.
“Let him in.”
“Boss?”
Marcus asked.
“Only him.”
The doors opened three minutes later.
Adrian Vale entered wearing a dark raincoat.
He looked almost exactly as Gideon remembered him.
Silver at the temples.
Wire-framed glasses.
Perfect posture.
The face of a man parents trusted instinctively.
But tonight his eyes moved too quickly.
Toward the stairs.
Toward the security cameras.
Toward Gideon’s men.
Then toward the sunflowers.
“You shouldn’t have brought those children inside,” Vale said.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
Vale removed his wet gloves.
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“They need to return with me.”
“They’re not going anywhere.”
Vale sighed.
“This is precisely what Claire feared.”
Gideon stepped closer.
“You’ve seen Claire?”
Vale looked almost surprised.
“Recently?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know what she feared?”
Vale realized his mistake.
Too late.
Gideon took another step.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I haven’t seen Claire Bennett in almost a year.”
“Then explain this.”
Gideon placed Ren’s bracelet on the table.
Vale’s face changed.
Barely.
But Gideon saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
Then something darker.
“How did you get that?”
“You tell me.”
Vale stared at the bracelet.
“That belonged to Ren.”
“Yes.”
“It should be—”
He stopped.
Gideon’s eyes narrowed.
“It should be where?”
Vale said nothing.
“In her coffin?”
The doctor looked up.
Gideon suddenly understood.
“You knew she was buried wearing it.”
“I attended the funeral.”
“No.”
Gideon moved closer.
“The coffin was closed before you arrived.”
Vale’s face tightened.
Behind Gideon, Marcus quietly reached for his phone.
Vale glanced toward the doors.
That was when Gideon knew the doctor was thinking about escape.
“Sit down.”
“I think I should leave.”
“Sit.”
Vale obeyed.
Gideon remained standing.
“Tell me what happened to my daughter.”
Vale rubbed his thumb across his palm.
“She died from complications caused by an undiagnosed congenital condition.”
“That’s what you told me.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Then why are two children hiding from you?”
Vale looked toward the stairs.
“They aren’t hiding from me.”
A small voice answered from above.
“Yes, we are.”
Everyone turned.
Lily stood at the top of the staircase.
Emma was beside her.
Marcus cursed softly.
His men had been ordered to keep them upstairs, but apparently Lily had found another way out of the office.
Vale rose immediately.
“Lily.”
The girl stepped backward.
Gideon saw pure terror on her face.
“Sit down,” Gideon told Vale.
“Gideon, she’s confused.”
“I said sit.”
Vale slowly lowered himself again.
Lily descended one step.
Then another.
“You told Claire nobody would believe her.”
Vale’s face went pale.
“Lily—”
“You said Mr.
Crosswell would kill her if he knew.”
Gideon looked at Vale.
The doctor said nothing.
Lily continued down the stairs.
“Claire said that wasn’t true.”
Vale suddenly stood.
Gideon’s guards moved instantly.
Three men blocked him.
“Enough,” Vale snapped.
“This child has been manipulated.”
Lily reached the bottom.
She was crying now.
But she kept speaking.
“Claire said Ren didn’t die because she was sick.”
Gideon felt the room tilt.
“What happened?”
Lily looked at him.
“She saw something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Vale laughed nervously.
“This is absurd.”
Emma suddenly spoke.
“The red room.”
Vale stopped laughing.
Gideon noticed.
“What red room?”
Emma pointed toward Vale.
“He knows.”
The doctor’s composure disappeared.
“Those children need medical attention.”
Lily shouted:
“STOP SAYING THAT!”
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Emma began crying.
Lily immediately hugged her.
Then Gideon saw something.
Beneath Emma’s wet hair, behind her left ear, was a tiny scar.
A perfectly straight surgical line.
He crouched.
“Emma.”
She flinched.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
He gently moved her hair aside.
The scar was several centimeters long.
Old.
Not recent.
“What happened here?”
Emma touched it.
“I don’t remember.”
Lily answered for her.
“She isn’t supposed to.”
Vale suddenly lunged toward the table.
Marcus caught him before he moved two steps.
The doctor struggled.
“Get your hands off me!”
Gideon stared.
Why would a respected physician panic because someone noticed a scar?
Unless the scar mattered.
Gideon approached him.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
Gideon grabbed the front of Vale’s coat.
“What did you do?”
Vale’s voice dropped.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“Then explain it.”
“You think this is about Ren?”
“My daughter’s bracelet came into my house on a child you were chasing.”
Vale looked toward Emma.
For the first time, Gideon saw something unexpected in the doctor’s eyes.
Not hatred.
Not anger.
Fear.
Of Emma.
Vale whispered:
“She remembers.”
Lily covered Emma’s ears.
Gideon released Vale.
“Remembers what?”
Vale didn’t answer.
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
“Boss.”
Gideon turned.
Marcus’s expression was grim.
“I found the Mercer girls.”
“And?”
“Their mother was Anna Mercer.”
Gideon didn’t recognize the name.
Marcus continued.
“She worked at St.
Catherine’s Children’s Hospital.”
That was where Ren had died.
Gideon looked slowly toward Vale.
“What did she do there?”
“Night nurse.”
“When?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Until one year ago.”
The pieces began arranging themselves.
“Exact date she stopped working?”
Marcus showed him the screen.
Gideon read it.
His stomach turned.
Anna Mercer disappeared from hospital records the morning after Ren died.
“Where is she now?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Officially?”
“Yes.”
“Dead.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Emma buried her face against her sister.
“How?”
“Car accident six months ago.”
Gideon looked toward Vale.
The doctor stared at the floor.
Marcus continued.
“There’s more.”
“Tell me.”
“Anna filed an internal complaint the night Ren died.”
Gideon could hear his own heartbeat.
“About what?”
“The record is sealed.”
“Unseal it.”
“I’m trying.”
Vale suddenly spoke.
“You should stop.”
Gideon turned.
“What?”
“You should stop digging.”
The doctor’s voice was no longer frightened.
It was almost resigned.
“You buried your daughter, Gideon.
Leave her buried.”
The words struck harder than any threat.
Gideon crossed the room so quickly that Marcus barely caught his arm.
“Say that again.”
Vale looked directly into his eyes.
“You don’t want the truth.”
“I’ve killed friendships for smaller lies than the one you’re telling me.”
Vale smiled sadly.
“And that is exactly why Claire was afraid of you.”
“Where is Claire?”
Vale remained silent.
Lily reached into her coat.
This time she removed a folded piece of paper.
“I know.”
Everyone turned.
Gideon approached her.
“What is that?”
“Claire told me to give it to you if we got inside.”
“If?”
Lily nodded.
“She didn’t know if we would.”
Gideon took the paper.
It was sealed with tape.
His name was written across the front.
GIDEON CROSSWELL.
He recognized the handwriting.
Claire.
His fingers trembled as he opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
If Lily and Emma reached you, then I am probably already dead.
Do not trust Ren’s medical records.
Find Room 614.
Gideon read it twice.
Then a third time.
Room 614.
He looked at Vale.
The doctor had gone completely white.
“What’s in Room 614?”
Vale whispered:
“Nothing anymore.”
“Anymore?”
Vale closed his eyes.
That single word had betrayed him.
Gideon turned toward Marcus.
“Call St.
Catherine’s.”
Marcus didn’t move.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“I already searched the hospital floor plans.”
“And?”
“There is no Room 614.”
Vale laughed softly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because something had finally become inevitable.
“There hasn’t been for eleven months.”
Gideon stared at him.
“What happened to it?”
“Renovation.”
“What was there before?”
Vale remained silent.
Lily answered.
“A children’s research room.”
Gideon looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“My mom worked there.”
Emma whispered:
“And Ren.”
Silence.
Gideon felt his knees almost give way.
“My daughter was never part of any research program.”
Vale looked at him.
“Not officially.”
Those two words destroyed whatever restraint Gideon had left.
He shoved Vale against the wall.
“What did you do to my daughter?”
Vale’s glasses fell to the floor.
“Gideon!”
“What did you do?”
“I tried to save her!”
“FROM WHAT?”
Vale stared at him.
Then said:
“From the people you work for.”
Gideon stopped.
The mansion became utterly silent.
“I don’t work for anyone.”
Vale gave him a broken smile.
“That’s what they needed you to believe.”
Gideon slowly released him.
Vale adjusted his collar.
“Your waterfront empire moves more than legitimate cargo.
You know that.”
“I know every container.”
“No.”
Vale shook his head.
“You know the containers they allow you to know.”
Gideon stared.
Vale continued.
“Ren accidentally saw something at one of your warehouses.
Something she shouldn’t have.”
“She was four.”
“Exactly.”
“What could a four-year-old possibly understand?”
“Nothing.”
Vale looked toward Emma.
“But children remember faces.”
Emma started shaking again.
Gideon felt sick.
“Whose face?”
Vale whispered:
“Someone close to you.”
Before Gideon could demand a name, the lights went out.
The entire mansion plunged into darkness.
Emma screamed.
Guards shouted.
Emergency lights flickered red along the walls.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Security breach!”
Gideon grabbed Lily and Emma, pulling them behind him.
“Where?”
A voice crackled through the radio.
“East wing!”
Then gunfire erupted somewhere outside.
Not inside.
Warning shots.
A diversion.
Gideon understood immediately.
“They want us looking east.”
Marcus turned.
“Then where?”
Gideon looked toward Vale.
The doctor was gone.
The chair beside the wall was empty.
“Find him!”
Men scattered.
Gideon rushed the girls toward his private office.
Halfway there, Emma stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?”
She pointed toward the hallway leading to the family wing.
“The picture.”
“What picture?”
“Ren’s picture.”
Gideon followed her gaze.
At the end of the corridor hung an enormous portrait of Ren and Gideon.
Emma walked toward it.
Lily tried to stop her.
“Emma!”
But the younger girl touched the wooden frame.
“Claire said behind the happy girl.”
Gideon stared.
He removed the portrait from the wall.
Behind it was nothing but paneling.
Then Lily pressed one section.
Click.
A hidden compartment opened.
Gideon stepped backward.
He hadn’t known it existed.
Inside was a small black phone.
And a memory card.
Marcus arrived.
“What the hell?”
Gideon removed the phone.
The battery still held power.
There was only one video file.
Dated three days before Ren’s death.
Gideon pressed play.
Claire appeared on-screen.
She looked terrified.
“Gideon, if you’re watching this, something happened to me or Ren.”
Gideon stopped breathing.
Claire continued.
“Ren saw a man at Warehouse Seventeen.
I thought she was confused until she drew his face.”
The video shook.
“I went there myself.”
Claire began crying.
“I saw children, Gideon.
Medical equipment.
Files.
They’re using your shipments to move experimental materials through the city.”
Gideon looked toward Emma’s scar.
Claire continued.
“Anna Mercer helped me copy the records.
Adrian Vale was involved at first, but he tried to stop it when children began getting hurt.”
Gideon froze.
Vale hadn’t been hunting the girls.
He had been protecting them.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“The man running everything is someone Ren trusted.”
The recording suddenly distorted.
Then Claire lifted a child’s drawing.
A crude picture made in colored pencil.
A tall man.
A little girl.
Sunflowers.
And beside the man was a name written in a child’s uneven handwriting.
Gideon stared at it.
His entire body went numb.
UNCLE MARCUS.
Slowly, Gideon turned.
Marcus stood behind him.
The loyal lieutenant who had served him for eleven years.
The man who had carried Ren on his shoulders.
The man who had stood beside Gideon at her funeral.
Marcus looked at the phone.
Then at Gideon.
His expression changed.
No shock.
No confusion.
Just disappointment.
“I was hoping you’d never find that.”
Gideon stepped in front of the girls.
“You killed her.”
Marcus sighed.
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I didn’t kill Ren.”
“Then who did?”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“That’s the part you still don’t understand.”
He reached slowly into his jacket.
Gideon’s hand moved toward his own weapon.
But Marcus didn’t pull a gun.
He removed a photograph.
Then slid it across the desk.
Gideon looked down.
The photograph had been taken recently.
Very recently.
A little girl stood beside a window.
Blond hair.
Yellow dress.
A sunflower held against her chest.
Gideon stopped breathing.
No.
Impossible.
His hands began trembling.
The child in the photograph looked older than Ren had been when she died.
Perhaps five.
But the eyes…
Those eyes.
He knew them.
He had seen them every morning for four years.
Behind him, Emma whispered:
“That’s the girl who taught me about happy flowers.”
Gideon couldn’t move.
Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t breathe.
He looked at Marcus.
His voice broke for the first time in twenty years.
“Where was this taken?”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
“Room 614.”
Gideon stared at the photograph again.
Then he noticed something written on the back.
A date.
Three weeks ago.
One year after Gideon Crosswell had buried his four-year-old daughter, someone had taken a photograph of a living child who looked exactly like her.
And beneath the date were four handwritten words:
Daddy, please find me.
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Source: Stories of Destiny · Thao Thao
