{"id":24949,"date":"2026-09-29T15:19:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24949"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:19:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:19:57","slug":"part-11-rebeccas-photograph-proved-she-had-been-watching-the-corbins-years-after-her-disappearance-and-aaron-finally-learned-why-she-never-came-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24949","title":{"rendered":"PART 11 \u2013 Rebecca\u2019s Photograph Proved She Had Been Watching the Corbins Years After Her Disappearance, and Aaron Finally Learned Why She Never Came Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron did not believe us at first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We were back at Eleanor\u2019s office under police protection.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret sat beside him.<\/p>\n<p>The photograph of Caleb and Michael lay inside an evidence sleeve.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stared at it as if refusing to blink could force it to become something else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom was sick then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles sat across the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe lived in Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t go to Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re lying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret reached toward him.<\/p>\n<p>He pulled away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou all keep finding another lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice cracked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy whole life is one thing, then another thing, then another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one argued.<\/p>\n<p>He was right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would she go there?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n<p>Charles answered carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she was trying to protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody says that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He grabbed his hoodie from the chair.<\/p>\n<p>Malik blocked the door without touching him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot while you\u2019re angry enough to walk into the street alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik did.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stopped at the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom placed responsibility back into his hands.<\/p>\n<p>He stood there for several seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Then returned to his chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He wiped his face roughly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles began with something we had not known.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca never stopped investigating Edward.<\/p>\n<p>After she fled, she focused first on survival.<\/p>\n<p>New identity.<\/p>\n<p>Temporary work.<\/p>\n<p>Cash rentals.<\/p>\n<p>No predictable routine.<\/p>\n<p>She told Edith almost nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Then, once she felt safer, she began collecting records.<\/p>\n<p>At first she wanted enough evidence to prove she had not imagined the financial abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Later, she discovered Michael.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d Eleanor asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles\u2019s confession came quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Years after Rebecca disappeared, he contacted her.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew where she was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou contacted her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you let me believe she might be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was told disclosure could expose her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy Michael?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stood.<\/p>\n<p>Her chair crashed backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stole six years from me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles accepted the accusation without defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew my daughter was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew she had contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t get to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stood and held her arm.<\/p>\n<p>This time she let him.<\/p>\n<p>Charles explained that Rebecca approached him first through an anonymous letter.<\/p>\n<p>She had discovered his name in Edward\u2019s old paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>She believed he knew about the Corbin network.<\/p>\n<p>She threatened to expose him unless he answered questions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI should have gone to police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was already implicated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Not courage.<\/p>\n<p>Self-preservation.<\/p>\n<p>Charles gave her limited information.<\/p>\n<p>Then Michael learned about the contact.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of silencing Rebecca, he began using her.<\/p>\n<p>My skin crawled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gave her records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo document Edward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca became an unofficial observer.<\/p>\n<p>She tracked companies.<\/p>\n<p>Relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Properties.<\/p>\n<p>Edward\u2019s new partners.<\/p>\n<p>She mailed information to Charles through dead drops and intermediaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe became one of Michael\u2019s investigators,\u201d Eleanor said.<\/p>\n<p>Charles nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout trusting him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smart.<\/p>\n<p>Dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Tragic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Michael promise her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Aaron would remain hidden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The price of protecting her son was staying connected to the man who helped create the system she feared.<\/p>\n<p>I thought again about the cruelty of choices made under pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy photograph Caleb?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca learned Edward had another son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron looked at the image.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom knew about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo evidence of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe went to the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe followed Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she believed he was going to use Caleb the way Edward had used you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>So Rebecca photographed the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Michael.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb.<\/p>\n<p>Edward.<\/p>\n<p>Charles.<\/p>\n<p>Possibly others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was there when Caleb drowned?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Charles shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said she took the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe picture was taken around noon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat time did Caleb drown?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust after four.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four hours missing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you see Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did you know she took it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe mailed me the film later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo weeks after Caleb\u2019s funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else was on it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There were eleven photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Only three showed the lake.<\/p>\n<p>The rest documented vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>License plates.<\/p>\n<p>People arriving.<\/p>\n<p>One picture showed Dr. Keene.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeene was there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just said\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe arrived at another property nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another photograph showed retired detective Thomas Bell.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s investigator.<\/p>\n<p>At the lake area.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen years after her disappearance.<\/p>\n<p>The network was physically converging around Caleb\u2019s trust verification.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat were they doing there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never found out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Michael?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI assume so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are the photos?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy office safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho had access?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The photograph taped to Charles\u2019s windshield had therefore come from someone who retained copies.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Michael.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe someone else.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stared at the picture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did my mom die?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficially?\u201d Charles asked.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stiffened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt dread rise.<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked toward Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>She gave him nothing.<\/p>\n<p>He had to say it himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca\u2019s death certificate says March seventeenth, nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s when she died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the date on the certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stood again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret whispered, \u201cCharles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI received a letter from Rebecca six months later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron\u2019s voice became small.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was handwritten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould have been written earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShow me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have the original.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron laughed through tears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing exists when I need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles opened his briefcase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a scan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He slid a page across the table.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron did not touch it.<\/p>\n<p>I read upside down.<\/p>\n<p>Charles,<\/p>\n<p>Do not contact Edith again. Aaron believes I am gone. That is safer.<\/p>\n<p>Michael cannot know otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>If the archive opens before Aaron is old enough to understand it, Wynn must delay transfer.<\/p>\n<p>R.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stared.<\/p>\n<p>Then looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas she alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had no answer.<\/p>\n<p>Neither did I.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase cut deepest.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron believes I am gone.<\/p>\n<p>That is safer.<\/p>\n<p>Not dead.<\/p>\n<p>Gone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe she staged her death too,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Charles nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was my belief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron\u2019s hands shook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs she alive now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer was cruel precisely because it might be true.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret sat down slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would she do that to Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the same reason she did it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Protection.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Always protection.<\/p>\n<p>At what point did protection become another form of harm?<\/p>\n<p>Aaron had grown up mourning a mother who might have chosen disappearance.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had mourned a daughter twice.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca had survived by becoming a ghost.<\/p>\n<p>The Corbins did not merely steal money.<\/p>\n<p>They forced everyone around them into false identities.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Charles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Rebecca know about Caleb\u2019s death?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe believed it was not accidental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe saw someone following Caleb toward the dock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe never named the person in writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said naming them would put Aaron at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan or woman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said it wasn\u2019t Edward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That shifted everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeene?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another unknown man at the lake.<\/p>\n<p>Someone Rebecca feared enough not to name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she tell you anything identifying?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wore a ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nearly laughed from frustration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA ring?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA large gold ring. Black stone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s head lifted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>She had gone pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve seen that ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFifteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at Charles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDetective Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik immediately pulled up old photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Bell had spent thirty-one years in law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Public ceremony images.<\/p>\n<p>Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Retirement.<\/p>\n<p>One photograph showed him shaking hands with a mayor.<\/p>\n<p>On his right hand was a large gold ring with a dark stone.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe investigated my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then he was near Caleb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he got money from Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to the ledger photograph,\u201d Eleanor said.<\/p>\n<p>The pattern tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Bell had dismissed Rebecca\u2019s disappearance as voluntary.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, he appeared near another Corbin child.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to him after retirement?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Malik scrolled.<\/p>\n<p>Private security consulting.<\/p>\n<p>Real estate investigations.<\/p>\n<p>Occasional work for law firms.<\/p>\n<p>One of those firms was Charles Wynn\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t hire him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour firm did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy partner handled investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich partner?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A new name.<\/p>\n<p>Or perhaps not.<\/p>\n<p>Malik searched the drive.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Vale appeared nineteen times.<\/p>\n<p>Payments.<\/p>\n<p>Property transfers.<\/p>\n<p>Security services.<\/p>\n<p>Trust administration.<\/p>\n<p>His involvement spanned twenty years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Malik nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrent managing partner at Wynn Vale &amp; Associates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles\u2019s law firm.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t think to mention your own partner?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know how much he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou keep saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Michael compartmentalized everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Martin?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles looked toward the door as if expecting him to appear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin was closer to Michael than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A realization formed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he control the archive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow partly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is successor trust protector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor sat forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot trustee?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. More powerful in some respects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A trust protector could sometimes modify administrative provisions, replace trustees, resolve disputes.<\/p>\n<p>The exact powers depended on documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he block access?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he trigger it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn some circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if Michael died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charles nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin\u2019s authority expands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>I almost ignored it.<\/p>\n<p>Then a photograph appeared.<\/p>\n<p>A man exiting a black SUV.<\/p>\n<p>Older.<\/p>\n<p>Broad shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>White hair.<\/p>\n<p>Gold ring.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Bell.<\/p>\n<p>Alive.<\/p>\n<p>The photo had been taken that morning.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath it:<\/p>\n<p>BELL KNOWS WHERE REBECCA IS.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron saw the message.<\/p>\n<p>His face emptied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I showed Malik.<\/p>\n<p>He checked metadata.<\/p>\n<p>None.<\/p>\n<p>Another message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>YOU HAVE UNTIL TONIGHT BEFORE HE MOVES HER.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows where she is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know who sent this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He grabbed the phone from my hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there\u2019s even a chance\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A third message appeared.<\/p>\n<p>An address.<\/p>\n<p>Rural Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>Two hours away.<\/p>\n<p>Malik immediately forwarded it to police.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not trying to control you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to keep you alive long enough to find out whether your mother is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That stopped him.<\/p>\n<p>His face folded.<\/p>\n<p>For a second he looked exactly fifteen.<\/p>\n<p>Not a witness.<\/p>\n<p>Not a beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>Not a key to a trust.<\/p>\n<p>A boy who wanted his mother.<\/p>\n<p>I stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do this with police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if they\u2019re in the ledger too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question hurt because it was reasonable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe use people Malik trusts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if Bell knows?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t tell everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if he moves her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we keep looking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve already buried her once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had no answer.<\/p>\n<p>At dusk, a small team approached the address.<\/p>\n<p>We were not allowed to go.<\/p>\n<p>That was sensible.<\/p>\n<p>I hated it.<\/p>\n<p>We waited in Eleanor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Forty.<\/p>\n<p>Fifty-two.<\/p>\n<p>Then Malik\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>He answered.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at Aaron.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey found someone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik listened.<\/p>\n<p>Then slowly shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron collapsed back into his chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik\u2019s face had gone pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaura Bennett.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The woman Edward lived with after Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>The woman who had supposedly escaped and built a new life.<\/p>\n<p>She had been found locked inside a rural house registered to a company connected to Martin Vale.<\/p>\n<p>Alive.<\/p>\n<p>Terrified.<\/p>\n<p>And according to police, she had been there for three years.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24950\">Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Laura Bennett Came Out of the Locked House Alive, and Her First Statement Revealed Why Michael Needed Women to Disappear Without Dying<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron did not believe us at first. \u201cNo.\u201d We were back at Eleanor\u2019s office under police protection. Margaret sat beside him. 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