Chapter 9 - THE HONEYMOON HE CHOSE FOR A REASON
Julian told me Maine was romantic.
Private coastline.
Cold water.
No photographers.
I believed him.
The resort was called Bellweather House.
Renovated from the former St. Catherine maternity residence and adoption offices.
He never told me.
The property changed names twice.
I would not have recognized it.
Julian did.
His laptop search history:
St. Catherine Family Services original building.
Bellweather House archive.
Old records room.
Basement floor plan.
Ownership history.
He was not planning only a honeymoon.
He was planning an investigation.
Why?
His lawyer allowed a written statement.
Julian claimed he wanted to find the missing Mason Bell report before telling me what he knew.
Why secretly?
Because he feared I would think Mercer caused my disappearance.
Reasonable fear.
Terrible choice.
He wrote:
I wanted proof first.
Then why push the Halcyon transfer?
No good answer.
Both things could happen at once.
He may have wanted to uncover truth about my adoption while also using me financially.
People are capable of conflicting motives.
Then hotel records.
Julian reserved a private archive tour for the second honeymoon day.
Under another name.
He contacted local historian Emily Hart.
Asked whether any St. Catherine records remained inside building.
She said most official files were transferred or destroyed.
One sealed storage room remained behind a wall during renovation.
Contents turned over to state archive twenty years earlier.
But one old basement safe was never opened.
Owner believed empty.
Julian asked whether he could inspect.
Emily refused without property owner.
He offered money.
She refused again.
Then Grant Holloway connected him to a preservation attorney.
Everything documented.
He intended a lawful access petition after arrival.
So not secret burglary.
Still secret from me.
Why care so much?
The old Mercer option exposure.
Maybe guilt.
Then a message to Eleanor.
JULIAN:
If Bell’s report proves Dad knew where Clara was, we tell her.
ELEANOR:
After wedding.
JULIAN:
Before.
ELEANOR:
Do not destroy your marriage over dead men’s mistakes.
JULIAN:
It’s her life.
That was Julian seven weeks ago.
Then three weeks later:
ELEANOR:
Debt extension rejected.
JULIAN:
I know.
ELEANOR:
Get the marital consent signed. Then search Maine.
JULIAN:
You’re unbelievable.
ELEANOR:
And you’re about to lose everything.
He did not respond.
Then two weeks later, he told Grant to hide the consent beneath marriage license.
Whatever remained of his moral resistance collapsed.
I hated that the evidence contained pieces of a man I had loved.
It would have been easier if every message showed greed from day one.
It did not.
Then Arthur’s team contacted Bellweather House.
The owner agreed to cooperate after learning of possible historical records.
State archive logs confirmed one basement safe had been transferred to local historical custody but never inventoried because key missing.
Could it contain Mason Bell report?
Unknown.
We obtained lawful inspection.
Not because billionaires get doors opened.
Because Arthur had standing in an old adoption correction case and the current owner consented.
Inside the safe:
Old payroll.
Property deeds.
Insurance.
Staff rosters.
No individual adoption files.
Then a small box.
MASON BELL.
Correspondence.
My hands shook as Sarah opened digitized copies remotely.
Letter:
Charles Mercer to Mason Bell.
Provide me the placement address immediately.
Bell reply:
I cannot.
Charles:
You told me you located the family.
Bell:
I overstated certainty.
There.
Charles never knew where I was.
Bell lied to him too.
Arthur closed his eyes.
One burden lifted.
Then another letter.
Rebecca Lane to Mason Bell.
You told me Arthur signed away the baby.
He says he did not.
Show me the paper.
Bell never did.
Another.
Mason Bell to St. Catherine director:
Both biological parties are asking questions. We need finality.
What did finality mean?
Then financial ledger.
Payments into Bell trust account.
Mercer one hundred thousand.
Another payment:
Lane Family Holdings.
Rebecca’s parents.
Seventy five thousand.
Her own family paid Bell.
Arthur whispered:
“They were involved.”
Maybe.
Rebecca’s parents had opposed him.
Did they pay to arrange adoption?
Likely.
Then payment:
Vance Hospitality legal.
Fifty thousand.
Arthur stared.
“I never authorized that.”
Who did?
His company CFO at time:
Gerald Sutton.
Dead.
Purpose:
Maternity dispute resolution.
Now all sides had paid Bell.
Mercer.
Lane.
Vance.
Mason Bell sat at intersection.
Could be legitimate legal settlement work.
Could be cover.
Then the final letter.
Bell to an unnamed recipient.
The child must remain outside all three family systems until the original land agreement is settled.
I stared.
“All three?”
Vance.
Lane.
Mercer.
My adoption might have intersected with a business dispute among all three families.
Not because they all conspired to steal a baby.
Maybe because Bell used the custody chaos to solve a commercial problem.
Then Sarah found attached initials.
G.S.
Gerald Sutton.
Arthur’s CFO.
He had received Bell’s letter.
Arthur never knew.
So someone inside Halcyon knew the child was alive.
Not Arthur.
Not necessarily Mercer.
A dead executive.
Then current Halcyon archive showed Gerald Sutton’s son still worked with the company.
Name:
Martin Sutton.
Position:
Senior board adviser.
He had attended my wedding.
Front pew.
May you like
And left the cathedral immediately after Arthur arrived.
Continue to the next part: An old letter shows Arthur’s own CFO received information that Clara was alive, and the CFO’s son now sits close to Halcyon’s board and attended the wedding.
