Chapter 6
Eli woke in a hospital bed asking for his mother.
Rachel was right beside him.
“I’m here.”
His hand reached for her.
She held it with both of hers.
Thomas stood near the door.
He had not moved for almost an hour.
The doctor said Eli’s breathing was stable.
He needed medication.
Follow-up care.
Regular meals.
Rest.
Things that sounded simple when you had money.
Impossible when you didn’t.
Thomas offered to pay before the doctor even finished.
Rachel turned toward him.
“No.”
Thomas blinked.
“Rachel.”
“No.”
“It’s his medical care.”
“I heard you.”
“He needs it.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
Thomas’s eyes filled with frustration.
“Why are you punishing him because you hate me?”
Rachel stood.
The room changed.
Eli looked frightened.
Thomas immediately regretted his words.
Rachel’s voice was low.
“Do not ever say I would hurt my son to punish you.”
“You’re right.”
“I kept him alive for seven years.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She stepped closer.
“I worked nights while he slept in laundry rooms.”
Thomas lowered his gaze.
“I skipped meals so he could eat.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I walked six miles through snow when I couldn’t afford a bus.”
His eyes closed.
“Rachel.”
“And every night I thought the man I loved knew we existed and didn’t care.”
Thomas looked at her.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know that now.”
Her voice cracked.
“That doesn’t erase what those years did to me.”
Eli whispered, “Mom.”
Rachel stopped.
She turned.
His eyes were wet.
“Don’t fight.”
Her whole face softened.
She sat beside him.
“We’re not fighting.”
“Yes, you are.”
Thomas looked at Eli.
“You’re right.”
He swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Eli studied him.
“Are you really my dad?”
Thomas’s face went still.
Rachel looked like she had been hit.
Nobody answered immediately.
Eli frowned.
“Mom?”
Rachel touched his hair.
“Yes.”
His eyes moved back to Thomas.
“You’re my dad?”
Thomas took one careful step closer.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you find us?”
Thomas’s voice broke.
“I tried.”
“That’s not what Mom said.”
“Your mom was told something that wasn’t true.”
“By Donna?”
“Yes.”
Eli thought about that.
Then he asked, “Did you know I was hungry?”
Thomas’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Finally he shook his head.
“No.”
“Did you know Mom was sick?”
“No.”
“Did you know we slept in a bus station?”
Rachel whispered, “Eli.”
But Thomas raised a hand.
“It’s okay.”
He looked directly at his son.
“No. I didn’t know.”
Eli’s lip trembled.
“If you knew, would you have come?”
Thomas was crying now.
“Yes.”
One word.
No hesitation.
Eli turned his face toward the window.
“I don’t know if I believe you.”
Thomas wiped his eyes.
“That’s fair.”
The door opened.
Detective Hale entered with me and Luis.
Rachel took one look at Luis.
“What happened?”
He told her about Marisol.
Rachel covered her mouth.
“No.”
Then Hale explained the body at the diner.
Daniel Crowe.
Thomas became rigid.
“Donna killed him?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“You think he just happened to die in her office?”
“No.”
“What was he doing there?”
“We’re investigating.”
Rachel looked at the brass key sealed inside an evidence bag.
“That’s the storage key.”
Luis shook his head.
“Could be.”
“It is.”
“How can you tell?”
“The scratch.”
She pointed to a tiny mark near the head.
“I made that opening a paint can years ago.”
Hale looked at her.
“If Donna stole the key, how did Crowe get it?”
Rachel stared at the bag.
“Maybe Donna gave it to him.”
Thomas said, “Or he took it.”
Luis frowned.
“What if they turned on each other?”
Hale nodded.
“That’s possible.”
I asked, “What about the recording?”
Hale’s expression darkened.
“Still missing.”
Rachel looked at Luis.
“You said you hid it behind the fireplace.”
“I did.”
“Then Donna has it.”
“Maybe.”
“What does maybe mean?”
Luis looked uncomfortable.
“I lied earlier.”
Everyone stared at him.
Rachel stood.
“What?”
“The recording wasn’t behind the fireplace.”
Hale’s expression hardened.
“You sent police into a house based on false information?”
“I needed to know who was listening.”
“What are you talking about?”
Luis looked at Hale.
“Donna knew we were coming.”
Hale’s eyes narrowed.
“She could have followed us.”
“She got there first.”
“Because she had the locket.”
“No.”
Luis shook his head.
“She knew exactly which room.”
I remembered the missing brick.
Rachel did too.
“You used the house as a test,” she whispered.
Luis nodded.
Thomas stepped toward him.
“You used us as bait?”
“I needed to know.”
“Know what?”
“Whether Donna still has someone inside the police department.”
The room became silent.
Hale’s jaw tightened.
“You think my team leaked the location.”
“I think somebody did.”
“You should have told me.”
“And if it was you?”
Hale stared at him.
Luis didn’t look away.
Finally Hale said, “Where is the real recording?”
Luis hesitated.
Rachel stepped forward.
“Enough secrets.”
He looked at her.
“You won’t like it.”
“I stopped liking this story seven years ago.”
Luis reached into his shirt.
A thin cord hung around his neck.
At the bottom was a tiny key.
Not the brass storage key.
Smaller.
Silver.
“Train station locker.”
Thomas frowned.
“Which station?”
“Union Station.”
Hale said, “When did you put it there?”
“Three days ago.”
“You came back before seeing the diner video?”
Luis nodded.
“I came back because someone found me.”
“Who?”
Luis looked at Rachel.
“Your mother.”
Rachel went completely still.
“My mother is dead.”
“No.”
Rachel laughed once.
It was empty.
“My mother died when I was sixteen.”
Luis shook his head.
“That’s what you were told.”
Rachel stared at him.
“By who?”
“Your aunt.”
Rachel’s hands began shaking.
“My mother’s car went into Lake Michigan.”
“They never found her body.”
Thomas whispered, “Rachel…”
She looked furious.
“Don’t.”
Luis reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a photograph.
Rachel took it.
An older woman stood outside a small house.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
But the eyes were Rachel’s.
On the back, written in blue ink:
Tell Rachel I am sorry.
She knows why I had to disappear.
Rachel dropped into the chair.
“No.”
Eli looked at the photograph.
“Who is she?”
Rachel couldn’t speak.
Luis answered quietly.
“Your grandmother.”
Rachel looked up.
“Where is she?”
Luis’s expression told us something was wrong.
“Luis.”
He swallowed.
“She was supposed to meet me two nights ago.”
“She didn’t?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
Rachel stood.
“The locker.”
Luis nodded.
“She gave me the recording years ago.”
“What?”
“She had it?”
“She had more than that.”
Thomas stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Luis looked toward the locked hospital door.
“Rachel’s mother wasn’t just hiding.”
“From Donna?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Luis looked at Thomas.
“Your father.”
Nobody moved.
Rachel whispered, “Why would Charles care about my mother?”
Luis took a breath.
“Because your mother worked for him.”
“As what?”
“An accountant.”
Rachel’s face went blank.
Luis continued.
“And twenty-six years ago, she discovered the same thing you discovered.”
Thomas whispered, “The stolen money.”
Luis shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Luis looked at all of us.
“The money laundering.”
A phone buzzed.
Hale looked down.
A message from an unknown number.
He opened it.
There was a photograph.
Marisol tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Donna.
May you like
Under the image were six words.
BRING RACHEL TOO OR SHE DIES.
