Chapter 4 - The Signature Marcus Never Gave
Police accompanied Marcus to the yellow house the next morning.
He refused to bring Maya.
She stayed with Daniel and Evelyn while Claire was asked to remain available for questioning.
The address led to a restored farmhouse outside Alexandria, Virginia.
A brass sign beside the door read SLOAN FAMILY TRANSITIONS.
It looked nothing like an institution.
That made Marcus hate it more.
Rebecca Sloan met them in a conference room.
She was in her early fifties, professionally dressed, visibly nervous, and quick to explain that her organization did not place children without court orders or legal guardian consent.
Marcus put Maya's crumpled wish card on the table.
“Did you write this?”
Rebecca read the sentence.
Her face changed.
“No.”
“Do you recognize the handwriting?”
“No.”
“Did Claire Walsh bring my daughter here yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“With whose permission?”
Rebecca opened a file.
“Yours.”
She placed a photocopy on the table.
Marcus stared at his signature.
It was excellent.
Almost perfect.
But wrong.
Jenna had once teased him that the final letter in Reed always looked like a lightning bolt.
This one curved neatly.
“That isn't mine.”
Rebecca went pale.
One officer asked where she had received the authorization.
“Email.”
“From?”
Rebecca turned her laptop.
The address looked like Marcus's business account.
It wasn't.
One letter had been replaced.
A convincing fake.
Marcus felt sick.
Rebecca continued.
“Ms. Walsh said Mr. Reed was concerned about Maya's escalating behavior.”
“What escalating behavior?”
Rebecca opened her notes.
Aggression.
Manipulation.
Night terrors.
Separation anxiety.
Threats to run away.
Marcus stared at the page.
“She has never threatened to run away.”
Rebecca looked troubled.
“Maya told me that too.”
Marcus looked up.
“What?”
“She contradicted several things Ms. Walsh had reported.”
“Then why didn't you call me?”
“I attempted to.”
Rebecca showed him three outgoing calls.
All went to a number listed as Marcus's private mobile.
It wasn't his number.
“Whose number is that?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I assumed yours.”
The police officer wrote it down.
Marcus recognized the area code but not the number.
Rebecca opened another page.
“There was also an emergency contact.”
Marcus read the name.
Evelyn Reed.
His mother.
But the phone number beside her name was also wrong.
Someone had built an entire false family around Maya.
Correct names.
Incorrect contact information.
Forged consent.
Real grief.
Invented behavior.
Marcus's anger shifted.
Claire had done terrible things.
But had she created all of this?
“Who first contacted you?” he asked.
Rebecca checked her records.
“Not Ms. Walsh.”
Marcus stared.
“Who?”
Rebecca turned the intake form around.
The referral source was listed as Dr. Hannah Mercer.
Marcus had never heard the name.
Rebecca looked surprised.
“You don't know her?”
“No.”
“She identified herself as Maya's therapist.”
“Maya doesn't have a therapist named Hannah Mercer.”
Rebecca's face drained.
The police officer immediately asked for every email and phone record.
Marcus walked outside because he couldn't breathe.
His phone rang.
Daniel.
Marcus answered.
“What's wrong?”
Daniel sounded tense.
“You need to come back.”
“Is Maya okay?”
“Yes.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Then what happened?”
“Mom found something in Claire's car.”
Marcus looked through the farmhouse window at Rebecca speaking with police.
“What?”
“A folder.”
“What kind of folder?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“It's about Jenna.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
His dead wife.
“What about her?”
“There are photographs.”
Marcus's grip tightened around the phone.
“What photographs?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Pictures from the week before the crash.”
Marcus felt the cold morning air disappear.
Jenna's death had been investigated.
The drunk driver had pleaded guilty.
There had never been a mystery.
At least Marcus had never believed there was.
May you like
Then Daniel said the words that changed that.
“Claire is in some of the pictures.”
