Chapter 2
The wedding car pulled away from the church with flower ribbons still tied to the mirrors.
Nathan sat beside Emily.
Anna sat across from them.
Nobody spoke for the first two minutes.
The silence felt too full.
Nathan kept staring at his mother.
Every time he looked away, he looked back.
As if she might disappear.
Anna seemed to understand.
She barely moved.
Emily finally reached over and took Nathan’s hand.
His fingers were freezing.
“You don’t have to do everything today,” she said.
Nathan laughed quietly.
“I got married today.”
Emily gave him a sad smile.
“I noticed.”
For the first time, Anna smiled too.
It vanished almost immediately.
Nathan looked at her.
“Where have you been?”
Anna’s expression changed.
“For which year?”
The question hurt more than Nathan expected.
“All of them.”
She looked through the window.
“Trying.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.”
“Then give me one.”
Emily squeezed his hand.
Nathan pulled away from her.
Not angrily.
He simply couldn’t stay still.
“Twenty-four years,” he said. “I thought you were dead for twenty-four years.”
Anna lowered her eyes.
“I thought you hated me for eighteen of them.”
Nathan stared.
“What?”
“Your father sent me letters.”
Robert’s voice seemed to enter the car even though he wasn’t there.
Nathan felt sick.
“What letters?”
Anna opened her plastic envelope.
She removed a folded page.
It had been copied so many times the edges were fading.
She handed it to him.
Nathan unfolded it.
The handwriting looked childish.
Mom,
Dad says you are sick and it is better if you stay away. Please stop calling because you make Dad sad. I have a new family now. I do not want to see you.
Nathan stared at the words.
His throat closed.
“I never wrote this.”
“I know that now.”
“I never wrote this.”
Anna’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“How old was I supposed to be?”
“Eight.”
Nathan looked again.
The handwriting resembled a child’s.
But not his.
He remembered practicing cursive with Diane.
He remembered writing his name backward when he was tired.
He remembered hating the capital M.
He looked at the page.
The M was perfect.
Too perfect.
“Dad sent this?”
Anna nodded.
“Through his attorney.”
Nathan crushed the paper slightly, then immediately flattened it again.
“Why didn’t you come anyway?”
Pain crossed her face.
“I did.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Anna continued.
“Your eighth birthday. Your tenth. Your middle-school graduation. Once when you were thirteen because I found out you were playing baseball.”
Nathan’s eyes widened.
He had played one season.
Only one.
“How?”
“I watched from outside the fence.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
A memory returned.
A woman standing near the parking lot.
Brown hair.
A green scarf.
He remembered asking his father who she was.
Robert had looked.
Then grabbed Nathan’s shoulder.
Nobody.
That was what he had said.
Nobody.
Nathan opened his eyes.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You were wearing green.”
Anna’s hand flew to her mouth.
Emily started crying quietly.
Nathan looked away.
The driver turned onto an older residential road.
Margaret Cole’s house sat at the end of it.
The property had once been beautiful.
Now vines climbed the brick.
Dust covered the windows.
Nobody had lived there since Margaret died six months earlier.
Nathan had not visited since the funeral.
His father had wanted the property sold quickly.
For some reason, the sale had never closed.
Now Nathan wondered why.
The car stopped.
Diane was already waiting outside.
She must have driven like a maniac.
Her hands shook as she approached them.
Nathan stepped out.
Emily followed.
Anna remained inside.
Diane looked past Nathan and saw her.
Her face collapsed.
“Oh, Anna.”
Anna slowly stepped out.
Diane covered her mouth.
“I am so sorry.”
Anna looked at her for several seconds.
Then said, “You should be.”
Diane nodded.
No excuses.
That seemed to matter.
Nathan unlocked the front door with the old spare key Diane gave him.
The smell hit immediately.
Dust.
Old wood.
Lavender.
His grandmother.
He remembered Christmas mornings here.
Thanksgiving dinners.
Robert laughing beside the fireplace.
Family photographs everywhere.
A family that apparently existed because another woman had been erased.
They walked upstairs.
Diane led them to the sewing room.
A pale wooden table still stood beneath the window.
Colored spools of thread lined one shelf.
Diane walked to the far wall.
“There.”
Nathan saw nothing.
Diane knelt and pressed a piece of trim.
It shifted.
Emily gasped.
A narrow section of wall opened.
Inside was a steel lockbox.
Nathan stared at it.
Robert had renovated half the house after Margaret died.
But apparently not this room.
“Grandma made you hide this?”
Diane nodded.
“Three weeks before she died.”
“Why didn’t she give it to me?”
“She was afraid Robert would get to it first.”
Nathan turned.
“She was afraid of her own son?”
Diane’s face answered before her voice did.
“Yes.”
Nathan inserted the brass key.
It turned.
The lock clicked.
Nobody moved.
Nathan lifted the lid.
Inside were five thick folders.
A stack of photographs.
A small tape recorder.
Several cassette tapes.
A sealed envelope with Nathan’s name.
And a legal document.
Nathan reached for the document first.
Emily leaned closer.
Anna remained near the doorway.
Nathan read the first page.
Petition for Emergency Custody.
He flipped through it.
Statements from doctors.
A police report.
An affidavit from Robert.
He stopped.
“What is this?”
Anna knew without seeing it.
“The night he took you.”
Nathan looked at her.
She pressed one hand against the doorframe.
“We fought.”
“You and Dad?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
Anna looked at Diane.
Diane turned away.
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“About what?”
Anna answered.
“Money.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“Money?”
“Your grandfather left shares in Cole Development to both Robert and me.”
Nathan frowned.
“My grandfather left everything to Dad.”
“No.”
Diane whispered, “That’s another lie.”
Nathan looked at her.
Diane walked toward the box.
“Our father didn’t trust Robert.”
Nathan’s head spun.
Everyone had always said Robert had inherited the company and saved it from collapse.
Diane pulled out another folder.
“Your grandfather left forty percent to Robert. Thirty percent to me.”
She looked at Anna.
“And thirty percent to Anna.”
Emily stared.
“Why Anna?”
Anna answered.
“Because I worked there.”
Nathan looked at her.
She smiled bitterly.
“I wasn’t always wearing this coat.”
Nathan hated himself for noticing it earlier.
Anna continued.
“I was the company accountant. I found irregular transfers.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
Diane answered.
“Millions.”
The room went silent.
Nathan looked at the custody papers again.
Anna’s name appeared repeatedly.
Unstable.
Paranoid.
Delusional.
Potentially dangerous.
He felt nauseated.
“You found Dad stealing.”
Anna nodded.
“I confronted him.”
“And then?”
“He said I was confused.”
Her voice became quieter.
“He told people I was having some kind of breakdown.”
Diane sat down.
“He had help.”
“From who?”
Diane looked at Emily.
Not Nathan.
Emily noticed.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Diane’s lips parted.
Before she could answer, a car door slammed outside.
Everyone froze.
Another door slammed.
Then another.
Nathan walked to the window.
Three black SUVs had pulled into the driveway.
His father stepped out of the first.
Emily whispered, “How did he know we were here?”
Nathan looked at her.
She reached instinctively for her purse.
Then stopped.
Her expression changed.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“My phone.”
Nathan stared.
Emily pulled it out.
“Your father had the wedding planner install the family security app yesterday. He said it was for transportation.”
Nathan took the phone.
Location sharing was active.
Footsteps sounded downstairs.
Robert had a key.
Nathan closed the lockbox.
“Diane.”
She looked terrified.
“Is there another way out?”
“Back stairs.”
Nathan lifted the box.
It was heavier than expected.
Anna suddenly moved.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the doorway.
“We’re done running.”
Footsteps reached the hall.
Robert appeared.
Two attorneys stood behind him.
And Emily’s father, Charles Whitmore, stood beside them.
Emily’s face went blank.
“Dad?”
Charles wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Robert looked at the open wall.
Then at the lockbox in Nathan’s hands.
His expression became calm.
Too calm.
“Give me the box.”
Nathan laughed.
“No.”
Robert stepped inside.
“That property belongs to the estate.”
“So did Grandma.”
Robert’s eyes hardened.
“Nathan.”
Charles finally spoke.
“Emily, come downstairs.”
Emily stared at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“This is becoming dangerous.”
“Dangerous for who?”
Charles said nothing.
Emily looked at Diane.
Then Robert.
Then her father.
Something clicked.
“You knew.”
Charles shook his head.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
Emily stepped backward.
“You knew there was something.”
“I knew there had been a family dispute.”
“A family dispute?”
She pointed at Anna.
“That woman is Nathan’s mother.”
Charles closed his eyes briefly.
Emily’s voice dropped.
“You knew that too.”
Nathan stared at his new father-in-law.
Charles looked trapped.
Robert intervened.
“Charles knew only what was necessary.”
Nathan laughed again.
“You people really love that phrase.”
Robert took one step closer.
“Give me the box.”
“No.”
“If you walk out of this house with estate property, my attorneys will have no choice but to act.”
Diane stood.
“Robert, stop.”
He ignored her.
Nathan set the lockbox on the table.
Then removed his phone.
Robert looked almost relieved.
Until Nathan opened the camera.
“What are you doing?”
“Recording.”
Robert stopped.
Nathan placed the phone on the shelf.
“Say it again.”
Robert’s face tightened.
Nathan folded his arms.
“Tell me why my mother disappeared.”
No answer.
“Tell me why you sent her letters pretending to be me.”
Nothing.
“Tell me why Grandma was afraid of you.”
Robert stared at the phone.
Then smiled.
“You’re upset.”
Nathan looked at Anna.
She was trembling.
He turned back.
“I remember the night you took me.”
Robert’s smile vanished.
Nathan continued.
“It was raining.”
Robert said nothing.
“She had blood in her hair.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Nathan felt his own voice shaking.
“You told me she died at the hospital.”
Robert’s nostrils flared.
Nathan stepped forward.
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
The answer was almost a whisper.
Nathan stared.
Robert finally looked at his son.
“I made a decision.”
“You made me believe my mother was dead.”
“I saved you.”
“From what?”
Robert looked at Anna.
“From becoming like her.”
Anna recoiled.
Nathan lunged forward.
Emily grabbed him.
“Nate!”
Robert didn’t move.
For one terrifying second, father and son stood inches apart.
Then the old tape recorder inside the lockbox suddenly clicked.
Everyone turned.
Diane had pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Margaret Cole’s voice emerged.
Weak.
Old.
But clear.
“If Nathan is hearing this, then Robert has already lied to him.”
Robert went pale.
The tape continued.
“And if Robert is in the room, he should know something.”
A pause.
“I kept copies.”
Robert moved.
Diane blocked him.
Margaret’s voice continued.
“Every bank transfer.”
Robert stopped.
“Every medical payment.”
Charles Whitmore stared at him.
“Every forged signature.”
Emily slowly turned toward her father.
Margaret’s voice became quieter.
“And the recording from the night Robert took Nathan away from Anna.”
No one breathed.
Nathan stared at the tape recorder.
His mother began crying.
Robert suddenly reached for it.
Nathan grabbed his wrist.
His father fought him.
The tape kept playing.
Then another voice came through the speaker.
A younger Robert.
Angry.
Clear.
“You sign the shares over to me, Anna, and you can see the boy again.”
Anna gasped.
Emily covered her mouth.
Nathan’s grip on his father tightened.
The recording continued.
Young Anna’s voice screamed through static.
“You cannot use my son like this!”
May you like
Then Robert’s voice.
“Watch me.”
