Chapter 10
Sarah’s father had been dead for three years.
At least that was what she believed.
His name was Thomas Lawson.
He had supposedly suffered a heart attack in Florida.
Sarah had attended the funeral.
She had seen a sealed casket.
When I told her what Daniel said, she stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“My father is dead.”
“Daniel says he isn’t.”
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel was being examined two floors away.
Doctors had ordered rest before detectives could question him formally.
Sarah paced the family room.
“I buried him.”
“Did you see him?”
“What?”
“Did you see his body?”
Her face changed.
“The funeral director said there had been complications after transport.”
“So no.”
“He was my father.”
“I’m asking because Daniel named him.”
Sarah looked toward the hallway.
“Daniel has been missing nine years. He’s exhausted. He could be confused.”
“He knew Richard.”
“So do we.”
“He knew the farm.”
“So do we now.”
She stopped pacing.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we listen before deciding.”
She sat slowly.
Evan was sleeping in another room under supervision.
For the first time since arriving at the station, he seemed peaceful.
Sarah looked through the glass panel toward him.
“My father hated Daniel.”
I turned.
“You never told me that.”
“You never asked.”
Fair.
“Why?”
“He thought Daniel was irresponsible.”
I almost smiled.
“Daniel was irresponsible.”
“This was different.”
“How?”
“My father wanted me to marry someone stable.”
I already knew the answer before she said it.
“Ryan.”
Sarah nodded.
“Your father knew him?”
“They played golf together.”
Everything connected too easily.
My stomach turned.
“Before Daniel disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“Years.”
“And Ryan never told you?”
“He said he barely knew Dad.”
Another lie.
Sarah rubbed her temples.
“My father was there when Ryan started helping me after Daniel disappeared.”
“Helping.”
Her eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
“How soon did your father start encouraging you to date him?”
“Mark.”
“How soon?”
She looked away.
“Almost immediately.”
I felt sick.
Daniel had been removed.
Ryan had stepped in.
Sarah’s father had approved.
Richard had covered the crime.
Mercer had buried the investigation.
This had not been a series of accidents.
It had been architecture.
A life built around one woman and her unborn child.
“Why would your father help them?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel answered that question later.
Doctors finally allowed Maya and me into his room.
Sarah refused to come.
I understood.
Daniel looked exhausted.
But his eyes were clear.
Maya set a recorder on the table.
“You understand you’re giving a voluntary statement?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us who took you to the farm?”
“Ryan.”
“Did Richard assist?”
“Yes.”
“Paul Mercer?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Paul helped them nine years ago. I don’t know about now.”
“Thomas Lawson?”
Daniel stared at the ceiling.
“He started it.”
I leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Sarah’s father owned a minority stake in the original Cumberland project.”
I had never known.
Neither had Sarah.
“Tony’s death threatened everybody invested in it,” Daniel continued.
“Thomas too?”
“Yes.”
“Why target you?”
“Because I had photographs.”
“The ones Teresa kept?”
“Copies.”
Maya asked, “Where are the originals?”
Daniel almost smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I’ll tell federal investigators.”
Maya accepted that.
I did too.
Daniel had learned the cost of trusting too quickly.
“Tell us about the night you disappeared,” I said.
He swallowed.
“I left the construction office after confronting Ryan.”
“Did he attack you?”
“He and another guy followed me.”
“What happened?”
“They forced my truck off the road.”
I clenched my jaw.
“I woke up in the hospital.”
“With Ryan listed as your emergency contact.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I never listed him.”
“What happened when you left?”
“Ryan told me Sarah was pregnant.”
I stared.
“He knew?”
“Thomas told him.”
Sarah’s father had known before me.
Before Mom.
Possibly before Daniel.
“Ryan showed me photographs of Sarah leaving a clinic.”
Maya’s expression tightened.
“He threatened her?”
“And the baby.”
Daniel looked at me.
“And you.”
“What did he say?”
“That Mercer could make me disappear permanently and make it look like I ran.”
“You believed him?”
“I had just been run off the road and woken up with the man who did it standing beside my hospital bed.”
Fair answer.
“What did you do?”
“I left Nashville.”
“Where?”
“Memphis first. Then Arkansas. Missouri. Wherever I could work for cash.”
“Nine years, Daniel.”
His eyes met mine.
“I know.”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Why not me?”
“Because you were applying to the academy.”
I stood.
“So?”
“So Richard had photographs of you entering the training center.”
My anger vanished.
“What?”
“He sent them to me.”
Daniel’s voice shook.
“He knew your schedule.”
I sat again.
For years, I had believed Daniel forgot us.
The truth was almost worse.
He had been watching from a distance while somebody watched us.
“When did Thomas Lawson enter this?”
“Before the accident.”
Daniel took a breath.
“He was the one pushing Richard to rush construction.”
“Did he arrange the cover-up?”
“He funded part of it.”
“Then why fake his death?”
Daniel looked at Maya.
“Because three years ago federal auditors started looking at one of his companies.”
My stomach tightened.
“He vanished before they could connect him.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you know he’s alive?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Because he came to the farm.”
I gripped the edge of the chair.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Maya leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“He said Ryan had made a mess.”
“And?”
“He wanted to know where the originals were.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
Daniel looked at me.
“He said Sarah would eventually forgive him.”
I felt cold.
“For what?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“For choosing Ryan over her.”
Sarah deserved to hear that from him.
Not me.
I stood.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Thomas has been watching Evan.”
Every protective instinct in me ignited.
“From where?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’s under police protection.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That didn’t stop Mercer nine years ago.”
I looked at Maya.
She was already reaching for her phone.
We returned to the family room immediately.
Evan was still asleep.
Two officers stood outside.
Sarah was staring through the window.
I walked toward her.
She looked at my face.
“What did Daniel say?”
I stopped in front of her.
“Your father is alive.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
“He was at the farm yesterday.”
Sarah gripped the back of a chair.
“He knew?”
“Knew what?”
“About Ryan.”
I didn’t answer quickly enough.
Her face collapsed.
“My father knew what Ryan was.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“From the beginning.”
Sarah turned away.
I expected tears.
Instead, she slammed her hand against the wall.
“My entire life was chosen for me.”
Her voice cracked.
“Daniel disappeared. Ryan appeared. Dad told me Ryan was good. Dad told me Daniel was bad.”
I stepped closer.
“Sarah.”
She turned.
“And while they were deciding what was best for me, my son was paying for it.”
I had no response.
Then an officer rushed into the hallway.
“Maya needs you.”
“What happened?”
He held up a phone.
“We just got a facial-recognition hit.”
My heart raced.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The officer looked toward Evan’s room.
“Hospital parking garage.”
Sarah’s face went white.
“He’s here.”
At that exact moment, the lights flickered.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
Then the entire hallway went dark.
