Chapter 5 - The Discovery of the Linen
The investigation into the operations of the Harlan Foundation took four days to complete.
Ethan didn't return to his penthouse. He stayed in a small, private suite on the eighth floor of the hospital, his laptop open on a rolling medical table, his phone connected via an encrypted line to Thomas Reed’s office in Virginia. Reed had flown in three associates from his Richmond firm—experts in corporate fraud and human trafficking specifications—who were currently working out of a rented office space across the street from the federal building.
"It’s a clean paper trail, Ethan," Reed said through the speakerphone at midnight on Friday. "Margaret didn't use the HarlanLogix accounts. She used the foundation’s 'historical preservation grant fund.' In October twenty-eleven, a check for forty-five thousand dollars was issued to a private medical transport company called Aegis Logistics. The company was dissolved six months later, but the registration documents show the principal owner was Claire’s brother-in-law."
Ethan sat in the dark room, the light from his screen casting long, blue shadows across his face. "And the payout to Rachel?"
"It wasn't fifty thousand in cash," Reed corrected. "It was fifty thousand paid directly to Cook County Hospital’s billing department from an anonymous offshore trust registered in Nevis. The memo line on the wire transfer listed it as a 'charitable donation for indigent maternal care.' They covered her bills, gave her five thousand dollars in cash for moving expenses, and told her that if she stayed in Illinois, they would have the state department of children and family services remove the other child within forty-eight hours."
"They used my name on the legal notices," Ethan said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Reed said. "Claire generated four separate letters on HarlanLogix letterhead, using a digital copy of your signature from the San Francisco contract file. The letters stated that you had full knowledge of the twins, that you had selected Lily as your sole legal heir, and that any attempt by Rachel Monroe to contact you would be treated as an extortion attempt under state law."
Ethan closed his eyes. For seven years, he had lived in a world where he believed he was the victim of an irresponsible artist. He had looked at Lily every night before she went to sleep, feeling a mixture of profound love and deep, lingering anger toward the woman who had left her in a basket. Every time Lily asked about her mother, he had told her, She was an artist, sweetie. She had to go make beautiful things somewhere else.
He had been the weapon his mother used to split his own family in half.
"Ethan?" Reed’s voice came through the speaker, cautious. "There’s something else. The DNA test you took seven years ago... the one that proved Lily was yours."
"What about it?"
"The matching profile wasn't run against a standard paternal registry," Reed said. "Your mother had your DNA profile on file from that bone marrow registry drive you did in college. She didn't need you to take a test after the baby arrived. She already had the results before Claire ever dropped the basket at your door. The test she showed you was a forgery designed to make you think the baby had been discovered by chance."
A soft sound came from the doorway of the suite.
Ethan turned. Ruby was standing there, her yellow pajamas looking bright against the dark wood of the corridor. She was holding the cloth rabbit—the one Ethan had brought back from Lily’s grave three days ago. The nurses had cleaned it, the mud gone from the white plush ears, but it still looked worn, its pink nose smoothed down by years of Lily’s fingers.
"I found this in the cabinet," Ruby said, her voice small. "The nurse said it belonged to... to her."
Ethan stood up slowly, his knees cracking in the quiet room. He walked over to her, his large frame blocking the light from the corridor. He knelt down until his eyes were level with hers.
"Her name was Lily," Ethan said, his voice dropping into that soft, rhythmic tone he had used whenever Lily had a nightmare. "She was your sister, Ruby."
"I know," Ruby whispered, her gray-green eyes shining in the dark. "My mom told me she was beautiful. She said Lily was living in a castle with a prince who could buy her all the books in the world."
Ethan’s throat closed up, a hot, salt taste rising behind his tongue. "I’m not a prince, Ruby. I’m just... I’m just a man who didn't look hard enough."
Ruby reached out, her small, thin fingers touching the cuff of his shirt. "My mom says princes are just men who have big walls so they don't have to look at the dirt. But you came to the dirt, right? You bought the daisies."
May you like
Ethan let out a breath that sounded like a sob, his head dropping onto her small shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her thin frame, feeling the steady, miraculous heartbeat against his chest. For three months, he had held nothing but air and memory. Tonight, the memory had a heartbeat.
"I’m never going back to the walls, Ruby," Ethan whispered into her hair. "Never again."
