Chapter 9 - THE CHILD IN THE RED COAT
Ryan stared at the DNA report until the words blurred.
Maya sat beside him.
Neither spoke.
The report claimed Ryan had another child.
A five-year-old girl.
The sample had been collected through Whitmore Medical.
Ryan shook his head.
“This is impossible.”
Maya looked at him carefully.
“Is it?”
“I have never been with anyone else.”
“Not since we married?”
“Not ever during our relationship.”
Maya believed him.
He could see that.
But belief did not explain the document.
Detective Reeves examined the report.
“This could be forged.”
“Or the sample may not belong to Ryan.”
“Why would Denise call the girl a second child?”
Maya asked.
The detective played the video again.
Denise’s final words continued beyond the part they had watched.
“Charles needs a Whitmore heir he can control.”
“He said if Oliver dies, the girl will replace him.”
“He keeps her with a woman named Claire Benton.”
“He calls the girl Rose.”
Ryan recognized the surname.
Claire Benton had been his father’s private nurse during the last year of his life.
After the funeral, she disappeared.
Police searched property records.
Claire owned a small cottage two hours north of the city.
Ryan insisted on going.
Maya refused to let him go alone.
Oliver remained under guard with Maya’s sister, Elena, who arrived from Boston that morning.
Detective Reeves drove them to the cottage.
Snow had begun to fall by the time they reached the narrow road.
A child in a red coat stood near the front gate.
She was small.
Dark curls framed her pale face.
When Ryan stepped out of the car, she stared at him.
Her eyes were the same green-gray as his father’s.
The front door opened.
Claire Benton ran outside.
“Rose, get inside!”
The child did not move.
Ryan approached slowly.
“Are you Rose?”
She nodded.
Claire pulled the girl behind her.
“You need to leave.”
Detective Reeves showed his badge.
“We need to ask you about Charles Whitmore.”
Claire’s face turned white.
“He found us?”
“Not yet.”
“Then you led him here.”
She looked toward the road in panic.
Ryan held up the DNA report.
“Is this child mine?”
Claire stared at the paper.
“No.”
Ryan exhaled.
“Then whose child is she?”
Claire looked at Rose.
The girl clutched the edge of her coat.
“She is your sister.”
Ryan’s entire body went still.
“My father’s daughter?”
Claire nodded.
“Your father and I had a brief relationship after your parents separated privately.”
Ryan frowned.
“My parents never separated.”
“They did.”
“They hid it to protect the company.”
“Your mother moved back into the house when your father discovered Charles’s crimes.”
“She wanted to help him.”
“Then why did she cover up his murder?”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Charles threatened to kill you.”
Ryan looked at Rose again.
“She was born after Dad died.”
“Yes.”
“Charles knew?”
“He found out through Dr. Mercer.”
“Mercer delivered her.”
Claire pulled Rose closer.
“Charles wanted to use her claim to the estate.”
“When I refused, he threatened us.”
“Evelyn helped us disappear.”
Maya stared at her.
“Evelyn protected the child?”
Claire nodded.
“She paid for this house.”
“She sent Denise to help us.”
Ryan’s mind struggled to hold two versions of his mother.
The woman who framed Maya.
The woman who protected Rose.
Both could be true.
Cruel people were not cruel every second.
That did not make their cruelty smaller.
A vehicle appeared at the end of the road.
Claire’s face filled with terror.
“That’s him.”
A black SUV sped toward the cottage.
Detective Reeves reached for his radio.
The signal was dead.
The SUV stopped beside the gate.
Four men stepped out.
One carried a gasoline can.
Another held a gun.
Charles emerged from the passenger side.
He smiled at Ryan.
“I was hoping Denise would eventually lead you here.”
Ryan moved in front of Maya.
Charles looked at Rose.
“Bring me the girl.”
Claire screamed.
“No!”
Charles raised the gun.
Then a second voice came from behind the cottage.
“Put it down, Charles.”
Evelyn stepped into view.
Her face was bruised.
Her pearl-gray suit was torn.
May you like
But her hand was steady.
She was pointing a gun at her brother-in-law.
