Chapter 8
Ethan sat down without looking for the chair.
He nearly missed it.
I grabbed his shoulder.
His entire body felt rigid.
“No.”
Detective Harris remained on speaker.
“Ethan, I know this is a shock.”
“My father died.”
“That’s what your mother told you?”
“When I was twelve.”
I stared at him.
I knew Ethan’s father had left when he was young.
I did not know Linda had later told him the man died.
“How?” Harris asked.
“Car accident.”
“Did you attend a funeral?”
“No.”
“Did you see a death certificate?”
“I was twelve.”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“She said he died in Arizona.”
Harris paused.
“We have identified the man at the bank as Charles Walker.”
Ethan stared straight ahead.
“That was my father’s name.”
“He is sixty-one. He currently lives about forty minutes from you.”
Ethan laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“Forty minutes.”
I sat beside him.
For twenty-seven years, Ethan had believed his father was dead.
All that time, Charles had apparently lived close enough to drive to our house before dinner.
Harris continued.
“We’re trying to determine his involvement.”
Ethan’s voice became cold.
“If he helped her steal Emily’s house, arrest him too.”
“We need evidence.”
“Then get it.”
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“Your father asked to speak to you.”
Ethan stood.
“No.”
I looked up.
He shook his head.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“That’s your decision.”
“He can speak to a lawyer.”
“I understand.”
Harris ended the call soon after.
Ethan walked into the kitchen.
I followed slowly with Noah.
He put both hands on the counter.
“She told me he was dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She watched me cry.”
I had never heard this story.
Ethan looked at me.
“I was twelve. I asked if we could go to Arizona to see where he was buried.”
My chest hurt.
“She told me there was no grave because he was cremated.”
“Oh, Ethan.”
“She gave me a box.”
“What box?”
“His old watch. Two pictures. A pocketknife.”
He laughed bitterly.
“She said they mailed his personal things.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I spent years angry at a dead man.”
He looked toward the living room.
“And he was alive.”
I understood suddenly why Linda’s manipulation went so deep.
She had shaped Ethan’s entire reality since childhood.
When something frightened him, she explained it.
When he questioned her, she made him feel guilty.
When he chose me over her, she made him feel disloyal.
This wasn’t new.
I was simply the first person who had become dangerous enough to challenge her control.
“What if he abandoned you?” I asked carefully.
“He did.”
“Maybe.”
Ethan turned.
“What does that mean?”
“Linda lied about his death.”
“I know.”
“So maybe we don’t know what else she lied about.”
He went quiet.
Two hours later, the technician found no more cameras.
That should have brought relief.
Instead the house felt empty.
No cameras did not erase the ones that had been there.
At seven, someone knocked on the door.
Ethan and I froze.
He checked the new camera we had installed outside.
A gray-haired man stood on the porch.
Ethan stopped breathing.
I looked at the screen.
The man resembled him.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
Same eyes.
Same shape of mouth.
Older.
More tired.
Ethan whispered, “That’s him.”
“Do you want me to call the police?”
He stared at the screen.
Then shook his head.
“Not yet.”
The man knocked again.
Ethan walked to the door.
I stayed back with Noah.
He opened it but left the security chain attached.
The man looked at him.
His eyes filled immediately.
“Ethan.”
My husband’s face went hard.
“Don’t say my name like you know me.”
Charles flinched.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
“To explain.”
“Explain why you helped my mother steal my wife’s house?”
Charles stared at him.
“I didn’t.”
“You were at the bank.”
“Yes.”
“Then start talking.”
Charles looked past him and saw me.
Then Noah.
His face crumpled.
“Is that my grandson?”
Ethan slammed the door.
I jumped.
He leaned against it, breathing hard.
Charles’s voice came through the wood.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan said nothing.
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
Still nothing.
“I know I have no right.”
Ethan looked at me.
I saw conflict in his face.
Anger.
Grief.
Curiosity.
Fear.
Finally, he opened the door again.
“Five minutes.”
Charles nodded.
“Thank you.”
Ethan removed the chain but stood in the doorway.
“You talk from there.”
Charles accepted it.
“Linda contacted me six months ago.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
“She said you were having a baby.”
“That made you suddenly remember you had a son?”
Charles lowered his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“She needed money.”
Of course.
I felt my stomach turn.
“She found you because of debt?”
“Yes.”
“How much did you give her?”
“Twenty thousand.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“Because she said you needed it.”
“What?”
“She told me the baby had medical complications.”
I looked down at Noah.
“He doesn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“She said Ethan needed twenty thousand?”
“She said insurance wouldn’t cover treatment.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“And you believed her?”
Charles looked at him.
“I wanted a reason to help you.”
“You could’ve called me.”
“I didn’t have your number.”
“You found her. You could have found me.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because she told me you hated me.”
Ethan’s mouth tightened.
“I did.”
“I know.”
“You abandoned us.”
Charles looked up.
“I left Linda.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Ethan’s face sharpened.
Charles continued.
“I tried to take you with me.”
Silence.
“That’s a lie.”
“I filed for custody.”
“Stop.”
“I have copies.”
“Stop.”
“She told the court I was violent.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Stop talking.”
Charles did.
My husband’s chest rose and fell.
Charles’s voice became softer.
“She was granted temporary custody while the case was reviewed. Then she moved.”
Ethan stared at him.
“She told me you disappeared.”
“I searched for you for three years.”
“She said you never called.”
“I called.”
“She said you never sent birthday cards.”
“I sent them.”
“No.”
“I have receipts.”
“Stop lying!”
Noah startled.
Ethan immediately looked at me.
I rocked him.
Charles backed away.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“You expect me to believe Mom hid me from you?”
“I expect nothing.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I helped her without asking enough questions.”
“What happened at the bank?”
Charles rubbed his hands together.
“Linda told me Emily wanted to borrow against the house to help with Noah’s medical costs.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“She brought me because the bank wanted proof of additional family support.”
“What did you sign?”
“Nothing.”
“Why did the bank employee remember you?”
“I argued with Linda.”
Ethan frowned.
“About what?”
“She wanted two hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
I stared at him.
“Two hundred fifty?”
“She told me the treatment might be long-term.”
“We never asked for anything.”
“I know.”
“When did you realize?”
Charles looked at Ethan.
“Yesterday.”
“How?”
“I drove here.”
My skin went cold.
“When?”
“Around noon.”
Linda had been here.
I had been washing dishes.
No.
That happened later.
“What did you see?”
Charles hesitated.
“I saw Emily through the window.”
I stared at him.
“She was holding the baby.”
“And?”
“She looked healthy.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“What else?”
Charles looked at me with shame.
“Linda came outside before I knocked.”
“She knew you were here?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That Emily had severe postpartum psychosis.”
My hands began shaking.
“She said you were dangerous to the baby.”
“That was her story to everyone.”
Charles nodded.
“She told me the loan was necessary because you were going to be hospitalized long-term.”
Ethan stared at him.
“And you believed her?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Linda asked me for another thirty thousand in cash.”
“For what?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
Charles looked toward the house.
“So I followed her.”
My heart began pounding.
“Where?”
“To a storage facility.”
Ethan frowned.
“What storage facility?”
Charles reached into his coat slowly.
Ethan tensed.
Charles pulled out a folded receipt.
“She rented a unit three months ago.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You followed her inside?”
“No. I waited until she left.”
“Then what?”
“I asked the manager about the unit.”
“He told you?”
“No.”
Charles looked embarrassed.
“So I broke in.”
Ethan stared.
“You committed a crime.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
Charles’s face became grim.
“Boxes.”
“What boxes?”
“Baby clothes.”
I tightened my grip on Noah.
“A crib.”
My skin went cold.
“Formula.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Charles continued.
“Diapers. A stroller. A car seat.”
I whispered, “She made a second nursery.”
Charles nodded.
“And there was something else.”
“What?”
He looked at Ethan.
“A passport application.”
“For who?”
Charles swallowed.
“For Noah.”
Silence.
“And beside it,” he said, “was a one-way airline reservation.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Charles looked directly at me.
May you like
“Costa Rica.”
The flight was scheduled for Saturday morning.
