Chapter 3
I thought I had heard him wrong.
“Our mother?”
Daniel nodded.
Rebecca pushed herself up from the grass.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Daniel flinched at her voice.
That reaction told me more than words could.
I wrapped one arm around him.
“You’re coming with me.”
“No.”
His answer surprised me.
“Daniel—”
“Noah first.”
He looked toward his son.
The chain was still around the boy’s ankle.
“Please.”
I rushed to Noah.
The keys shook in my hand as I tried them one by one.
Behind me, Rebecca was crying.
“You’re making a mistake.”
I ignored her.
The fourth key opened the padlock.
Noah pulled his ankle free.
The skin beneath the metal was raw and red.
I took off my sweater and wrapped it around him.
“Can you walk?”
He nodded.
Daniel stumbled toward us.
Noah ran into his arms.
“Dad.”
Daniel sank to his knees.
He held his son as if someone might tear the boy away.
“I’m sorry.”
Noah cried against his chest.
“I tried to find Mom.”
“I know.”
“She wouldn’t let me.”
“I know, buddy.”
I looked at Rebecca.
“Where is his mother?”
Rebecca said nothing.
Daniel looked up.
“Her name is Sarah.”
“Where is she?”
His face changed.
“That’s why I came back.”
The pieces refused to fit.
“Came back from where?”
Daniel glanced toward Rebecca.
“I wasn’t here for eleven years.”
“I know.”
“No. I mean I wasn’t in Georgia.”
He stood slowly.
“I left because Mom told me I had to.”
Rebecca snapped, “Daniel, stop.”
He ignored her.
“I was twenty-two. I found something in Dad’s old records after he died.”
Our father had passed away when I was sixteen.
Rebecca was nineteen.
Daniel had been fourteen.
“What records?”
“Bank statements. Property documents. Insurance policies.”
He looked at Rebecca.
“And something else.”
Rebecca crossed her arms.
“You don’t know what you saw.”
“I know exactly what I saw.”
I stepped between them.
“Someone start making sense.”
Daniel took a breath.
“Dad didn’t die the way Mom told us.”
My stomach tightened.
Our father had supposedly died after losing control of his truck on a rainy highway.
“What do you mean?”
“His truck had been tampered with.”
I stared at him.
“Who told you?”
“A mechanic.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“A mechanic who died eight years ago.”
Daniel looked at me.
“That isn’t an accident either.”
I felt cold despite the Georgia heat.
“Are you saying Mom killed Dad?”
“No.”
Rebecca answered before Daniel could.
“No one is saying that.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You always do that.”
“What?”
“Answer for everyone.”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
Daniel turned back to me.
“I confronted Mom. She didn’t deny knowing something about Dad’s death. She told me if I wanted you and Rebecca safe, I would leave Atlanta and never contact either of you.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
“I thought the same thing.”
“So you disappeared?”
“I was scared.”
“You left your car?”
“Mom told me to.”
My chest hurt.
“She helped stage your disappearance?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca whispered, “Daniel.”
He kept talking.
“She gave me cash and a bus ticket under another name.”
“Where did you go?”
“Tennessee first. Then Kentucky. Eventually Indiana.”
“And you never called?”
“I wanted to.”
His eyes filled.
“She said your phones were being watched.”
“By who?”
“I didn’t know.”
I looked at Rebecca.
She stared at the ground.
“You knew this?”
“Not then.”
“When?”
“Years later.”
“How much later?”
“Emily—”
“How much later?”
“Five years.”
I could barely process it.
“You knew Daniel was alive for six years?”
Rebecca didn’t answer.
I laughed once.
It sounded strange even to me.
“Six years.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From our brother?”
“From what came with him.”
Daniel pulled Noah closer.
“Tell her about the money.”
Rebecca’s head snapped up.
“No.”
“What money?” I asked.
“Daniel.”
“What money?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Dad had a life insurance policy.”
“I know. Mom used it to pay the mortgage.”
“No.”
My throat tightened.
“What?”
“The policy we knew about was for two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“There was another policy.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was paid.”
“To who?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“Mom.”
Rebecca snapped, “You don’t know that.”
“I saw the account.”
“You saw numbers.”
“I saw her name.”
Rebecca rubbed both hands over her face.
I realized she wasn’t just angry.
She was panicking.
“Rebecca, why does this matter now?”
She looked toward the neighboring houses.
“Because you’re standing outside talking about it.”
“So?”
“So someone might hear you.”
Daniel whispered, “That’s what she’s afraid of.”
I looked around.
The backyard was surrounded by tall privacy fences.
No one was visible.
Still, a chill crawled over me.
“What happened six months ago?”
Daniel’s expression darkened.
“Sarah disappeared.”
Noah stopped crying.
He looked at his father.
“I’m going to find her.”
Daniel touched his hair.
“I know.”
I crouched beside Noah.
“When did you last see your mom?”
He looked at Rebecca.
She shook her head slightly.
I saw it.
So did Daniel.
“Don’t,” he warned.
Rebecca whispered, “I’m trying to keep him safe.”
Noah looked at me.
“We were at a hotel.”
“What hotel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it in Atlanta?”
He nodded.
“Mom told me to stay in the room. She went downstairs to meet somebody.”
“Who?”
“She said Grandma.”
My heart stopped.
“Your grandma?”
Noah nodded.
“My dad’s mom.”
Our mother.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“That’s the last time Sarah was seen.”
I looked at him.
“You came here after that?”
“Yes.”
“Why Rebecca’s house?”
“Because Sarah left me a message.”
“What did it say?”
Daniel glanced at my sister.
“She said Rebecca knew everything.”
I turned slowly.
Rebecca stepped back.
“I knew enough to know Daniel was in danger.”
“So you helped him?”
“At first.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You locked me in a basement.”
“You tried to leave!”
“My wife was missing!”
“And people were looking for you.”
“Who?”
Rebecca’s eyes flashed.
“You think I know their names?”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“You know Mom’s.”
Rebecca slapped both hands over her ears.
“Stop calling her that.”
Silence.
I stared.
“What?”
Rebecca lowered her hands.
Her breathing was fast.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Tell her.”
Rebecca looked at me.
Tears spilled down her face.
“Mom isn’t our mother.”
The world seemed to tilt.
I couldn’t speak.
Rebecca wiped her face angrily.
“Not biologically.”
I looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel whispered, “Dad was our father.”
“All three of us?”
“Yes.”
“But Mom—”
“Her real name isn’t even Margaret Carter.”
I stepped backward.
Our mother’s name was Margaret Carter.
She had raised us.
Packed our lunches.
Driven us to school.
Stayed beside my hospital bed when I had pneumonia at nine.
Walked me down the aisle after Dad died.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“She changed her name before she met Dad.”
“Why?”
Daniel answered.
“Because someone was looking for her.”
“Who?”
“Our real mother.”
I stared at him.
“My mother is dead.”
“That’s what Margaret told us.”
Rebecca whispered, “She lied.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
I backed away.
My phone was still lying in the grass.
I picked it up.
The emergency call had disconnected.
There were three missed calls.
All from Mom.
Then another call appeared.
MOM.
The four of us stared at the screen.
Rebecca whispered, “Don’t answer.”
Daniel whispered, “Answer.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she already knows you’re here.”
I pressed the button.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then my mother spoke.
Her voice was calm.
“Emily, sweetheart.”
My skin prickled.
“Where are you?”
I looked directly at Rebecca.
“At home.”
Another pause.
“That’s interesting.”
My heart began pounding.
“Why?”
Mom’s voice turned cold.
“Because I’m standing beside your car.”
I spun toward the side gate.
A shadow appeared beneath it.
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Noah grabbed Daniel.
Rebecca whispered, “Oh God.”
Mom called through the gate.
“Emily?”
She knocked again.
“I know you’re back there.”
Daniel took my arm.
May you like
“Whatever happens, don’t let her see Noah.”
Then the gate handle began to turn.
