Chapter 10 - Gideon Left a Safe-Deposit KeyOctavia finally agreed to a full interview.
Her attorney negotiated nothing in advance.
She simply decided to talk.
Everett watched the recording later.
She looked smaller without control.
“I did not want to hurt Finley.”
Moreno did not react.
“You held him down.”
“Yes.”
“You offered him a prescription sedative that was not prescribed to him.”
“Yes.”
“You told him it would help him sleep.”
“Yes.”
“That is hurting him.”
Octavia closed her eyes.
“You’re right.”
“Why?”
“Because Harrison was coming.”
“That explains nothing.”
“He told me not to let Finley call Everett until he arrived.”
“And you obeyed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Habit.”
Moreno waited.
Octavia began crying.
“For ten years, when Harrison said something had to be contained, I contained it.”
“The adoption.”
“Yes.”
“The files.”
“Yes.”
“Sawyer.”
“Yes.”
“Claire.”
Octavia’s face changed.
“What about Claire?”
“You lied to her.”
“Yes.”
“After she discovered Sawyer.”
“Yes.”
“Did you contribute to her death?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“Did Harrison?”
“I don’t think so.”
“August?”
“I don’t know.”
Octavia wiped her face.
“Claire’s accident may actually have been an accident.”
That almost surprised Moreno.
“Why say may?”
“Because August scared me.”
“How?”
“After Claire died, he told me it was proof that people who disturbed old arrangements got hurt.”
“Threat?”
“I thought so.”
“What old arrangements?”
Octavia looked down.
“The twins.”
“Why did you participate?”
“Money.”
Simple.
Ugly.
“Harrison paid you?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“August.”
Everett stared at the screen.
There.
Different from Harrison’s story.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“For what?”
“To change internal hospital records.”
“Did you know Sawyer would be adopted?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Everett believed he died?”
“Yes.”
Octavia began crying.
Moreno did not rescue her.
“Why keep the photograph?”
“Guilt.”
“Why follow Sawyer?”
“I wanted to know he was okay.”
“Did the Frosts know?”
“No.”
“Did you ever contact him?”
“No.”
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“You told her?”
“No. She found me.”
“How?”
“Gideon.”
Everett leaned closer.
Octavia continued.
“My husband knew.”
“From the beginning?”
“No. He discovered it six years ago.”
“When Claire found Sawyer?”
“Almost the same time.”
“Did Gideon help Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Did Harrison know?”
“Eventually.”
“Did August?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Everyone panicked.”
“Why?”
“Because Sawyer wasn’t just a child anymore.”
Moreno frowned.
“He was six.”
“I mean legally.”
Octavia explained.
At age six, the Vale trust automatically generated beneficiary statements for all living descendants.
A compliance audit had flagged an inconsistency.
Two biological descendant records existed in old hospital data.
Only one beneficiary appeared in the trust.
Claire followed the discrepancy.
That led to Sawyer.
That led to the adoption.
That led to payments to August.
“Gideon wanted to tell Everett immediately,” Octavia said.
Everett felt pain.
At least someone did.
“Why didn’t he?”
“I begged him not to.”
“Why?”
“Because I would go to prison.”
Moreno stared.
“And that mattered more than Everett knowing his son existed.”
Octavia cried.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Then:
“Gideon hated me for it.”
“What happened to your marriage?”
“It never recovered.”
“Did he leave evidence?”
Octavia went still.
“What?”
Moreno repeated.
“Did Gideon keep anything?”
Octavia hesitated too long.
“Yes.”
Everett’s heartbeat changed.
“What?”
“A safe-deposit box.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who has the key?”
Octavia looked toward the camera.
“I do.”
Police searched her personal effects.
No key.
Her attorney arranged retrieval from a storage unit.
Inside an old jewelry box lay a small bank key.
Stamped:
317.
The bank confirmed Box 317 had been rented by Gideon Vale.
Access authorization included Gideon and Octavia.
No one had opened it since three weeks before Gideon died.
Police obtained the contents.
Everett sat beside Moreno as they inventoried them.
A notebook.
Financial records.
Copies of August’s payments.
A sealed envelope addressed to Claire.
Never delivered.
Then a second envelope:
EVERETT — IF CLAIRE DOESN’T GET TO TELL YOU.
Everett’s hands shook.
Gideon had written it.
He opened it.
Everett,
If you’re reading this, then our family has failed you longer than I can defend. Sawyer is alive. Claire knows. She is trying to find a way to reunite the boys without destroying the Frost family.
Everett swallowed.
My father is guilty of hiding the truth. Octavia is guilty of helping. I am guilty because I learned the truth and waited.
Then:
But the adoption was not Harrison’s idea.
Everett stopped.
He looked at Moreno.
Continued.
The person who chose the Frosts, created New Harbor Family Services, forged your consent, and paid Octavia was August Pierce.
Then came the final line.
And Claire believes August did it because Sawyer is not the first baby he made disappear from St. Aldwyn.
Everett felt cold.
May you like
This was no longer only his family’s secret.
Sawyer might have been one child in something much larger.
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