Chapter 26
Caroline escaped the prison fire unharmed.
Richard vanished from the crashed transport.
For twenty-four hours, nobody knew whether Daniel’s people had rescued or killed him.
Then Richard appeared at my front door.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Caroline arranged the crash,” he said.
She wanted both men silenced before trial.
Richard had escaped his captors and walked through the woods.
I called federal authorities.
Before they arrived, he asked to speak with Bear.
“I watched you grow up,” Richard confessed. “I could have reunited you with Margaret.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because she might have loved you more than me.”
The smallness of the answer stunned us.
Decades of suffering began with jealousy.
Bear stepped close.
“She had enough love for both of us. You were the one who had none.”
Agents returned Richard to custody.
Caroline was transferred to a federal facility.
Daniel’s trial resumed under extraordinary security.
The jury found him guilty on every major charge.
He showed no emotion until the judge imposed life imprisonment.
Then he looked at Emily.
“You’ll always wonder if I’m coming back.”
Emily stood.
“No. I’ll remember that I survived you.”
Richard later pleaded guilty to Peter’s murder and financial crimes.
Caroline faced separate trials for conspiracy and kidnapping.
Justice arrived slowly, but it arrived.
Still, one mystery remained.
Ruth’s hospital recording mentioned a second infant transfer arranged by my father.
A baby girl born three years after Bear.
The mother’s name was hidden.
Ruth studied the file and began crying.
“That child was mine.”
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The adoption record listed the baby’s new name.
Caroline Bennett.
