Chapter 9
Police reached the house before I did.
The woman didn't run.
She was sitting calmly on our porch when Detective Bell arrived.
By the time I entered, Emily was safe inside with an officer.
I held her first.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"The baby?"
"Moving."
Only then could I breathe.
Bell brought the woman into the living room.
She looked around sixty.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
A face that carried years of exhaustion.
"My name is Rebecca Sloan," she said.
Bell placed the death certificate on the table.
"No, it isn't."
She smiled sadly.
"According to the state, you're right."
I stared at her.
"Who are you?"
"My real name is Rebecca Sloan."
Bell crossed his arms.
"Then explain your death."
"Thomas Carter arranged it."
My father's name landed like another bomb.
Rebecca looked at me.
"Your grandmother helped me disappear."
"Why?"
"Because I knew what Thomas had done."
"To Sarah?"
"To Sarah. To Michael. To the company."
Emily sat beside me.
Rebecca continued.
"I was your grandmother's accountant."
"So Chloe told the truth."
"About that, yes."
"Did you help Dad steal Grandma's estate?"
Rebecca's face hardened.
"No."
I frowned.
"Chloe said—"
"Thomas used my identity."
Bell leaned forward.
"Who had access to your old credentials?"
"Thomas. Linda. Michael."
My mother's name again.
Rebecca reached slowly into her bag.
An officer stopped her.
She nodded.
"There is a notebook inside."
The officer removed it and handed it to Bell.
Rebecca said, "Your grandmother kept two sets of financial records after she discovered Thomas was stealing."
Bell opened the notebook.
Rows of handwritten figures filled every page.
"She expected him to destroy the official records," Rebecca continued. "So she gave me copies."
"Why disappear?"
"Because Sarah died."
Her voice shook.
"I knew it wasn't an accident."
"Did you see it?"
"No. But Sarah called me that night."
My entire body went still.
"What did she say?"
Rebecca looked directly at me.
"She said Thomas had discovered she planned to leave the state with you."
I swallowed.
"Why was she leaving?"
"She was afraid of him."
Emily reached for my hand.
Rebecca continued.
"Sarah had evidence that Thomas was stealing from Carter Development."
"So this was about money even then."
"It was always about money."
Bell asked, "Why come forward now?"
Rebecca's eyes moved toward Emily.
"Because Thomas found me."
"What?"
"Three months ago."
"How?"
"I made a mistake. I contacted Daniel Mercer about Margaret's final will."
Margaret.
Grandma.
"Then what?"
"Thomas sent Chloe to meet me."
I stared.
"Chloe knew you were alive?"
"Yes."
That meant Chloe had lied to me again.
Rebecca continued.
"But Chloe didn't threaten me."
"What did she do?"
"She warned me."
I stopped.
"Why?"
"Because she was terrified of your father."
Bell asked, "Then why did Chloe attack Emily?"
Rebecca's expression darkened.
"Fear makes cowards dangerous."
Nobody argued.
I asked about the photographs.
"You sent me Sarah's picture."
"Yes."
"Why not just contact me?"
"Because I didn't know who was watching your phone."
"And the picture of Emily?"
Rebecca nodded.
"I sent it to Chloe."
"Why?"
"To prove Thomas was watching Emily."
My skin went cold.
"Who took it?"
Rebecca looked at Bell.
"Thomas."
Silence.
Dad had been watching my wife.
Rebecca pointed toward the notebook.
"The final pages contain payments Thomas made recently."
Bell flipped to the back.
Several names.
Amounts.
Dates.
Then one name made Emily gasp.
Dr. Howard Lane.
Her obstetrician.
I stared at Rebecca.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Emily's face drained of color.
Bell immediately called the hospital.
Dr. Lane had gone home hours earlier.
Another officer searched his financial history.
Minutes later, Bell looked at us.
"Lane received fifty thousand dollars from a company linked to Thomas Carter."
Emily grabbed her stomach.
"No."
I stood.
"What did he pay my wife's doctor to do?"
Rebecca whispered, "Maybe nothing yet."
Then Emily looked at me with sudden terror.
"Ryan..."
"What?"
"The medication."
"What medication?"
"Dr. Lane prescribed something yesterday."
My heart stopped.
"Did you take it?"
She nodded.
"One dose."
Bell was already calling emergency services.
Emily suddenly doubled over.
Her face twisted in pain.
"Ryan!"
I caught her.
Then I saw water spreading across the couch beneath her.
Emily looked at me.
May you like
Her voice broke.
"The baby's coming."
