Daniel gave her an address.
Rebecca checked it.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
"The address belongs to a residential care facility."
"Is she there?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not anymore."
"Where is she?"
"She died six years ago."
Daniel looked devastated.
"Then Emma..."
Rebecca continued searching.
"Wait."
She turned the computer toward them.
A photograph appeared.
A teenage girl stood beside a group of young people at a community center.
She had dark hair, brown eyes, and a small birthmark near her right cheek.
Daniel approached the screen.
"That's her."
Leah touched his arm.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded.
"That's my daughter."
The photograph had been taken three months earlier.
The girl's name was listed as Emma Ellis.
Her current address was a youth residence in a neighboring town.
Mason looked at Rebecca.
"Can we contact her?"
"We can arrange a meeting."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not yet."
Mason frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if she's been protected all these years, we could put her in danger by appearing suddenly."
Rebecca nodded.
"He's right."
Mason looked at Daniel.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Daniel stared at his daughter's photograph.
"I want to know who has been watching her."
Emma Ellis lived in a small residential home called Willow House.
The facility provided temporary accommodation and educational support for teenagers who had lost family members or could not safely return to their previous homes.
It was run by a woman named Patricia Moore, a former social worker who had spent most of her career helping vulnerable children.
Rebecca arranged a discreet meeting.
Daniel remained in the vehicle.
Mason and Leah entered first.
Patricia greeted them in a small office.
"You're here about Emma?"
Mason nodded.
"Yes."
Patricia looked toward the hallway.
"She's a good girl. Quiet. Independent. Doesn't trust people easily."
"Does she know anything about her biological family?"
Patricia hesitated.
"She knows she was adopted."
"Does she know her father is alive?"
Patricia looked at him.
"Is he?"
Mason nodded.
Patricia sat down.
"Then perhaps you should understand something before you speak to her."
Mason waited.
"Emma has spent most of her life believing that people who promise to stay eventually disappear."
Leah lowered her eyes.
Patricia continued.
"She was brought here when she was thirteen. Before that, she lived with a foster family. They were kind people, but they couldn't provide the long-term support she needed."
"Why?"
"She had become frightened of strangers. She had nightmares. She sometimes refused to speak for days."
Mason looked at Leah.
Patricia noticed.
"She also has a habit of leaving whenever she believes someone is angry with her."
Leah nodded.
"Thank you for telling us."
Patricia stood.
"I'll ask whether she's willing to meet you."
A few minutes later, Emma entered.
She wore a blue sweater and dark jeans. Her hair was tied behind her neck.
She looked at Mason first.
Then Leah.
"Who are you?"
Mason introduced himself.
"My name is Mason."
Leah smiled gently.
"I'm Leah."
Emma sat down.
"Why do you want to see me?"
Mason looked toward Leah.
Then he answered carefully.
"Because we think we know something about your family."
Emma's expression changed.
"I don't have a family."
Leah shook her head.
"Everybody has a family, even when they don't know where to find it."
Emma looked away.
"That's what people say."
Mason leaned forward.
"You're right. Sometimes people say things they don't understand."
She studied him.
"Are you here to adopt me?"
"No."
"Then why?"
Mason paused.
"Because someone has been looking for you."
Emma's face went pale.
"Who?"
Leah reached into her bag.
She removed a photograph.
It showed Daniel standing beside a young woman.
Emma looked at it.
Then she stared at the man's face.
"Who's that?"
Leah spoke softly.
"Your father."
Emma pushed the photograph away.
"No."
"Emma—"
"No!"
She stood abruptly.
Patricia appeared in the doorway.
"Everything okay?"
Emma shook her head.
"Make them leave."
Mason stood.
"That's all right."
Emma looked at him.
"Why would he leave me?"
Mason did not have an answer.
She picked up the photograph again.
Her hands were trembling.
"Why didn't he come?"
Leah approached slowly.
"Because he thought you were safe."
Emma looked at her.
"That's what everybody says."
Mason nodded.
"Then maybe it's time someone stopped making excuses and started telling you the truth."
Emma looked at him for a long moment.
Then she sat down.
"Tell me."
Leah took a breath.
"Your father is outside."
Emma looked toward the window.
A black vehicle was parked near the entrance.
A man sat behind the wheel.
He was crying.
Emma stared.
For several seconds, she did not move.
Then she whispered:
"That's him?"
Leah nodded.
Emma stood.
"Can I talk to him?"
Mason looked at Patricia.
Patricia nodded.
"Only if you're comfortable."
Emma walked toward the door.
Mason followed at a distance.
Daniel stepped out of the vehicle.
He stood beside the door, unable to move.
Emma stopped several feet away.
She looked at him.
Then she asked a question that broke something inside him.
"Did you know I was alive?"
Daniel covered his mouth.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you come?"
He tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
Emma waited.
Finally, Daniel said:
"Because I was afraid."
She stared at him.
"Of me?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Of the people who hurt your mother. Of the people who killed your grandfather. Of the people who wanted to use you to control me."
Emma looked down.
"So you left me."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
She turned away.
He took one step forward.
"Emma, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness."
She stopped.
"But I want you to know that I never stopped loving you."
Emma looked at him.
"Love isn't the same as being there."
Daniel lowered his head.
"No. It isn't."
She remained silent.
Then she asked:
"Are you going to leave again?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Not unless you ask me to."
Emma looked toward Patricia.
Then at Leah.
Then back at her father.
"I don't know if I can trust you."
Daniel nodded.
"I understand."
She took a breath.
"But you can come back tomorrow."
Daniel began crying.
"Thank you."
Emma looked at him.
"Don't thank me yet."
Then she walked back inside.
Mason watched Daniel stand alone beside the vehicle.
He understood that some wounds could not be repaired by evidence, money, or revenge.
Some wounds required something much harder.
Time.
The following morning, Mason received a message from an unknown number.
I KNOW WHERE RAY IS.
A second message followed.
COME ALONE.
Then an address.
An abandoned factory near the western railway line.
Mason stared at the screen.
He immediately called Rebecca.
No answer.
He called again.
Still nothing.
Then his phone rang.
A man's voice spoke.
"Hello, Mason."
Mason recognized it.
Frank Dalton.
"Where is Ray?"