Chapter 6 - Sophie Mercer Connected Both Families
Detective Laura Bennett took over the investigation that afternoon.
She had spent twelve years working crimes involving children and had little patience for dramatic assumptions.
Marcus liked her immediately.
She laid the known facts across his dining table.
Claire had taken Maya to Sloan Family Transitions.
Claire had presented documents she claimed Marcus supplied.
The documents were forged.
The referral came from someone calling herself Dr. Hannah Mercer.
No licensed child therapist by that name matched the contact information.
A folder linking Claire to Jenna had appeared in Claire's car.
And Jenna had once counseled a child named Sophie Mercer.
“First question,” Bennett said. “Who is Sophie?”
Claire answered.
“She was Jenna's student.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don't know.”
Bennett looked at Marcus.
“Did your wife ever mention her?”
“No.”
“That doesn't surprise me. School counselors have confidentiality obligations.”
Bennett turned back to Claire.
“Why do you remember Sophie?”
Claire hesitated.
“Because Jenna asked me to help.”
Marcus stared.
“You just said Jenna hated you.”
“She did later.”
“Tell the whole story.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Sophie Mercer had arrived at school repeatedly exhausted and hungry.
Jenna became concerned.
Sophie eventually described frightening behavior at home involving her mother's boyfriend.
Jenna reported it.
The investigation moved slowly.
Then Sophie stopped attending school.
Jenna feared the family had fled.
Claire helped Jenna search public records.
That crossed professional boundaries.
When Claire became frightened about losing her job, she withdrew.
Jenna accused her of abandoning Sophie.
Their relationship collapsed.
“Did you report Jenna afterward?” Bennett asked.
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
Marcus finally understood the bitterness.
Not simple workplace rivalry.
Guilt.
Fear.
A child neither woman knew how to save.
Bennett asked another question.
“Who was Sophie's mother?”
Claire whispered, “Hannah.”
The room went still.
Marcus leaned forward.
“Hannah Mercer was real?”
“Yes.”
“But not a therapist.”
“No.”
Bennett began typing.
Records quickly confirmed Hannah Mercer had lived in Northern Virginia.
Then another result appeared.
Hannah had died four years earlier.
Marcus stared.
“Then who used her name?”
Bennett didn't speculate.
She kept searching.
Sophie would now be approximately seventeen.
No recent school records appeared under her original name.
Possibly a name change.
Possibly sealed juvenile records.
Possibly nothing sinister.
Bennett cautioned them against filling gaps with fear.
Marcus appreciated the reminder.
Then Maya asked to speak with him privately.
They went upstairs.
She sat on her bed holding the stuffed rabbit Jenna had given her as a toddler.
“Daddy, are you mad at Claire?”
“Yes.”
Maya looked worried.
“Are you mad at me?”
Marcus's heart broke.
“Never for telling me the truth.”
“What if I forgot something?”
“You can tell me whenever you remember.”
She picked at the rabbit's ear.
“At the yellow house, Claire went to the bathroom.”
Marcus waited.
“A girl came in.”
“What girl?”
“Big girl. Like a teenager.”
His pulse quickened.
“What did she say?”
“She knew Mommy Jenna.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“Your mommy?”
Maya nodded.
“She said my mommy tried to save her.”
His skin prickled.
“What else?”
“She said Claire ruined everything.”
Marcus kept his voice calm.
“Did she tell you her name?”
Maya thought.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
“Would you recognize her?”
“Yes.”
Marcus called Bennett.
Within an hour, the detective obtained an old school photograph of Sophie Mercer.
Maya looked at it.
“No.”
Marcus exhaled.
Then Bennett digitally aged the image using a standard investigative approximation and showed Maya several possible appearances without telling her which was Sophie.
Maya pointed.
“That one.”
Marcus stared at the screen.
Sophie Mercer was alive.
She had found Maya.
And she apparently blamed Claire for what happened years ago.
May you like
But one question remained.
If Sophie wanted revenge against Claire, why was she trying to remove Maya from Marcus's home?
