Chapter 5
Daniel crossed the basement in two steps.
He grabbed Marcus by the shirt.
“Where?”
Marcus smiled in his face.
“Untie me.”
“No.”
“Then keep wondering.”
Daniel tightened his grip.
I caught his arm.
“Daniel, stop.”
He looked at me.
“My wife is alive.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do.”
His certainty frightened me.
For six months, he had been holding himself together for Noah.
Now hope had entered the room.
Hope could make desperate people dangerous.
I turned to Marcus.
“If you know where Sarah is, tell us.”
“Untie me.”
Rebecca came down another step.
“Absolutely not.”
Marcus laughed.
“You kept me tied to a post for three days and now you’re worried about safety?”
“You broke into my house.”
“I came for Daniel.”
“To kill him?”
“To warn him.”
Daniel released his shirt.
“Warn me about what?”
Marcus looked at Mom.
“Victoria knows.”
Mom stared at him.
“I don’t.”
“Your husband is cleaning up.”
“He wasn’t my husband.”
“You wanted him to be.”
She slapped Marcus.
Hard.
The room went silent.
Marcus slowly turned his face back.
“There she is.”
Mom’s hands shook.
“You know nothing.”
“I know you helped him disappear.”
“I helped him survive.”
“And what about Catherine?”
Mom froze.
Marcus smiled without humor.
“Did you help her survive too?”
I stepped closer.
“What happened to my mother?”
No one answered.
“Somebody tell me.”
Mom looked at me.
“I told you. Catherine died.”
Marcus laughed.
“She certainly did.”
Daniel turned on him.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus shrugged against the ropes.
“Ask Victoria where Catherine spent the last fifteen years of her life.”
Mom whispered, “Don’t do this.”
I stared at her.
“Was she sick?”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“She had a neurological condition.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Mom turned away.
I grabbed her arm.
“Where was she?”
“A care facility.”
“Which one?”
She closed her eyes.
“A private facility outside Birmingham.”
I felt physically ill.
Our mother had been alive for years.
Close enough that I could have driven to her in less than three hours.
“Did she know about us?”
Mom began crying.
“Yes.”
“Did she ask for us?”
No answer.
“Did she ask for us?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca sat down on the stairs.
She covered her face.
Daniel stared at Mom like he no longer recognized her.
“Did you visit her?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Every few months.”
“And you never took us?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Catherine hated me.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“So?”
“She would have told you things.”
“There it is.”
Daniel’s voice was low.
“You weren’t protecting us. You were protecting yourself.”
Mom turned to him.
“You were children.”
“I was twenty-two when you forced me to disappear.”
“You found evidence you didn’t understand.”
“I understood enough.”
Marcus spoke from the post.
“He found the payout.”
Mom glared at him.
Daniel looked at me.
“Dad’s five-million-dollar policy.”
Marcus nodded.
“Except it wasn’t insurance.”
“What was it?”
“A payoff.”
The basement seemed to shrink around us.
“From who?” I asked.
Marcus smiled.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Mom looked at Rebecca.
“Take Noah upstairs.”
Rebecca didn’t move.
“Why?”
“Because he shouldn’t hear this.”
From the top of the stairs, Noah’s voice came quietly.
“I hear everything anyway.”
Daniel’s face broke.
He walked up and took Noah into his arms.
“You don’t have to listen.”
“I want Mom.”
“I know.”
“I want to find her.”
“We will.”
Noah looked at Marcus.
“That man came into my room.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
“I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
“You grabbed me.”
“I was getting you out.”
“Rebecca hit you with a lamp.”
Rebecca muttered, “And I’d do it again.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“This is insane.”
A noise came from outside.
A car door.
Everyone froze.
Rebecca looked toward the ceiling.
“I’m not expecting anyone.”
Another car door shut.
Then another.
Marcus’s face changed instantly.
“Turn off the lights.”
No one moved.
“TURN THEM OFF.”
Rebecca ran upstairs.
Mom grabbed Noah.
Daniel pulled him away.
“Don’t touch him.”
Mom whispered, “Daniel, this isn’t the time.”
The doorbell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man called from the front porch.
“Rebecca Carter?”
No one answered.
“I’m with Fulton County Child Protective Services.”
Rebecca looked at Noah.
“How did they know?”
I stared at my phone.
“Maybe my emergency call connected.”
Marcus swore.
Mom whispered, “Do not open that door.”
I looked at her.
“There’s a chained child in the backyard. I’m opening it.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s not CPS.”
“How do you know?”
“Because CPS doesn’t send three black SUVs.”
My blood went cold.
I moved to the living room window.
I pulled the curtain back half an inch.
Three vehicles were parked along the street.
Two men stood beside the driveway.
Neither wore a uniform.
One had an earpiece.
I stepped away.
“That’s not normal.”
Marcus said, “Untie me.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“If those men get inside, the rope around my wrists will be the least of your problems.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Can we trust you?”
Marcus laughed.
“You can trust that I don’t want my brother to kill me.”
Mom whispered, “Untie him.”
We all looked at her.
“You just said he was dangerous.”
“He is.”
“Then why?”
“Because Marcus knows how they work.”
Rebecca swore.
Daniel grabbed a utility knife from a shelf.
He cut the rope.
Marcus rubbed his wrists.
“If we get out, I’m still filing charges.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“Get in line.”
The front door shook.
Someone tried the handle.
A voice called again.
“Ms. Carter, we need to speak with you about a child welfare report.”
Marcus looked at the back of the house.
“Garage?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Attached.”
“Vehicles?”
“My SUV.”
“Keys?”
She tossed them to him.
I caught his arm.
“We are not getting into a car with you.”
“You want to stay?”
The front door shook harder.
Daniel looked at me.
“Emily.”
I hated it.
But I nodded.
We moved quickly.
Rebecca grabbed a backpack.
Daniel carried Noah.
Mom followed.
Marcus stopped at the kitchen.
He opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope.
Rebecca shouted, “Put that down.”
Marcus looked at the handwriting.
“Sarah.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
Marcus held it up.
The envelope had Daniel’s name on it.
Rebecca looked horrified.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was in your drawer.”
Daniel snatched it.
“Did Sarah write this?”
Rebecca nodded.
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
“You had a letter from my wife for six months?”
“She told me not to give it to you unless something happened.”
“Something happened!”
“I thought she meant something else.”
Daniel ripped the envelope open.
Inside was a handwritten note.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he stopped.
“What?” I asked.
He read aloud.
“If Daniel comes looking for me, tell him his father is alive. Tell him not to trust Victoria, Marcus, or Rebecca.”
Silence.
Rebecca stared.
“No.”
Daniel kept reading.
“If Noah is with him, take Noah to Emily. She’s the only one who doesn’t know enough to have chosen a side.”
I felt every eye turn toward me.
Daniel lowered the letter.
Rebecca whispered, “Sarah didn’t trust me?”
Marcus laughed softly.
“She was smarter than I thought.”
Rebecca glared at him.
The front door suddenly crashed open.
Noah screamed.
Marcus ran toward the garage.
“Move!”
We piled inside.
Rebecca hit the garage opener.
The door rose slowly.
Too slowly.
A man entered the kitchen behind us.
“Stop!”
Marcus started the SUV.
Daniel shoved Noah into the back.
I climbed beside him.
Mom squeezed in.
Rebecca jumped into the passenger seat.
The garage door was halfway open.
Marcus hit the accelerator.
“Duck!”
We shot underneath it.
The roof scraped.
Someone shouted behind us.
One of the black SUVs pulled sideways to block the driveway.
Marcus didn’t slow.
He drove over the lawn.
Rebecca screamed.
We bounced across the curb.
The SUV fishtailed.
Then we were on the street.
A black vehicle followed immediately.
Noah buried his face against Daniel.
I looked behind us.
“They’re coming.”
Marcus accelerated.
Mom gripped the seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere your precious husband won’t expect.”
“He is not my husband.”
Marcus glanced at her.
“You spent twenty years protecting him.”
“For the children.”
“No.”
His eyes met hers in the mirror.
“For yourself.”
The pursuing SUV closed the distance.
Daniel unfolded Sarah’s letter again.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
He read quickly.
“Emily, if you are reading this, I’m sorry. Your father will try to make you believe your family is the danger.”
I stared at the page.
Daniel continued.
“He will offer you answers. Do not go with him.”
Marcus muttered, “Smart woman.”
Daniel read the final line.
Then his face turned white.
“What does it say?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Sarah wrote an address.”
“Where?”
He swallowed.
“Your house.”
My stomach dropped.
“What about my house?”
Daniel looked straight at me.
“She says Dad has been watching you from the house across the street.”
I stopped breathing.
The house across from mine had been purchased six months earlier.
A quiet older man lived there.
At least I thought he did.
He waved every morning when I left for work.
He brought my trash bins up once when I was sick.
He knew my name.
He knew my schedule.
I whispered, “Mr. Bennett.”
Mom turned sharply.
“What?”
“You know him?”
Her face answered before her voice did.
Marcus looked at her in the mirror.
“Bennett.”
Then he laughed bitterly.
“Our father’s middle name.”
My chest tightened.
The SUV behind us suddenly turned away.
Marcus slowed.
“They stopped following.”
Rebecca looked relieved.
Marcus didn’t.
“That means they know where we’re going.”
I stared at him.
“Where are we going?”
He looked at me.
“Your house.”
“No.”
“That letter says your father has been watching you.”
“Sarah said not to go with him.”
“We aren’t going with him.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“We’re going to find out what he left behind.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
No one spoke.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar in a way I couldn’t explain.
“Emily.”
Tears filled my eyes before I even understood why.
“Who is this?”
The man breathed slowly.
“Sweetheart, it’s Dad.”
I couldn’t move.
Daniel reached for the phone.
I pulled it away.
The man continued.
“I know what they’re telling you.”
My throat closed.
“Where is Sarah?”
A pause.
“She’s alive.”
Daniel heard him.
“Put it on speaker.”
I did.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Where is my wife?”
Dad’s voice changed.
“Hello, son.”
Daniel’s face twisted.
“Where is Sarah?”
“She’s safe.”
“WHERE?”
“I’ll tell Emily.”
“Tell me!”
“No.”
I whispered, “Why me?”
Dad was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Because you’re the only one in that car who never betrayed me.”
Mom began crying.
Dad heard it.
“Victoria.”
She covered her mouth.
His voice became cold.
May you like
“You should have stayed away from my children.”
Then the call ended.
