Chapter 2
Evelyn read the sentence three times.
Cole isn’t the only person I’m afraid of.
Her hands began shaking.
“Helen,” she whispered. “Who else?”
Helen looked toward the police cars.
“I don’t know.”
“You had the note.”
“I found it this morning.”
“Where?”
Helen hesitated.
That hesitation frightened Evelyn more than the words.
“In Nathan’s old truck.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“That truck has been sitting in your garage for six months.”
“I know.”
“Then why today?”
Helen lowered her voice.
“Because someone broke into my house last night.”
Wren tightened her grip on Evelyn’s hand.
“What?”
“Nothing was stolen. Whoever entered went straight to the garage.”
Helen swallowed.
“The glove compartment was open.”
Evelyn looked down at the note.
“So someone was searching for this.”
“Probably.”
One of the officers approached.
“Mrs. Carter?”
Evelyn turned.
“We need you and your daughter to come inside. There’s something else.”
They followed him toward the house.
Evelyn hated walking away from the hole.
It looked too deliberate.
Too deep.
Cole had not been gardening.
He had planned something.
Inside, another officer stood near the kitchen table holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside it was a small bottle.
Evelyn recognized it immediately.
Nathan’s old medication bottle.
Her knees weakened.
“Where did you find that?”
“In Cole’s vehicle.”
Helen covered her mouth.
The officer continued.
“There’s more.”
He placed another evidence bag beside it.
A photograph.
Evelyn leaned closer.
It showed Nathan standing outside a storage facility.
Someone had taken the picture from a distance.
On the back was a date.
Three days before Nathan died.
“Did your husband rent a storage unit?” the officer asked.
“No.”
Helen said, “Not that I know of.”
The officer handed Evelyn a paper.
“We found a key in Cole’s wallet. Storage company logo on it.”
Evelyn’s heart started pounding.
“Where?”
“Facility on Route 18.”
Helen looked at her.
“Nathan used to drive that road every Friday.”
Evelyn remembered.
He always said he was checking supplies for work.
She had never questioned it.
The officer warned them not to go anywhere themselves.
Investigators would handle it.
But two hours later, Evelyn received a message from an unknown number.
She stared at her phone.
HE LIED TO YOU TOO.
Then another arrived.
ASK HELEN WHAT NATHAN DID IN 2018.
Evelyn slowly raised her eyes.
Helen was sitting across the kitchen with Wren.
“Helen.”
Something in Evelyn’s voice made her look up.
“What happened in 2018?”
Helen went still.
Wren looked between them.
“Grandma?”
Helen stood.
“We shouldn’t discuss this in front of Wren.”
Evelyn’s pulse jumped.
“So there is something.”
“Evelyn.”
“What happened?”
Helen looked toward the hallway.
Then she said quietly, “Nathan had a brother.”
Evelyn frowned.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“His name was Caleb.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“Nathan told me he was an only child.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Caleb disappeared.”
Wren’s eyes widened.
Helen continued.
“It happened eight years ago.”
“What does Cole have to do with it?”
Helen looked sick.
“Cole was the last person who saw Caleb.”
Silence filled the kitchen.
Evelyn remembered Cole’s final words.
You have no idea what Nathan was hiding.
Her phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
Nathan.
Cole.
And another young man who looked almost exactly like Nathan.
Caleb.
They were standing beside the same storage facility.
Under the picture was one sentence.
ONE BROTHER DIED.
ONE BROTHER DISAPPEARED.
YOU STILL THINK COLE WORKED ALONE?
Evelyn dropped the phone onto the table.
Helen whispered, “Who sent that?”
“I don’t know.”
Then someone knocked at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Wren moved closer to Evelyn.
The police had already left.
Evelyn approached the door but didn’t open it.
“Who is it?”
A man answered.
May you like
“My name is Caleb.”
Helen screamed.
