Chapter 8
Victor had met Ryan before.
That truth destroyed the final piece of the story Diane had built.
For years, Ryan believed Thomas was his only father.
Then he believed Victor was a stranger he'd never known.
Now he remembered a red music box.
A man from childhood.
A face his mother had erased.
We reached Claire's house under police escort.
I ran inside.
Lily flew into my arms.
"Mommy!"
I held her so tightly she complained.
"Too squishy."
I kissed her hair.
"Sorry."
She smiled.
"Did Grandma say sorry yet?"
The innocence of the question nearly destroyed me.
"No, sweetheart."
"She should."
"Yes."
Lily looked toward Ryan.
"Daddy, are you sad?"
He wiped his eyes.
"A little."
She climbed down from me and walked to him.
"Want Grace?"
Ryan frowned.
She held up Rebecca's yellow rabbit.
He took it.
"Yeah."
Lily patted his hand.
"She helps."
Ryan laughed through tears.
"Thank you."
The red music box sat inside a clear evidence bag on the dining table.
Marcus arrived ten minutes later.
He examined it.
Ryan described what he remembered.
"I was five. Maybe six."
"Who gave it to you?"
"A man named Vic."
"Did you know who he was?"
"No."
"What did Diane say?"
"She said he was a family friend."
"How often did you see him?"
Ryan closed his eyes.
"Maybe three times."
Then another memory returned.
His face changed.
"He took me fishing."
Marcus leaned forward.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"A lake?"
"Maybe."
"Was Diane there?"
"Once."
Ryan stood and began pacing.
"Why don't I remember this?"
"Childhood memories can become fragmented," Marcus said.
"No. I mean why didn't I remember the box until now?"
I knew the answer.
Because Diane had told him it was gone.
Because she had replaced his memories with her story.
The same way she replaced everything.
Facts.
People.
Blame.
Marcus opened the music box carefully.
A tiny metal cylinder played a soft tune.
Inside the lid was a photograph.
Ryan at five years old.
Beside him stood Victor Lane.
They had the same eyes.
There was no denying it.
Ryan turned away.
Marcus examined the bottom.
"There's something inside."
A hidden panel.
Underneath it was a folded piece of paper.
One sentence.
ASK DIANE WHAT SHE DID TO THOMAS.
I stared at it.
Ryan whispered, "Dad."
Marcus bagged the note.
"You believe Thomas's death wasn't natural?"
"I don't know."
Ryan looked at me.
"My mother found him."
That fact had seemed normal once.
Now it felt sinister.
Thomas had supposedly suffered a massive heart attack.
No autopsy.
Diane insisted he hated the idea of one.
The body had been cremated two days later.
I remembered thinking it was fast.
But grief had made everything feel fast.
Marcus asked, "Did Thomas have heart disease?"
"High blood pressure."
"Any previous heart attacks?"
"No."
"Who signed the death certificate?"
Ryan thought.
"Dr. Samuel Price."
Marcus wrote it down.
I recognized the name.
"That's Diane's physician."
Ryan looked at me.
Marcus stopped writing.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
Marcus nodded.
"Answer."
I put it on speaker.
"Hello?"
Victor's voice was rough.
Older.
Almost calm.
"Emily."
My body went cold.
"Where are you?"
"Doesn't matter."
"You went near my daughter."
"I wanted to see her."
"Stay away from her."
"I won't hurt Lily."
"You don't get to say her name."
A pause.
Then:
"You have more courage than Ryan's mother."
"That's not difficult."
Victor actually laughed.
Ryan stepped toward the phone.
"Why did you send the music box?"
Silence.
"Ryan?"
His biological father's voice changed.
Not much.
But enough.
"Hello, son."
Ryan flinched.
"Don't call me that."
"Fair."
"What happened to Thomas?"
Victor exhaled.
"I don't know."
"Your note says otherwise."
"I know what Diane told me."
"When?"
"Three days before Thomas died."
Marcus motioned for us to keep Victor talking.
"What did she tell you?" Ryan asked.
"That Thomas was finally going to expose us."
"Us?"
"Things Diane and I did when we were young."
"What things?"
"Crimes."
Victor didn't soften it.
"I deserved prison."
That surprised me.
"Diane didn't?"
Victor laughed bitterly.
"Diane always believed consequences were for other people."
I thought of the wedding.
The cupcake.
The slap.
The outrage when anyone resisted her.
Victor continued.
"Thomas found old records. He told Diane he was going federal."
"And?"
"She called me."
"Why?"
"She wanted help stopping him."
Marcus leaned closer.
"What did you say?"
Victor recognized the new voice.
"Agent Cole."
Marcus didn't react.
"Victor."
"Still chasing ghosts?"
"You're not a ghost."
"Close enough."
"Where are you?"
Victor ignored him.
"Ryan, your mother asked me how much digitalis it would take to cause a fatal arrhythmia."
My stomach turned.
Ryan gripped the table.
"What?"
"I told her I didn't know."
"Why didn't you report it?"
"Because I'm a coward too."
He sounded tired.
"Everyone in this story failed you, Ryan."
Ryan's voice cracked.
"Thomas didn't."
"No."
Victor became quiet.
"Thomas was better than all of us."
I saw tears in Ryan's eyes.
"Do you have proof?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Thomas called me the night before he died."
"What did he say?"
"That he was recording everything."
We all looked at the digital recorder from the lake house.
But Marcus shook his head.
"That device didn't contain anything about his death."
Victor said, "Then there's another one."
Ryan straightened.
"Where?"
"Thomas said he put it somewhere Diane would never voluntarily look."
I thought.
Ryan thought.
Then we both said it.
"The church."
Diane hated church.
Thomas had attended every Sunday.
Ryan's childhood church sat twenty minutes from their old family home.
Marcus was already moving.
"We'll secure the location."
But before anyone left, Claire entered carrying Lily.
My daughter looked frightened.
"Mommy."
"What?"
She pointed toward the window.
"There."
We turned.
A black sedan sat across the street.
Marcus drew his weapon.
Police moved.
The sedan accelerated away.
But not before I saw the driver.
A woman.
Blonde hair.
White coat.
Ryan saw her too.
His face changed.
"No."
"What?"
He ran toward the window.
The car disappeared.
"Who was it?"
He whispered a name.
"Rebecca."
I stared at him.
"Rebecca is dead."
Ryan shook his head.
May you like
"No."
"I saw her."
