Chapter 9: The Stranger Who Remembered My Mother
I had imagined meeting the man who might know the truth about my mother's death.
I had imagined anger.
Questions.
Maybe even an explanation.
I had not imagined him standing outside a hospital room wearing a faded jacket, with gray hair and a scar running from his left temple toward his cheek.
Daniel Bennett looked nothing like the wealthy Bennett family photographs I'd seen over the years.
He looked like a man who had spent a long time running.
Detective Harris stood beside him.
"Mrs. Bennett, this is Daniel Bennett.""
Evelyn took one step forward.
"Daniel?""
He looked at her.
For a moment, his expression was blank.
Then he said, "You shouldn't have come.""
Evelyn began crying.
"I thought you were dead.""
"That was the idea.""
Dad moved between them.
"Why are you here?""
Daniel looked at him.
"Because Derek has the wrong notebook.""
My heart stopped.
"What?""
Daniel turned toward me.
"Your mother made two copies. One was a decoy. The other contained the names, account numbers, and original transaction references.""
"Where is the real one?""
He looked at Lily.
"Somewhere safe.""
Dad's voice hardened.
"Where?""
Daniel ignored him.
Instead, he pulled a chair closer to my bed.
"Your mother used to talk about you constantly. Even when everything was falling apart, she worried about whether you had eaten, whether you were sleeping, whether you were happy.""
I swallowed.
"Did you know her?""
"I worked with her.""
"Did you see her the night she died?""
Daniel's face tightened.
"Yes.""
Dad closed his eyes.
"Tell her the truth.""
Daniel nodded.
"Your mother wasn't supposed to be driving that night. She had been frightened after receiving a phone call from Martin. She wanted to take you and leave town.""
I felt tears gather.
"But she died in a car accident.""
"That's what the report said.""
"What really happened?""
Daniel looked at Detective Harris.
"I can only tell you what I saw.""
He explained that he had been waiting outside my mother's house. She had asked him to meet her after dark. She planned to give him the original financial records.
But when she arrived, another car was following her.
A dark sedan.
Martin Cole's vehicle.
Daniel had tried to warn her.
She drove away before he could reach her.
Minutes later, he heard the crash.
He ran toward the intersection.
Her car had struck a concrete barrier.
The windshield was shattered.
The driver's door was open.
And my mother was gone.
I stared at him.
"Gone?""
Daniel nodded.
"Her body wasn't there.""
Dad's face drained of color.
"What?""
Daniel looked at him.
"I never told you because I didn't trust you.""
Dad stepped forward.
"Are you saying my wife survived?""
"I don't know.""
"Then why did the police identify a body?""
Daniel looked at Detective Harris.
"Because the woman in the car wasn't your wife.""
The room seemed to tilt.
I grabbed the bedrail.
"Who was it?""
Daniel lowered his voice.
"A woman named Laura Hayes. She worked for Martin. She was wearing your mother's coat.""
Evelyn began shaking.
"Oh, God.""
Dad stared at Daniel.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because Martin was watching your house. And because somebody had already decided your wife was dead.""
I could barely breathe.
For sixteen years, I'd visited a grave.
I'd brought flowers.
I'd spoken to a stone with my mother's name on it.
And now this man was telling me that the woman buried there might not have been my mother.
"Where is she?"" I whispered.
Daniel looked at me.
"I don't know.""
"Did you ever see her again?""
"No.""
"Then how can you be sure?""
He reached into his jacket and removed a small photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside a train station.
She looked older than in the family pictures.
Her hair was shorter.
But it was unmistakably her.
On the back was a handwritten date.
Six months after the supposed accident.
I began crying.
Dad took the photograph with trembling hands.
"Where did you get this?""
"Martin kept it in his office. I stole it before I disappeared.""
Detective Harris examined the photograph.
"Do you have the original?""
"No.""
"Can you identify the location?""
"Pennsylvania. A station outside Philadelphia.""
Dad sat down heavily.
My mother had been alive six months after the accident.
Possibly longer.
I looked at Daniel.
"Why didn't she come home?""
He hesitated.
Then he said, "Because she believed someone would hurt you if she did.""
I turned toward Lily.
My daughter was still sleeping.
I thought about Derek's threats.
The insurance account.
The forged signatures.
The notebook.
And suddenly, the last three years of my marriage seemed connected to something far larger than I had ever imagined.
Daniel leaned closer.
"There's something else you need to know.""
"What?""
"Your husband didn't marry you simply because of the missing ledger.""
I stared at him.
"Then why?""
Daniel glanced at Dad.
"Because Derek believed your mother had left something behind that belonged to the Bennett family.""
"What?""
"An inheritance.""
I frowned.
"My mother didn't have a fortune.""
"Not money," Daniel said.
"Ownership.""
He explained that years before the company collapsed, my mother had secretly acquired shares in a holding company. Those shares had been transferred into a trust in my name.
The trust had remained dormant until I turned thirty.
I was twenty-nine.
My birthday was three months away.
Renee immediately sat forward.
"How much is the trust worth?""
Daniel gave her a grim look.
"At today's valuation?""
He paused.
"Approximately forty-two million dollars.""
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Dad.
He looked as stunned as I felt.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from Derek appeared.
*I know Daniel is there. I also know about the trust. You have one chance to cooperate.*
Another message followed.
*And before you ask, yes. I know your mother is alive.*
I stared at the screen.
The room became unbearably quiet.
Then Daniel reached across the bed and took my hand.
"He's lying about one thing," he whispered.
"What?""
Daniel looked directly into my eyes.
"Your mother isn't the person Derek is trying to find.""
He leaned closer.
"He's trying to find the person who knows where she is.""
And before I could ask who that person was, Daniel turned toward my father.
"Charles, tell her what happened to the woman who was supposed to raise her after the accident.""
May you like
My father went completely still.
Because the woman Daniel was talking about was my mother.
