Chapter 11 - THE CABIN BY THE WATERThe blood in the gray sedan did not belong to Elena.
That was the first good news they received.
It belonged to the man who had been driving it.
His name was Thomas Keane, a former security contractor employed unofficially by Vale.
Keane had gone missing too.
Police now had enough to question Martin Vale formally.
Vale denied everything.
He claimed Keane was an independent contractor and said he had not spoken to Elena in years.
Ruby knew that was a lie.
She had heard his voice at the motel.
But an eight-year-old’s memory alone was not enough to prove everything.
Damon focused on the cabin.
Property records revealed Richard Fenwick and Walter Crane had jointly rented a seasonal cabin near Harpswell decades earlier.
It still existed.
Now abandoned.
Police accompanied Damon and Caleb because Elena’s disappearance was officially considered suspicious.
They found no ledger.
But under the dock, inside a waterproof box attached to one of the supports, Damon discovered a second cassette and a flash drive.
The flash drive was newer.
Elena had been there recently.
Very recently.
On the cassette, Richard Fenwick spoke.
Damon had never heard his voice.
“If Elena finds this, I’m sorry.”
Richard described Vale’s scheme in detail.
Fake invoices.
Political kickbacks.
Property acquisitions using insider information.
Then another name surfaced.
Thomas Keane.
Keane had not simply worked for Vale recently.
His father had worked for Vale decades earlier.
The operation passed down.
Like a family business.
The flash drive contained photographs Elena had taken over the previous two years.
Documents.
Bank transfers.
License plates.
Names.
Elena had been building a case.
Damon finally understood.
She had not merely been running.
She had been fighting back.
Then Caleb opened one last folder.
A video.
Elena appeared on screen.
She looked tired.
Older than the Elena Damon remembered.
But unmistakably herself.
“If you found this before I returned, I probably made a mistake.”
Damon’s chest tightened.
“I’ve been following Vale’s money. He knows. I planned to give everything to a federal investigator in Boston.”
That explained the trip.
“He found out before the meeting.”
Ruby was not present, but Damon imagined her hearing every word eventually.
Then Elena said:
“Damon, if you somehow ended up in this…”
She almost smiled.
“I always knew you would.”
Damon looked away.
“I’m sorry I never told you about Ruby. There isn’t an excuse good enough.”
She took a breath.
“But know this. I never let her believe she was unwanted.”
Damon swallowed hard.
Then Elena’s expression changed.
“There is one thing Ruby doesn’t know.”
He leaned closer.
“I didn’t start running because of Vale.”
Damon frowned.
“I started running because somebody I trusted told Vale where to find me.”
The video ended.
Caleb looked at Damon.
“Who did she trust?”
Damon immediately thought of Harold.
Then Tessa.
Then Maribel.
All people Elena had known.
One had betrayed her.
The question was which one.
Back at Tessa’s house, Ruby was drawing.
Damon sat beside her.
She showed him a picture.
Three people.
Ruby.
Damon.
A woman with brown hair.
“Mom.”
Damon smiled.
“Good drawing.”
Ruby pointed to Damon’s figure.
“I made your tattoos less scary.”
“Appreciated.”
Then she asked:
“Do you think she’ll still want us if we find her?”
Damon’s smile disappeared.
“Ruby.”
“What?”
“I spent nine years angry at your mom.”
Ruby waited.
“And right now I don’t care about being angry.”
He touched the edge of the paper.
“I just want her alive.”
Ruby nodded.
Then the doorbell rang.
Tessa answered.
Maribel Knox stood outside.
She had been discharged from the hospital.
And when she saw Damon, she began to cry.
“Dear God.”
Damon stood.
“What?”
Maribel looked at Ruby.
May you like
Then at him.
“Elena told me you were dead.”
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