Chapter 8
Charles had police at Renee's house within minutes.
Nia hated him for how easily he could make calls and move people.
She was also grateful.
Both feelings could exist.
That seemed to be the lesson of the day.
Detective Ruiz returned to the hospital after hearing about the texts.
"Did your aunt say who 'he' is?"
Nia shook her head.
"She stopped replying."
"Any phone calls?"
"No."
The detective was already coordinating with Oak Park police.
Charles paced again.
This time Nia let him.
Lauren sat beside the bed.
Malik was still on video, his phone plugged into the wall.
Nobody wanted to hang up.
Twenty-six minutes later, Detective Ruiz's phone rang.
She answered.
Everyone watched her face.
"She's safe?"
Nia exhaled sharply.
The detective listened.
"Good."
Charles stopped pacing.
Lauren gripped Nia's blanket.
The detective hung up.
"Your aunt is safe."
Nia closed her eyes.
"Where was she?"
"Neighbor's house."
"What happened?"
"Someone tried her back door."
Charles's expression hardened.
"Grant?"
"She didn't see his face."
Nia frowned.
"Then why did she text that he found her?"
The detective looked at her.
"Because whoever came to the house left this on the porch."
She showed them a photograph.
A white envelope.
Written across it in black ink:
RENEE CARTER.
Nia recognized the handwriting.
Same block letters as the envelope Grant had left for her.
Lauren whispered, "It's him."
Detective Ruiz remained cautious.
"It suggests a connection."
Charles didn't bother with caution.
"It's him."
Nia looked at the photograph.
"What's in the envelope?"
The detective swiped.
Second photograph.
A photocopy.
A bank statement from twenty-nine years ago.
Halcyon Technologies.
An outgoing payment.
$250,000.
Recipient:
R. CARTER.
Nia stared.
"Renee."
Charles went pale.
Lauren looked at him.
"What is that?"
Charles sat.
"I don't know."
Nia laughed bitterly.
"Your favorite answer."
"Nia, I mean it."
Detective Ruiz looked at Charles.
"Was Ms. Carter involved in the financial misconduct you described?"
"No."
"Could the payment have been legitimate?"
Charles shook his head slowly.
"Not that amount."
Nia's heart started pounding.
"My mother told me Aunt Renee worked in payroll."
Charles looked at her.
"She did. Then Richard moved her into his office."
Nia stared at the bank statement.
"What happened after that?"
Charles hesitated.
"I fired her."
Nia snapped her head toward him.
"You fired my aunt?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I believed she stole money."
The room froze.
Nia's voice dropped.
"What?"
Charles rubbed his face.
"Richard showed me records that appeared to prove she'd diverted company funds."
"Did you call police?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Monica begged me not to."
Nia stared.
"My mother knew?"
"Yes."
"Did Renee admit it?"
"No."
"Then why did you believe Richard?"
Charles had no good answer.
That was obvious.
Finally he said, "Because I trusted him."
Nia laughed.
"Look how that turned out."
The detective asked, "Was the $250,000 the amount you believed she stole?"
"No."
"How much?"
"About eighty thousand."
"Then what is this payment?"
Charles shook his head.
"I truly don't know."
Nia's phone rang.
Aunt Renee.
Nia answered immediately.
"Are you okay?"
Renee's voice trembled.
"I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"I'm seventy years old and a man has been leaving thirty-year-old bank records on my porch. I'm allowed to sound however I want."
Despite herself, Nia smiled.
Then Renee asked, "Is Charles with you?"
Nia looked at him.
"Yes."
"Put me on speaker."
Nia did.
Renee's voice filled the room.
"Charles."
"Renee."
"You still lying to children?"
His face tightened.
"Trying not to."
"Bit late for personal growth."
Lauren looked at Nia.
Nia almost laughed.
Charles took it.
"I deserve that."
"Yes, you do."
Renee sighed.
"Listen carefully. Richard framed me."
Charles closed his eyes.
"I suspected that later."
"You suspected?"
Renee's voice rose.
"You ruined my career because you suspected the wrong person."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Nia interrupted.
"Aunt Renee."
Renee exhaled.
"Sorry, baby."
Nia's eyes softened.
"What was the payment?"
Silence.
"Aunt Renee?"
"The $250,000 wasn't to me."
Charles frowned.
"It has your name."
"It was supposed to look like it was to me."
"Why?"
"Richard was moving money."
Charles went still.
"Where?"
"Campaign donations. Private accounts. Investors."
Lauren whispered, "Oh my God."
Renee continued.
"He used employee names."
Charles stared at the floor.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Renee laughed harshly.
"I did."
Charles looked up.
"What?"
"I came to your office."
"No."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Two days before you fired me."
Charles's face drained.
"I never saw you."
"I gave Richard the folder because he said you were in a board meeting."
Charles closed his eyes.
Renee's voice softened only slightly.
"He destroyed it."
Nia asked, "How did Mom know?"
Renee was quiet.
"Because I told her."
Nia swallowed.
"And she used it against Dad in court?"
"Not exactly."
Charles looked at the phone.
"What do you mean?"
Renee sighed.
"Monica didn't want to expose Halcyon."
Nia frowned.
"Then why did Dad withdraw the custody petition?"
Another pause.
"Because Richard threatened Monica."
Charles stood.
"What?"
Renee continued.
"He told her if she kept fighting over custody, he'd make it look like she helped me steal company money."
Nia went cold.
Charles stared.
"He threatened her?"
"Yes."
"You knew?"
"Not until later."
Charles shook his head.
"She told me she would expose everything."
"Because she was trying to scare you into walking away before Richard destroyed her."
Charles sat down hard.
Nia stared at him.
The story had changed again.
But not enough to make him innocent.
"You still chose to walk away."
Charles nodded.
"Yes."
Renee said softly, "Monica hated you, Charles."
He gave a sad smile.
"I know."
"But she never wanted Nia to think you didn't love her."
Nia's breath caught.
"What?"
Renee went silent.
"Aunt Renee."
"Your mother made mistakes too."
Nia's eyes filled.
"She hid the letters."
"I know."
"Why?"
"At first because she was angry."
Renee's voice cracked.
"Later because she'd already lied for so long she didn't know how to undo it."
Nia looked away.
The image of her mother shifted in her memory.
Not gone.
Not ruined.
Just more human.
And that somehow hurt more.
Renee continued.
"She saved every letter."
Nia wiped her eyes.
"I know."
"Do you know she read them?"
Nia looked back at the phone.
"What?"
"Every one."
Charles covered his mouth.
"She'd sit at the kitchen table after you went to bed and read them."
Nia cried silently.
"Then why didn't she give them to me?"
"Fear."
Renee sighed.
"Shame."
Lauren stared at the floor.
That word connected every generation of this family.
Shame.
Charles's shame.
Monica's shame.
Lauren's shame.
Nia's anger.
Grant had discovered where all of it was buried.
And he was digging.
Renee said, "Your mother finally decided to tell you everything when you turned eighteen."
Nia's heart stopped.
"She didn't."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Richard came back."
Charles stood.
"What do you mean came back?"
"He was sick by then."
Charles frowned.
"Richard died when Nia was seventeen."
"Exactly."
Renee's voice lowered.
"Three months before he died, he visited Monica."
Nia's stomach twisted.
"What did he want?"
"The documents."
Charles asked, "What documents?"
"The originals."
"Of what?"
"Everything."
Renee took a breath.
"Financial records. Notes. Bank transfers. Names."
Charles looked horrified.
"Monica had them?"
"Copies."
"Where?"
"Safe-deposit box."
Nia whispered, "The box."
"Yes."
"What happened to it?"
Renee went quiet.
"Aunt Renee."
"I emptied it after your mother died."
"Where are the documents now?"
Renee didn't answer.
Charles said, "If Grant came looking for them—"
"He won't find them."
"Where are they?"
Renee sighed.
"Somewhere safe."
Nia rubbed her forehead.
"Please don't start doing mysterious old-person nonsense."
Lauren actually snorted.
Renee sounded offended.
"I'm seventy, not a wizard."
"Then tell me where they are."
"I can't over the phone."
Nia's patience broke.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know who's listening."
Detective Ruiz nodded approvingly.
"She's not wrong."
Nia glared at the detective.
Renee continued.
"I'll give them to you tomorrow."
"How?"
"I'll come to the hospital."
Charles immediately said, "No."
Renee snapped, "I wasn't asking you."
"Someone tried your house."
"And someone is harassing your daughters."
"Exactly."
Renee paused.
Then softened.
"Fine. Police station."
Detective Ruiz spoke.
"We can arrange that."
Renee agreed.
Nia exhaled.
Then Renee said one more thing.
"Nia."
"Yeah?"
"There's something in those papers you need to prepare yourself for."
Nia's heart sank.
"What?"
Renee didn't answer immediately.
"It's about Richard."
Nia glanced at Charles.
"What about him?"
Renee's voice became almost a whisper.
"Your mother wasn't the only reason Richard cared about that custody case."
Charles frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Renee ignored him.
"Nia, you need to see the documents yourself."
"Aunt Renee."
"I'm sorry."
The call ended.
Nia stared at the phone.
Lauren whispered, "What was that?"
Charles's face had gone pale.
Nia looked at him.
"You tell me."
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
But there was something in his expression.
A memory.
A possibility.
Nia saw it.
"What?"
Charles looked away.
"Dad."
Lauren stepped closer.
"What are you thinking?"
Charles sat.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he looked at Nia.
"When your mother and I separated..."
Nia's entire body tensed.
"...Richard spent a lot of time helping her."
The room went silent.
Nia stared.
"No."
"I don't know anything."
"Then don't say it."
"I'm not saying—"
"Don't."
Charles nodded quickly.
"Okay."
Nia turned away.
But the idea was already there.
Poison spreading through every memory.
Richard.
Her mother.
The custody case.
The strange obsession with documents.
The threats.
Nia's hand moved protectively to her belly.
Lauren came closer.
"You don't have to figure this out tonight."
Nia laughed bitterly.
"My baby tried to arrive six weeks early because this family couldn't keep one secret buried."
Lauren sat beside her.
"Then maybe we're done burying them."
Nia looked at her.
Lauren held her gaze.
"No matter what's in those papers tomorrow."
She swallowed.
"We don't hide it."
Nia stared at her sister.
Five years earlier, Lauren had found a box of letters and chosen silence.
Now she was asking for the opposite.
"No lies," Nia said.
Lauren nodded.
"No lies."
Charles looked at both of them.
Nia turned to him.
"You too."
His eyes filled.
"No more lies."
Nia leaned back.
Outside the hospital window, Chicago lights stretched into the distance.
Somewhere out there, Grant Mercer believed he still had control.
He had documents.
He had secrets.
He had spent years learning how to find weak spots in people and press until they broke.
May you like
But for the first time, the people he'd been manipulating were talking to each other.
And Nia suspected that was the one thing a man like Grant had never planned for.
