Chapter 12 - PAUL
Harris did not let Sarah go alone.
Two investigators, Tessa, and a state police unit met them near the abandoned complex.
Sarah stayed in the vehicle as ordered.
The building had once been called Willow Creek Senior Living.
Now half the windows were boarded.
At 2:17 a.m., police brought out three people.
The second was Paul Mitchell.
He looked toward Sarah’s car and stopped.
She got out before anyone could stop her.
“Paul?”
“You’re Jason’s wife.”
“How do you know me?”
“Mom showed me pictures.”
Sarah’s skin prickled.
“Why?”
“To remind me what happened if I talked.”
At the hospital, Paul refused sedatives until he spoke to investigators.
He told them Linda had used a private caretaker to keep him isolated after North Pines closed.
He had no legal guardian.
No active court order.
Just forged paperwork and paid silence.
“Rebecca found Ray’s ledger,” Paul said.
“Where is it?” Sarah asked.
“She hid it.”
“Where?”
Paul smiled weakly.
“She never trusted me enough to tell me.”
Then he looked at Sarah.
“But she told Emma.”
Rebecca’s daughter.
Sarah called Nicole.
Harris called Savannah police.
Twenty minutes later, they reached Emma’s apartment.
Phone on the kitchen counter.
On the table was a bakery box.
Inside sat six cupcakes.
One had been smashed flat.
Sarah stared at the photo Harris showed her.
The room seemed to tilt.
Linda’s slap.
Maybe it had never been about dust.
Maybe Linda used the same rituals because they reminded her she was in control.
Paul touched Sarah’s arm.
“There’s one place Emma would go.”
“Where?”
“Rebecca had a storage unit under her maiden name.”
“Do you know the name?”
Paul nodded.
“Rebecca Vale.”
Sarah searched the name.
One storage facility appeared outside Savannah.
Then Sarah’s phone rang.
Emma.
Sarah answered.
A woman whispered, “If you’re Sarah Mitchell, don’t say my name.”
Sarah’s heart pounded.
“Okay.”
“I have the ledger.”
May you like
A pause.
“And Linda knows.”
