“Would One of You Boys Pretend You Came Here to Take Me Home?”

The phone rang again.

Rose stared at the name on the screen.

*FRANK BENNETT.*

For nearly thirty years, she had believed Frank was buried in a family cemetery outside Cedar Falls. She remembered the funeral, the black suit, the polished coffin, and Michael standing beside Linda with a face full of grief.

But the name on her phone was unmistakable.

“Don't answer it,” Marcus said.

Rose looked at him.

“What if it's really him?””

“Then we find out who he is before he gets close enough to hurt you.””

Officer Harris reached for the phone.

“Put it on speaker. I'll record the call.””

Rose nodded and accepted.

“Hello?””

A man's voice emerged, rough and old.

“Rose.””

She closed her eyes.

“Frank?””

“I see you've been asking questions.””

“Are you alive?””

A low chuckle.

“That's a complicated question.””

“Not to me. I watched them bury you.””

“You watched them bury an empty coffin.””

Rose felt her knees weaken.

“Why?””

“Because Thomas made a terrible mistake. He believed he could protect everyone by keeping secrets.””

“You knew about Daniel?””

The line went quiet.

Then Frank said, “I knew what happened that night.””

Rose gripped the table.

“Did you kill him?””

“I didn't pull the trigger.””

It was not a denial.

Rose's voice rose.

“Did you arrange it?””

“Daniel was a fool. He thought he could expose people who were much more powerful than him.””

“He was twenty-three years old!””

“And he should have stayed out of business that didn't concern him.””

Marcus stepped closer, his expression hardening.

Rose swallowed.

“Linda's name is in the police report.””

“Linda's name was useful.””

“What does that mean?””

“Someone needed to take the blame for the missing statement. Your daughter was young. Her records were easy to manipulate.””

Rose looked at Linda, who had gone pale.

“Who used her identity?””

“Patricia Collins. She created the false statement and made sure it was filed under Linda's name.””

Linda shook her head.

“I never saw that report.””

Frank continued.

“Your daughter was never supposed to know anything. Michael found the records years later and realized they could be useful.””

Rose's stomach turned.

“So Michael knew?””

“Michael knew enough.””

“Where are you?””

“Somewhere safe.””

“Why are you calling me?””

“Because I want the original trust.””

Rose looked at Evelyn.

Frank continued.

“You have something that belongs to me. Thomas stole it.””

“Thomas protected it.””

“He stole it from the people who built this family.””

Rose almost laughed.

“You mean the people who murdered my husband?””

“Your first husband was a problem. Thomas was another. And now you're becoming one.””

Officer Harris silently signaled for Rose to keep him talking.

Rose forced her voice to remain steady.

“Why did you let everyone believe you were dead?””

“Because a dead man can watch people without being watched.””

“Did you know Michael was going to send me away?””

“I approved the plan.””

The admission landed like a stone.

Rose looked at Marcus.

He gave a slight nod toward the phone.

“Did you approve Caleb's kidnapping, too?”” Rose asked.

Frank's voice became colder.

“Caleb is a necessary complication.””

Rose's hands tightened.

“He's your grandson.””

“He's a child who stands between me and what I want.””

“Then you're worse than I thought.””

Frank laughed.

“Bring the trust to the old courthouse tomorrow morning. Bring Grace, too. She has documents that don't belong to her.””

“And if I refuse?””

“Then the people you love will keep paying for your stubbornness.””

The call ended.

Officer Harris immediately began speaking into her radio.

“We have a live suspect. Trace the number and send the recording to Detective Morgan.””

Linda sat down, trembling.

“He said he approved everything.””

Rose looked at her.

“Yes.””

Linda covered her face.

“I married his son. I raised his grandson. How could I not see what they were?””

“Because they made sure you saw what they wanted you to see,” Evelyn said.

Linda looked up.

“That doesn't excuse what I did.””

“No,” Rose replied.

“It doesn't.””

Samuel was examining the old police report.

“There's something here we missed.””

He turned the page toward Officer Harris.

The original witness statement had been altered, but a handwritten notation remained in the margin.

*F.B. transferred to private holding, October 14.*

Samuel frowned.

“Private holding?””

Officer Harris examined it.

“Could mean a private detention facility. Or a property where someone was being kept.””

Grace looked at the date.

“That's the date my father disappeared.””

Samuel stared at her.

“You think they held me somewhere?””

Grace nodded.

“Patricia told me you died in the accident. But she also said your body was never recovered because the water was too deep.””

Samuel's face hardened.

“I was never in the water.””

Evelyn leaned forward.

“Where were you?””

“I don't know. I woke up in a medical facility outside the city. I had been drugged. When I escaped, I was told Margaret had been killed.””

Margaret's face went white.

“They told me you were dead.””

Samuel looked at his wife.

“Then they kept us apart by making each of us believe the other was gone.””

Rose thought of the white tablets Linda had given her before her fall.

The same kind of deception.

The same careful manipulation.

“How many people have they done this to?”” she whispered.

Detective Morgan entered the room carrying a tablet.

“We've identified the number Frank used.””

Officer Harris turned.

“Where?””

“It's registered to a holding company associated with Cole Property Ventures. But the signal stopped near an abandoned private clinic outside Cedar Falls.””

Grace went rigid.

“Which clinic?””

Morgan showed her the address.

Grace stared at the screen.

“I know that place.””

Samuel looked at her.

“From where?””

“My father was taken there after he disappeared.””

Rose's heart began pounding.

“Is it still operating?””

“No. It closed twelve years ago.””

Morgan zoomed in on a photograph.