Chapter 2 - The Woman Without a Past

Victoria refused to answer another question.

She walked into the library, locked the door, and called her attorney.

Julian did not stop her.

Instead, he carried Leo upstairs while Mara carried Eli. Both boys trembled until they reached the nursery.

Their nanny, Mrs. Finch, stood when they entered.

“What happened?”

“Not now,” Julian said.

She looked at Mara, then at the boys.

“Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling told me this morning that Miss Reed was not to be left alone with them.”

Julian’s expression changed.

“When?”

“Before breakfast.”

“Why?”

“She said Miss Reed had become inappropriate.”

Mara frowned.

“I barely spoke to Mrs. Sterling this morning.”

Julian put Leo on the sofa.

“What exactly did Victoria tell you?”

Mrs. Finch hesitated.

“That Miss Reed was filling the children’s heads with stories.”

“What stories?”

“She didn’t say.”

Julian looked at the twins.

“Did Mara tell you stories?”

Leo shook his head.

Eli whispered, “Song.”

Mrs. Finch went pale.

Julian noticed.

“You know about the song too.”

“No.”

“That was not a question.”

Mrs. Finch clasped her hands.

“I heard Miss Reed humming two nights ago. Mrs. Sterling heard it from the hall. She dropped a glass.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because she said it was none of my business.”

“Everything involving my sons is my business.”

Mrs. Finch lowered her eyes.

“Yes, sir.”

Julian crouched in front of Leo.

“Buddy, you said Mommy gets mad when you remember. What does that mean?”

Leo pressed his lips together.

Mara sat on the rug a few feet away.

“Julian,” she said quietly.

He looked at her.

It was the first time she had used his first name.

“Maybe don’t question him like a witness.”

“I’m trying to understand.”

“I know. But he’s watching your face to see whether the answer will hurt you.”

Julian went still.

Mara turned to Leo.

“You don’t have to tell anyone anything until you want to.”

Leo looked at her.

“You stay?”

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

Mara swallowed.

“I promise I won’t leave because you said something.”

The distinction made Julian glance at her.

She was careful with promises.

Amelia had been the same way.

He hated himself for noticing.

Eli crawled into Mara’s lap.

“Red room bad.”

Mara stroked his hair.

“What makes it bad?”

“Mommy talks there.”

“To whom?”

Eli’s brow furrowed.

“Doctor man.”

Julian felt cold.

“What doctor?”

Eli shrugged.

Leo whispered, “Gray hair.”

Julian looked at Mrs. Finch.

“Has a doctor visited the penthouse?”

“Dr. Mercer comes every few months.”

Julian stared at her.

“Graham Mercer?”

“Yes.”

“He retired from obstetrics three years ago.”

“I thought he was a family friend.”

Julian stood.

Dr. Graham Mercer had signed Amelia Hart’s death certificate.

He had also delivered Leo and Eli, according to Victoria’s records.

For years, Julian had treated that overlap as cruel coincidence.

Now coincidence felt like a word for people who did not want to look closer.

He took out his phone.

“Daniel.”

His head of security answered immediately.

“I’m here.”

“Pull every building entry record for Dr. Graham Mercer for the last four years.”

“All visits?”

“All.”

“Understood.”

“And send two people to his home. Quietly. I want to know whether he is there, where he goes, who he contacts.”

Mara stood.

“Should I be hearing this?”

Julian ended the call.

“You’re involved whether either of us likes it.”

“I don’t even know who Amelia Hart is.”

He looked at the locket around her neck.

“That belonged to her.”

Mara touched it.

“You’re certain?”

“I gave it to her.”

“Then why do I have it?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

She turned away.

“I need air.”

Julian glanced at the boys.

“I’ll walk with you.”

“I don’t need a guard.”

“I’m not offering one.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“No.”

She faced him.

The answer clearly surprised her.

Julian continued, “But I trust Victoria less right now, and if your memory is connected to what happened, you may be in danger.”

Mara gave a humorless laugh.

“That’s reassuring.”

“I don’t know how to make this reassuring.”

“Try not looking at me like I’m a ghost.”

The words landed harder than she intended.

Julian’s jaw tightened.

“I’m sorry.”

She studied him.

“You loved her.”

“Yes.”

“More than your wife?”

“That question has no safe answer.”

“I didn’t ask for a safe one.”

Julian looked toward the window.

“I loved Amelia before I knew how much other people were willing to destroy to control my life.”

“What happened?”

“I thought she left.”

“You thought?”

“She disappeared.”

“And you believed she abandoned you?”

“I received a letter.”

“What did it say?”

“That she had ended the pregnancy and wanted no contact.”

Mara’s hand went to her stomach.

Julian noticed.

“Are you all right?”

“A headache.”

“From the memory?”

“Maybe.”

She closed her eyes.

A fragment flashed behind them.

A white envelope.

A man’s voice.

You will sign it, Amelia.

She opened her eyes sharply.

Julian stepped closer.

“What did you see?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mara.”

“Someone calling me Amelia.”

He went utterly still.

She backed away.

“No. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you already decided.”

“I haven’t.”

“You have.”

“I’m trying not to.”

She laughed shakily.

“That might be worse.”

Mrs. Finch appeared at the nursery door.

“Mr. Sterling?”

“What?”

“Mrs. Sterling is asking for the boys’ passports.”

Julian’s expression hardened.

“Why?”

“She says she’s taking them to Connecticut.”

“No.”

“She told me you agreed.”

“I did not.”

Mara whispered, “She’s trying to leave.”

Julian called Daniel again.

“Lock the boys’ travel documents in my office safe. Nobody removes them.”

“Already done.”

“Good.”

Daniel paused.

“There’s something else.”

“Say it.”

“Dr. Mercer’s phone was disconnected twenty minutes ago.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed.

“Coincidence?”

“Unlikely. One of our people is outside his townhouse. A car left eight minutes ago. Mercer was inside.”

“Where is he going?”

“We’re following.”

“Don’t lose him.”

Julian ended the call.

Mara said, “Victoria warned him.”

“Probably.”

“Then why let her keep her phone?”

“Because frightened people reveal who they trust.”

Mara stared at him.

“You planned that?”

“I hoped she’d call someone.”

“You’re cold.”

“Sometimes.”

“You weren’t cold with the boys.”

“No.”

“Or with Amelia?”

He looked at her.

“No.”

Before she could answer, Leo screamed from the bedroom.

They rushed in.

He stood beside a low cabinet, holding a wooden music box.

Mrs. Finch stared.

“I’ve never seen that before.”

Julian took it carefully.

“Where was it?”

Leo pointed behind the cabinet.

“Eli kicked ball.”

A loose panel in the wall had shifted open.

Inside was a narrow cavity.

Julian reached into it and pulled out a red silk scarf, a small brass key, and an old hospital identification bracelet sealed inside a plastic bag.

Mara moved closer.

Julian read the faded print.

HART, AMELIA.

Female.

Age twenty-seven.

Date: four years earlier.

The night the twins were born.

Mara stopped breathing.

Julian looked at her wrist.

A pale band of scar tissue circled it.

Exactly where a hospital bracelet might have rubbed against damaged skin.

Victoria appeared in the doorway.

For once, she did not pretend confusion.

She stared at the bracelet.

Then at the open cavity.

“Where did you find that?”

Julian held it up.

“In my sons’ bedroom.”

Her face twisted.

“That woman planted it.”

Mara recoiled.

“I didn’t even know the compartment existed.”

Victoria pointed at her.

“She is manipulating you.”

Julian said, “The wall panel has paint sealed around three edges. It hasn’t been opened recently.”

Victoria’s eyes darted away.

“You don’t know that.”

“I built this apartment.”

Mrs. Finch looked from one adult to another.

“Sir, there’s writing on the bag.”

Julian turned it over.

Three words had been written in black marker.

For Julian only.

His hands went numb.

Beneath the words was a second line.

Ask Ruth Calder.

Mara whispered, “Who is Ruth?”

Victoria closed her eyes.

That was answer enough.

Julian stepped toward her.

“You know.”

“I knew a nurse named Ruth.”

“At the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

Victoria’s voice dropped.

“Dead.”

Julian felt the room tilt.

“When?”

“Two years ago.”

“How?”

“Car accident.”

Mara made a small sound.

Julian turned.

Her face had gone gray.

“What?”

She gripped the bedpost.

“Ruth.”

“What about her?”

“I remember someone saying that name.”

“Who?”

Mara looked at Victoria.

“You.”

Victoria whispered, “You’re lying.”

Mara’s eyes filled with tears.

“No.”

Her voice shook.

“You were standing beside my hospital bed.”

Julian stopped moving.

Mara’s memory came in pieces.

A curtain.

Rain.

A monitor beeping.

Victoria’s younger face, pale and furious.

A man saying, She’s waking up.

Victoria answering, Then give her more.

Mara covered her mouth.

“Oh God.”

Julian caught her before her knees hit the floor.

She clutched his sleeve.

“I remember her.”

Victoria backed toward the door.

Julian held Mara upright.

“What did she do?”

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Mara looked across the room at the woman Julian had married.

“She told the doctor to make sure I never woke up.”