Chapter 4: The Mother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Bear read the message three times.
*DON'T BRING YOUR CLUB.*
For fourteen years, he had believed his younger brother was dead. Now he had proof that Michael was alive, their mother might still be alive, and the man who had signed Michael's death certificate had apparently been murdered.
Nothing about the morning made sense anymore.
Duke stood beside him, reading the photograph over his shoulder.
"You're not seriously considering going alone, are you?""
Bear slipped the phone into his pocket.
"I don't have a choice.""
"You always have a choice.""
"Not when my brother is waiting.""
Duke shook his head.
"That's exactly what someone setting a trap wants you to believe.""
Across the diner, Laura was sitting with Emily. Ruth had brought them another blanket, and Emily was holding a mug of hot chocolate with both hands.
Bear approached them.
"Laura, I need to ask you something.""
She looked up.
"About Michael?""
"About my mother.""
Laura's face tightened.
Bear placed his phone on the table and showed her the photograph.
Laura stared at it.
Her lips parted.
"Where did you get this?""
"Someone sent it.""
She zoomed in on the woman's face.
Then she covered her mouth.
"That's Eleanor.""
"My mother.""
Laura nodded.
"Michael told me she was alive.""
Bear pulled out a chair.
"When?""
"Six years ago. He came to see Emily on her birthday. He stayed for twenty minutes. Before he left, he told me your mother had been hiding somewhere in Kentucky.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because he said your mother was being watched.""
Bear leaned forward.
"By whom?""
Laura looked toward the entrance, where two police officers had just arrived.
"I don't know. But Michael said there was someone who had access to everything your family owned. Someone who knew where everyone lived, where they worked, and who they trusted.""
Bear's mind raced.
His father had owned a small transportation company. The family had money, but not enough to attract the kind of attention Michael seemed to be describing.
Unless the money wasn't the real reason.
"What happened the last time you saw him?""
Laura hesitated.
"He gave Emily the necklace and told her that if anyone tried to take it, she should run.""
Emily looked up from her hot chocolate.
"He said the compass was a promise.""
Bear crouched beside her.
"What promise, sweetheart?""
"That he'd come back for me.""
Bear's throat tightened.
"Did he say when?""
Emily shook her head.
"He said he didn't know. But he told me something else.""
"What?""
She leaned closer.
"He said Uncle Bear would know how to find him.""
Bear looked at the compass again.
The back of it had a tiny engraving.
He hadn't noticed it before.
Two letters.
M.B.
And beneath them, a date.
The date of Michael's eighteenth birthday.
Bear stared at the engraving.
Their father had given Michael that compass when he turned eighteen. Bear remembered because he had been jealous of it.
His father had promised to give him one when he reached twenty-one.
He never did.
Bear stood.
"Duke, I need you to do something.""
"Anything.""
"Take Laura and Emily somewhere safe. Somewhere Daniel can't find them.""
Duke nodded.
"Done.""
"Don't take them to the clubhouse. If someone inside the family is involved, I don't want anyone knowing where they are.""
Duke studied him.
"You're still going alone?""
Bear looked toward the rain-streaked windows.
"Yes.""
Duke grabbed his arm.
"Michael told you not to trust the man in the diner. He didn't tell you to stop trusting your friends.""
Bear gave him a tired smile.
"That's why I'm asking you to protect his daughter.""
Duke nodded.
Then he leaned closer.
"And Bear?""
"Yeah?""
"If your brother is alive, make sure he understands something.""
"What?""
"He's got twelve uncles who are going to be very angry about missing fourteen years.""
For the first time that morning, Bear smiled.
Outside, police officers were questioning Daniel. He stood beside the black SUV, looking irritated rather than frightened.
Bear watched as one officer opened the rear passenger door.
Inside was a child's booster seat.
A pink backpack.
And a second set of license plates.
Bear's stomach tightened.
Emily hadn't memorized the wrong vehicle.
She had memorized the number of the SUV that had been following her.
The officers pulled something else from beneath the seat.
A small photograph.
Bear couldn't see it clearly from the window.
But Daniel could.
And the moment he saw it, his expression changed.
He stopped arguing with the officers.
He looked straight through the diner window.
Straight at Bear.
Then he smiled.
Not nervously.
Not politely.
Like a man who knew something Bear didn't.
Bear's phone vibrated.
A new message.
*YOUR MOTHER HAS TEN MINUTES. AFTER THAT, SHE DISAPPEARS AGAIN.*
A location followed.
An abandoned roadside motel thirty miles away.
Bear looked at the clock.
He had nine minutes.
He turned toward the entrance.
Behind him, Emily suddenly called out.
"Uncle Bear?""
He stopped.
She was standing beside Laura, holding the little compass.
"Can you tell Daddy something when you see him?""
Bear crouched.
"Of course.""
Emily swallowed.
"Tell him I kept the necklace. Even when I was scared.""
Bear gently touched her shoulder.
"I'll tell him.""
She hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"And tell him I remember his face.""
Bear stood without answering.
Because he wasn't sure he could trust his voice.
He walked into the rain.
And somewhere thirty miles away, his mother was waiting for a son she had supposedly buried fourteen years earlier.
But when Bear reached his motorcycle, he found something resting on the seat.
A white envelope.
Inside was a photograph of his father.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
*ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO REALLY SIGNED THE DEATH CERTIFICATE.*
