THE MORTON QUADRUPLETS

CHAPTER 17 - RACHEL

I can see Ava and Adrien staring at each other. I put all the papers back in the box and tap on Bailey's knee to follow me. We walk to the dining room table and I start unpacking the box.

Halfway through unpacking I stop to look at Bailey.

"You really don't remember anything?" I ask Bailey with as much compassion as I can muster under these confusing circumstances.

"I'm scared, Rachel" she says looking towards the door we came from. I understand. I feel nervous too.

I start to pack the documents in date order. Newest documents at the bottom. Oldest documents at the top. It should read like a story.

I neaten the stack of papers in my hand and take a seat at the table. It does read like a story.

The first documents show Ellie getting into a university where she wanted to study. There is also a contract for an apartment near the university and a proof of payment for the entire first years rent. I cannot understand why Ellie never went to study.

The next document is a waybill for a delivery on the day after school ended and a note from Greyson telling Ellie to join him in Paris. Then there is a single plane ticket back from Paris a month later. I read the note again. It was an invitation for dinner. If they planned on staying there for a month it would have told her to pack well. The ticket back here is also economy class. Greyson obviously didn't accompany her back.

The next set of documents are cancellations. There is a cancellation of the course she would have taken at the university. There is a letter stating that she will have to forfeit a percentage of the fees she already paid and that the other monies will be paid over to her in due time. There is also a cancellation of the apartment she was going to stay in.

"I don't understand why she cancelled everything. She was set to go study and she already had an apartment. She cancelled everything and she paid penalties for it. It doesn't sound like Ellie at all." I look up at Bailey as I finish speaking to myself.

Bailey doesn't seem to have heard me anyway. She holding a document in her hands. She seems lost in it.

"What is that, Bailey?" I touch her arm to get her attention.

"It's a non-disclosure agreement. What doesn't make sense is that it is drawn up for Ellie. There are six of these. If you read through it, it sounds like Ellie was a very exclusive prostitute." Bailey seems stunned. She hands the NDA to me and picks up another.

Exclusive enough to only have six clients. I look around her apartment. She is actually doing better than she would have if she did finish her studies.

I feel great sadness for the life Ellie had chosen. I doubt that she wanted it this way. She always felt so embarrassed by her aunt.

I read through the documents and it seems that Bailey is right.

Adrien comes storming out of the room. He walks past us without greeting and leaves the apartment. He slams the door on his way out. He is clearly very upset. Ava appears in the door coming from the hallway. Her eyes are red and swollen.

I hold my arm out to her and she walks into it. I wrap my arms around her and let her cry on my shoulder. Bailey walks to the kitchen to get us something to drink.

When she returns with three large mugs of coffee, we sit around the table. I put the documents all neatly in the box and move the box to one side.

"What happened, Ava?" I prod gently.

"Rachel. I cannot make sense of everything that happened ten years ago. I know it is in the past and nothing can be done to change anything but I feel things took unnecessary turns for the worse."