Chapter 16 - Caroline's Last Disappearance
Peter survived the gunshot.
Police took him away under armed guard.
Victoria was arrested before sunrise on charges tied to fraud, conspiracy, evidence tampering, and the guardianship scheme. More charges would follow.
But August heard only one sentence.
Caroline didn't die twelve days ago.
Elsie insisted her mother had died at St. Anne's Hospice.
Mason checked.
There was no record of Caroline Caldwell.
Same age.
Discharged alive three days before Elsie arrived at the gala.
August stared at the screen.
"Alive."
Elsie shook her head violently.
"No. I saw her bed. She was gone."
June knelt beside her. "Did anyone tell you she had died?"
"A nurse said Mommy went away."
"Did she say died?"
Elsie looked confused.
"No."
Caroline had taught her daughter to use careful words.
Nora found a final envelope hidden inside the blue notebook's cover.
The handwriting was Caroline's.
Dad,
If Peter resurfaces, I will have to disappear one last time. He knows Elsie is the key to Grandfather's trust. If I stay close to her, he will follow me to her.
Do not search for me until Peter is in custody.
August stopped reading.
Elsie whispered, "She's alive?"
He could not lie.
"I think she might be."
Hope.
Mason entered.
"We traced a prepaid phone used near the hospice. One call went out the night Elsie left."
"To whom?"
"Thomas."
Everyone turned.
Thomas looked stunned.
"My phone never rang."
Mason checked the number.
"It wasn't your current phone."
Thomas's face changed.
"My old cabin line."
August stood.
The cabin sat four hours north near the Wisconsin border.
Caroline had spent summers there as a child.
Elsie wiped her face.
"Mom used to talk about a lake with red chairs."
Thomas whispered, "There are two red chairs on the cabin porch."
August grabbed his coat.
Unknown number.
He answered.
For a moment, there was only breathing.
May you like
Then a woman's voice he had not heard in eight years said:
"Dad, don't bring Victoria."
