Chapter 9 - The Missing Brother
Police searched Cole’s clinic again.
No black folder.
His home.
Nothing.
A rented storage unit contained burned papers and empty hard drives.
Someone had cleaned it recently.
Cole maintained silence.
But financial investigators found a recurring payment.
Every month for twelve years.
A private education trust.
Beneficiary identified only as S.H.
The account had originally been established by Evelyn.
After her death, payments continued.
Authorized by an anonymous trustee.
Jonathan stared at the initials.
“Samuel Hawthorne.”
Maybe.
The trust paid tuition to several schools over the years.
The most recent was a private therapeutic academy in Maine.
Police contacted the school.
No Samuel Hawthorne had ever enrolled.
But a student named Simon Hale matched the age Samuel would now be.
Thirteen.
Jonathan’s face went white.
A photograph arrived.
The boy had dark hair.
Gray-blue eyes.
The same small dimple Noah had near his left cheek.
Noah stared.
“He looks like me.”
Jonathan could not speak.
DNA was needed.
Police sent officers to the school.
Simon was gone.
Removed four days earlier.
By whom?
A woman claiming to be his legal guardian.
Her name on the paperwork:
Celeste Hawthorne.
Maya stared.
“She knew exactly where he was.”
Celeste’s lie collapsed.
When confronted, she finally admitted the truth.
She had known Samuel was alive for years.
Jonathan entered the interrogation room despite his earlier refusal.
“You knew.”
Celeste looked at him.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Before we married.”
Jonathan’s face hardened.
“You married me knowing my dead son was alive.”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“It is exactly that simple.”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know now.”
“You removed him four days ago.”
“I arranged the transfer.”
“To where?”
“Cole chose the destination.”
Jonathan leaned across the table.
“Why?”
Celeste looked toward the detective.
Her attorney objected.
She ignored him.
“Because Cole told me someone was coming for Samuel.”
“Who?”
“Your father’s old partner.”
“My father is dead.”
“Not Richard.”
“Then who?”
“Martin Vale.”
Jonathan stopped.
Martin Vale had served as Hawthorne Medical’s chief scientific officer thirteen years earlier.
He had disappeared from the company after a scandal involving falsified research data.
Officially, he moved overseas.
Jonathan had not heard his name in a decade.
Celeste continued.
“Evelyn believed Vale ordered the unauthorized dosing.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I don’t!”
She slammed her palm against the table.
The composure finally broke.
“I knew Samuel was alive. I knew Cole had helped hide him. I knew Evelyn was terrified someone at Hawthorne would find him. That is what I knew.”
Jonathan stared at her.
“Why help Cole?”
Celeste began crying.
“Because he had proof of what I did.”
Maya watched through the glass.
There it was.
Another layer.
Jonathan asked:
“What did you do?”
Celeste whispered:
“I was at St. Catherine’s the night Samuel was switched.”
Silence.
Jonathan stepped backward.
“You were twenty-six.”
“Yes.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I worked for Meridian Patient Advocacy.”
The shell company receiving Evelyn’s payment.
Celeste had not been a random future stepmother.
She had been connected to Samuel’s disappearance from the beginning.
Jonathan’s voice became almost inaudible.
“Did Evelyn know you?”
“Yes.”
“Were you helping her?”
Celeste looked up.
“At first.”
Jonathan’s face tightened.
“And later?”
May you like
Celeste whispered:
“I betrayed her.”
