Chapter 98 Chapter 98
Hailey’s POV
I stared at my mother, my mind racing with the implications of what we’d just discovered.
“How long have you had this?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly as I gestured to the torn note. “How long have you been keeping this from me?”
My mother’s expression was troubled, guilt flashing across her expression. “Since the first day of coming to the safehouse,” she admitted quietly. “I found it that very first night when I was unpacking.”
“The first day?” I repeated, feeling a mixture of hurt and understanding. “Mom, why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
“Because you were already stressed enough,” Barbara said, her voice tight with concern. “You’d just survived a terrorist attack on the compound. You’d fainted from exhaustion. The doctor said you needed to avoid stress at all costs for the baby’s sake. How could I add this to your plate?”
She reached out and took my hands, squeezing them gently.
“I wanted to protect you,” she continued. “I wanted to investigate quietly, figure out what this meant before I brought it to you. I didn’t want you worrying about something that might turn out to be nothing.”
I understood her reasoning, even if it frustrated me. My mother had always been protective, sometimes to a fault.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But we need to keep this between us for now. We can’t tell anyone else about this note.”
“Agreed,” my mother said firmly.
I looked at the note again, my mind working through possibilities.
“I think this note was from one of the workers,” I said slowly.
“Or maybe from Elena herself.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Barbara said, nodding. “The handwriting is neat despite being hurried. This wasn’t written by someone who is panicked beyond reason. This was someone who knew exactly what they were doing.”
She moved closer to me, lowering her voice even though we were alone in the locked room.
“And Hailey, if this note is still here after Elena’s death, then the book it was cut out from ought to be here too. Somewhere in this house. Probably, it might be hidden.”
The realization sent a chill down my spine. “You think we can find it?”
“I think we have to try,” Barbara said. “That book might contain more information. Maybe even evidence about what really happened to Elena.”
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door.
I quickly gestured for my mother to hide the note, and she shoved it back into its hiding place in the bed frame.
“Just a second!” I called out, then moved to unlock and open the door.
Benita stood there with Louis beside her, and I immediately noticed something was off. Benita’s eyes were red and puffy, like she’d been crying recently, and there was tension in her shoulders.
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound normal despite my racing heart. “I was wondering where you went. I thought you were making cookies arrangement for me?”
“I did make it,” Benita said, her voice flat. “Then I dropped it. Had to start over.”
“Oh no,” I said sympathetically. “What happened?”
“I got into a hitch with Sophia,” Benita said, her jaw tightening at the mention of Sophia’s name. “We crashed into each other and the cookies went everywhere.”
I glanced at Louis, surprised to see him there. “And Louis? Why are you here?”
He opened his mouth to talk but Benita beat him to it.
“He helped me make another one,” Benita said, and there was something almost soft in her voice when she looked at Louis. “He was very kind about the whole thing.”
Louis gave a modest shrug. “It was nothing. Just doing my job.”
“Well, thank you,” I said to him sincerely. “That was thoughtful.”
Benita stepped into the room, her eyes scanning between my mother and me with curiosity. “What’s going on in here? I heard raised voices earlier. Something about Sophia accusing Barbara of theft?”
My mother and I exchanged quick glances.
“It was nothing,” I said quickly. “Just Sophia being Sophia. Making accusations that have no basis in reality.”
“She said your mother was trying to break into locked rooms,” Benita pressed, her investigative instincts clearly activated. “I heard the conversation but I was too lazy to stand up.”
“I was looking for the bathroom,” my mother said smoothly, the lie coming easily now that she’d had time to practice it. “I got turned around in this big house. Sophia saw me trying different doors and jumped to the worst possible conclusion.”
Benita studied my mother’s face for a moment, and I held my breath, wondering if she’d see through the lie.
But finally, Benita just nodded. “That sounds like Sophia. She’s been acting paranoid and aggressive since we got here.”
“She’s grieving,” I said, feeling obligated to defend her even though she’d been horrible to my mother. “Losing her mother, being back in this house where Elena lived… it’s bringing up a lot of pain.”
“That doesn’t excuse her behavior,” Benita said sharply. “Grief doesn’t give you permission to be cruel to everyone around you.”
There was an uncomfortable silence, and I noticed Louis shifting awkwardly near the door.
“I should get back to my rounds,” he said quietly. “Miss Benita, if you need anything else, just call.”
“Thank you, Louis,” Benita said, her voice softening again.
Louis nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
The moment he was gone, I turned to Benita. “Okay, now that we’re alone, can we talk about Louis for a second?”
“What about him?” Benita asked, looking confused.
“There’s something vague about him,” I said, lowering my voice. “Something I can’t quite put my finger on. He’s so different from every other guard here.”
Benita’s expression shifted to something knowing, almost amused despite her grief.
“Oh, I can explain that,” she said. “I just found out that Louis was Sophia’s first love. And her first ex-boyfriend.”
I felt my jaw drop. “What?”