Chapter 4
By the time David arrived at the hospital, Emily and I were sitting side by side staring at documents that looked like a blueprint for destroying our lives.
Her father walked into the room wearing jeans, work boots and the same blue jacket he had owned for twenty years.
Carol came behind him.
Emily’s mother didn’t even look at me.
She rushed directly to her daughter.
“Oh, honey.”
“I’m okay, Mom.”
Carol hugged her carefully.
“The babies?”
“They’re okay.”
David’s face changed.
His eyes filled immediately.
“Both of them?”
Emily nodded.
David turned his head and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
I had never seen him cry before.
Then he looked at me.
The emotion vanished.
“What happened?”
I stood.
“Stress, probably. The doctor says everything looks stable.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I knew.
He meant us.
Emily spoke before I could.
“Dad, Ryan’s brother may have stolen our identities.”
David stared at her.
“What?”
Carol pulled back.
“Jake?”
I handed David the phone.
He scrolled through the pictures.
His jaw tightened.
“Have you called the police?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“I only found out twenty minutes ago.”
David looked at me.
“You protect that boy again, and you’re going to lose everything.”
I didn’t argue.
“I know.”
Emily glanced at me.
Her father continued.
“You call the police tonight.”
“I will.”
“No private family deal. No promises. No giving him one more chance.”
“I said I will.”
Carol suddenly said, “This is exactly why I told you not to tell Ryan about the pregnancy.”
The room froze.
I turned toward her.
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Mom.”
David looked at his wife.
“You told her what?”
Carol seemed to realize too late what she had said.
“Nothing.”
“Mom.”
I stared at Emily.
“You didn’t tell me because your mother told you not to?”
“That’s not the whole reason.”
Carol stepped closer to her.
“You were afraid. I told you to protect yourself.”
“From me?”
Carol looked at me coldly.
“From instability.”
I laughed once.
“Instability?”
“You secretly spent your family’s savings on your brother.”
“That was wrong.”
“It was more than wrong.”
“I know.”
“So why are you acting offended?”
“Because you encouraged my wife to hide my children from me.”
Emily interrupted.
“Stop calling them your children like they belong only to you.”
I took a breath.
“Our children.”
Carol folded her arms.
“Emily came to me terrified. She had just learned she was pregnant and discovered nearly forty thousand dollars missing.”
“Fifty-two,” Emily said quietly.
Carol stared at her.
“What?”
Emily looked at me.
“He spent fifty-two.”
Carol’s face went red.
“You see?”
David raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Carol turned on him.
“Don’t tell me enough.”
“I will when you’re making this worse.”
“I’m making it worse?”
“Yes.”
David pointed at Emily.
“She’s in a hospital bed carrying twins, and you’re trying to restart the argument.”
Carol looked shocked.
“I’m protecting my daughter.”
“Then protect her peace.”
Emily covered her face.
“Please.”
Everyone stopped.
I sat down again.
David handed me my phone.
“Call the bank.”
I nodded.
I stepped into the hall.
For the next forty minutes, my world became hold music, fraud departments and security questions.
Three accounts had been opened using my identity.
Two using Emily’s.
The home-equity loan had not funded yet.
Thank God.
The bank froze the application.
One personal loan had already paid out.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
The money had gone to an account I didn’t recognize.
I gave the bank everything I had.
Then I called the police.
When I returned, Emily was eating crackers.
Carol sat beside her.
David stood near the window.
“Done?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“They’re sending an officer.”
He nodded.
Emily looked at me.
“And?”
“The home-equity loan is frozen.”
Her shoulders dropped.
“The house is safe?”
“For now.”
“And the others?”
“We’ll have to dispute them.”
She pressed her fingers against her temples.
“I cannot believe this.”
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at me.
“For which part?”
I deserved that.
“All of it.”
Carol muttered, “Sorry doesn’t restore trust.”
David turned.
“Carol.”
“What?”
“Go get coffee.”
She stared at him.
“I don’t want coffee.”
“I do.”
“So go.”
“I’m asking you.”
They looked at each other.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Carol’s expression hardened.
Then she picked up her purse.
“Fine.”
She kissed Emily’s forehead.
“I’ll be back.”
When she left, David closed the door.
Emily watched him.
“Dad?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead he sat in the chair Carol had just vacated.
“I owe both of you an apology.”
I frowned.
Emily did too.
“For what?” she asked.
David rubbed his palms together.
“For keeping my mouth shut three weeks ago.”
Emily stiffened.
“You promised me.”
“I know.”
“You said you wouldn’t tell him.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did tonight.”
“Because you were walking out.”
“He told you to come get me.”
“And I heard two people I love trying to destroy their marriage over secrets neither one understood.”
Emily looked away.
David leaned forward.
“I should’ve told you three weeks ago that you were making the same mistake your mother and I made.”
Carol’s name hung in the air.
Emily slowly looked at him.
“What mistake?”
David gave a tired smile.
“You think your mother and I have always had this perfect marriage?”
Emily didn’t answer.
“You know we had problems.”
“I know you fought.”
“No.”
His eyes darkened.
“You know the version we let you know.”
Something about his tone made me stop thinking about Jake.
Emily stared at him.
“What happened?”
David looked at me.
Then back at her.
“Twenty-six years ago, when you were four, your mother packed a suitcase and took you to your grandmother’s house.”
Emily blinked.
“I don’t remember that.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“Why did she leave?”
David breathed out.
“Because I lied about money.”
Emily’s expression changed.
I felt something shift in the room.
David continued.
“I had a business partner named Frank. He got into debt. I thought I could rescue the company without telling Carol.”
I stared at him.
He glanced at me.
“Yes, Ryan. I know exactly what kind of stupidity you’ve been practicing.”
Emily looked at her father.
“How much?”
“Everything we had.”
Her mouth fell open.
“I borrowed against the house.”
“That’s why Mom left?”
“That’s part of it.”
“What else?”
David looked toward the door.
“I lied for almost a year.”
Emily went still.
“A year?”
“I kept telling myself I was protecting her from stress. Really, I was protecting myself from consequences.”
Those words hit me hard.
Because that was exactly what I had done.
David looked at me.
“Sound familiar?”
I nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
Emily’s voice was quiet.
“Did Mom know you were going to lose the house?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“She discovered a foreclosure notice.”
Emily winced.
David continued.
“She took you and left.”
“Then how did you get back together?”
“We didn’t scream our way back.”
A sad smile crossed his face.
“I spent eleven months earning trust back one boring day at a time.”
Emily looked toward the door.
“So why would Mom tell me to leave Ryan?”
David’s face changed.
“Because your mother never really forgave what happened.”
The words landed heavily.
“She stayed with me,” he said. “She loves me. I love her. But fear has a long memory.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“She thinks I’m becoming her.”
“Yes.”
“And Ryan is becoming you.”
David looked at me.
“If he keeps lying, he will.”
I nodded.
“I understand.”
“No,” David said. “You don’t yet.”
His voice was calm.
“Losing trust happens in one moment. Rebuilding it happens in hundreds.”
I looked at Emily.
She was watching me.
Before either of us could respond, the door opened.
Carol stood there.
No coffee.
Her face was white.
David stood.
“What happened?”
She held out her phone.
“I just got a call from the alarm company.”
Emily frowned.
“What alarm company?”
“Ours.”
David took the phone.
Carol looked directly at me.
“Someone broke into our house.”
My first thought was random burglary.
Then she said the next words.
“The camera caught him.”
David stared at the screen.
His jaw tightened.
“Who?”
Carol swallowed.
“Jake.”
I stood so fast my chair scraped backward.
“What?”
“He went into our house ten minutes ago.”
“Why would he go there?”
Nobody answered.
Then Emily whispered, “Dad.”
David looked at her.
“When I called you three weeks ago about moving in…”
His face changed.
“You left something there.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“A folder.”
My stomach turned.
“What folder?”
She looked at me.
“The folder with copies of every financial document I found in our house.”
David cursed.
Emily’s voice shook.
“I didn’t want you to know I was collecting evidence.”
My heart sank.
“Evidence against me?”
She looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know what you were doing.”
I couldn’t even be angry.
Not after everything she had discovered tonight.
David grabbed his keys.
“I’m going home.”
“I’m coming,” I said.
“No.”
“He’s my brother.”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t.”
“I’m coming.”
Emily sat up.
“Ryan.”
I looked at her.
She stared at me for several seconds.
Then she said, “Don’t protect him.”
I walked to her bedside.
“I won’t.”
“Promise me.”
I thought about every promise I had made Jake.
Every lie I had told because of those promises.
Then I looked at my wife.
“I promise you.”
David and I left.
On the way to his house, the detective assigned to the fraud complaint called me.
I told him where we were going.
He told us not to enter if Jake was still inside.
When we arrived, the front door was open.
David’s porch light flickered above us.
A police cruiser pulled up behind my truck.
Two officers approached.
One entered first.
We waited outside.
A minute later, he returned.
“House is clear.”
David rushed inside.
Drawers had been opened.
A desk overturned.
Papers covered the floor.
Emily’s folder was gone.
But that wasn’t what stopped me.
On David’s kitchen counter sat a framed family picture.
David.
Carol.
Emily.
Me.
Someone had drawn a thick black line through my face.
Beneath it was a handwritten message.
You chose them over me.
David read it.
Then looked at me.
“Ryan.”
I couldn’t speak.
He pointed.
“There’s more.”
May you like
Under the first sentence, Jake had written another.
Ask your wife who she met at the hotel.
