Chapter 8 - The Road Back to Christmas
The photograph frightened Thomas because it meant someone knew where Rosie was. Ortiz increased patrols and arranged for Ellen’s family to stay temporarily with relatives while officers investigated. Rosie was told the family was taking a short trip. Thomas stayed with her and made sure she knew where he would be each night.
A neighbor’s doorbell camera showed a gray station wagon parked across from Ellen’s house. The license plate belonged to a rental agency. The driver’s face was hidden by a hat, but the passenger looked like Meredith.
Police located the vehicle at a motel. Meredith was not there. They found receipts for gas stations along the Wisconsin border and a map with a rural hospital circled.
Thomas asked to go.
Ortiz said, “You can help by staying available. You cannot conduct this investigation yourself.”
“I understand.”
He hated the answer, but he obeyed it.
Grace brought him news from the charity records. Several Hearthstone beneficiaries had been located. Some had received help, but many said the organization had exaggerated their hardship or withheld correspondence from relatives. Mia’s grandmother confirmed that her letters had never arrived. Other families described similar experiences.
The case was becoming larger than the Vales.
Thomas began contacting families through counsel, offering assistance without asking anyone to support his account. One mother declined. Another accepted help with heating bills. A third sent him a photograph of Anna delivering Christmas groceries years earlier.
“She told us we weren’t charity,” the mother wrote. “She said neighbors help neighbors.”
Thomas showed Rosie the photograph.
“Mommy looks happy.”
“She was.”
“Was she happy with me?”
“The happiest I ever saw her.”
Rosie touched the picture. “I wish she could tell me.”
Thomas held her hand. He did not promise something he could not know.
That afternoon, Ortiz called. Investigators had located Clara Finch at the rural hospital. Clara had brought a woman there for treatment after she developed pneumonia.
“Is it Anna?” Thomas asked.
“We’re confirming identity. The patient is stable.”
He sat down on the kitchen floor.
Rosie approached with her paper star. “Daddy?”
“I got some news,” he said carefully. “I need to check it before I tell you.”
She nodded with surprising patience. “Okay.”
Hours later, Ortiz called again. Fingerprints and records confirmed the patient was Anna Vale.
Alive.
Thomas cried into a dish towel so Rosie would not hear him in the next room. Then he called Ellen, who sat with him while he decided how to tell his daughter without frightening her or promising an immediate reunion.
Anna was recovering. Her memory had improved, but she had lived under threats and false information. She believed Thomas had remarried willingly after learning she survived. She believed Rosie had been told she abandoned them.
Thomas requested a supervised meeting at the hospital.
The next morning, he entered Anna’s room carrying a small silver bell.
She lay propped against pillows, her hair shorter and streaked with gray. She looked at him as though he were a stranger standing in a familiar doorway.
“Tom?”
He could not speak.
“I thought you knew,” she whispered.
“I didn’t.”
Anna began to cry. “They told me you wanted me gone.”
He took the chair beside her bed. “I never stopped looking for answers.”
“I tried to write.”
“I know.”
“Rosie?”
“She’s safe.”
Anna reached for his hand.
May you like
Outside the room, Ortiz received an urgent call. Meredith had been detained at the motel, but Beverly was missing. Investigators had discovered a new document in Hearthstone’s files: a petition prepared to transfer Rosie’s guardianship to Beverly in the event Thomas became incapacitated.
The petition was dated the day before Christmas Eve.
