Ethan Found a Frozen Backpack Hidden in the Garage — Then His Mother Saw the Name on the Travel Card
Chapter 8 — Julia’s Secret
The taxi driver remembered her.
He had taken Julia to a small motel outside town.
Police arrived there that evening.
Julia was alive.
She had been staying under another name.
When Detective Ortiz called Claire, she started crying before the detective finished the sentence.
“She’s safe?”
“Yes.”
Julia had disappeared intentionally.
Not because she had committed a crime.
Because she believed someone at Havenbrook was following her.
After seeing Peter at the station, she became convinced.
She changed trains.
Turned off her regular phone.
And stayed away while waiting to see whether anyone discovered the locker.
“Why didn’t she contact police directly?” Ethan asked.
Claire repeated the question when Julia eventually came to the house.
Julia looked exhausted.
“Because I didn’t know who Martin knew.”
“You scared everyone half to death.”
“I know.”
Julia looked at Ethan.
“And I’m guessing you’re the one who found the backpack.”
He nodded.
“In our freezer.”
Julia looked toward Claire.
“Freezer?”
Claire folded her arms.
“I panicked.”
For the first time in days, Julia laughed.
Then her expression became serious.
She still had one piece of evidence nobody else knew existed.
Before leaving Havenbrook, Julia copied access logs showing exactly who created the fake client profiles.
The user account belonged to Martin Hale.
But the payments themselves had been routed somewhere else.
A private consulting company.
Registered to Olivia Cross.
The executive director and finance director had been working together.
