CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 32
RICHARD VALE
Richard Vale lived in a quiet town outside Boston.
He was seventy-four years old.
He had no wife.
No children.
And no obvious connection to June.
When police arrived at his home, he was sitting beside a fireplace.
He did not look surprised.
"You're late," he said.
Nathaniel entered behind the officers.
"Where is my daughter?"
Richard looked at him.
"You still call her that."
"She is my daughter."
Richard smiled sadly.
"That depends on which daughter you mean."
Nathaniel grabbed his collar.
The officers pulled him back.
Richard did not resist.
"Your father believed money could solve anything."
Nathaniel said:
"You altered my daughter's records."
"No."
"You paid someone to do it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Richard looked toward the window.
"Because your father wanted the child dead."
Nathaniel froze.
The room went silent.
Richard continued.
"Not murdered."
"But abandoned."
"Why?"
"Because the doctors said she would never live a normal life."
Nathaniel's hands curled.
"So he rejected her?"
"Your father wanted the healthy baby."
Nathaniel felt sick.
"And Caroline?"
"She discovered the truth."
"Then why did she not tell me?"
Richard's eyes lowered.
"Because she was afraid of what your father would do."
Nathaniel whispered:
"Where is June?"
Richard finally looked up.
"She is twenty-seven years old."
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
"Where?"
May you like
Richard said:
"She has been searching for you for years."
