"Then who?"
Marcus gave me a strange smile.
"She's protecting you from Emma."
I watched him disappear through the station doors.
And I realized that the worst part of this story might still be ahead of us.
Aaron was located six hours later.
He hadn't been running away.
He had been searching for Rachel.
When police brought him in, he requested to speak with me.
I refused at first.
Then he said something that changed my mind.
"Rachel told me Cole would know what Emma is carrying."
I met him in a small interview room.
He looked exhausted.
"You scared that girl," I said.
"I know."
"Why did she run from you?"
"Rachel told her to."
"Why?"
"Because Rachel stopped trusting me."
"Should she?"
Aaron shook his head.
"I've been trying to protect them for four years."
"From Marcus?"
"From everyone connected to the old garage."
"Why?"
He leaned forward.
"Because Rachel found out someone had started asking questions about Caleb."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"And the drive?"
"I've never seen it."
I studied his face.
"Why were you with Caleb?"
"I found him two days ago."
"How?"
"Rachel gave me an address before she disappeared."
"Why?"
"She wanted me to bring him back."
That stunned me.
"Rachel wanted Caleb here?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Emma tell me not to trust anyone who came with you?"
Aaron frowned.
"She didn't."
I stared at him.
"Emma said she did."
Aaron leaned back.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
"Cole, Rachel would never tell Emma that."
"Why?"
"Because Emma doesn't know Caleb."
"She saw him in photographs."
"No."
Aaron shook his head.
"Rachel removed every photograph of Caleb from the house before Emma was born."
Something cold moved through me.
"How did Emma recognize him?"
Aaron whispered, "Exactly."
I returned to Dana's house after midnight.
Emma was asleep upstairs.
Caleb sat in the kitchen.
I told him what Aaron had said.
He stared at me.
"You think Emma lied?"
"I think somebody taught her what to say."
"Rachel?"
"Maybe."
We finally opened the flash drive.
There were hundreds of files.
Financial records.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Scanned letters.
Then we found a folder labeled E.M.
Inside were photographs of Emma.
Baby pictures.
School photographs.
Medical records.
And a scanned birth certificate.
Mother: Rachel Bennett.
Father: Blank.
Caleb stared at it.
Then we opened another file.
DNA REPORT.
My pulse increased.
The report was eight years old.
Two names were listed.
Rachel Bennett.
Caleb Maddox.
Probability of paternity: 0%.
Caleb exhaled.
"Okay."
There was another report.
Rachel Bennett.
Cole Maddox.
Probability of paternity: 99.98%.
I stopped breathing.
Caleb slowly turned toward me.
Neither of us spoke.
I read the result again.
Then again.
"No."
Caleb whispered my name.
I stood so quickly that my chair fell backward.
"That can't be right."
But then a memory returned.
Rachel.
Eleven years earlier.
A club fundraiser.
A conversation behind the garage.
A kiss.
A night I had spent years trying not to remember because I had convinced myself it meant nothing.
The dates didn't seem to fit.
I grabbed the medical records.
Emma's listed age was eight.
But another document showed a different birth date.
Eleven years earlier.
The medical records explained that Emma had a rare growth condition that made her appear much younger than she was.
She wasn't eight.
She was ten years and eleven months old.
Born only weeks after Caleb disappeared.
I sank into the chair.
Caleb read the report.
His face changed.
"You're her father."
I looked toward the stairs.
A small figure stood at the top.
Emma.
She had heard us.
Her face was wet with tears.
"Are you my dad?"
I couldn't speak.
Then I stood slowly.
"Yes."
She stared at me.
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Did Mom know?"
I swallowed.
"Yes."
That hurt her.
I could see it immediately.
"Why didn't she tell you?"
"I don't know."
Emma came downstairs.
She stopped several feet away.
Then she asked the question that would stay with me for the rest of my life.
"Do you want me?"
I crossed the room and knelt.
"I've known you for less than a day."
She looked down.
"But I know one thing," I continued. "You never have to wonder whether someone wants you again."
She stepped forward.
I wrapped my arms around her.
For the first time since entering the bakery, Emma stopped trembling.
Caleb turned away and wiped his eyes.
For several minutes, I believed that was the biggest secret we would uncover.
I was wrong.
We still hadn't found Rachel.
And one file remained unopened.
It was labeled FOR COLE ONLY.
Inside was a video.
Rachel appeared on the screen.
She looked older than the woman in the photograph but younger than I remembered from Emma's description.
She stared directly into the camera.
"Cole, if you're watching this, Emma reached you."
I leaned closer.
"I need you to understand why I kept her from you."
Rachel took a breath.
"Eleven years ago, I learned I was pregnant."