Chapter 12: The Secret Patricia Mitchell Carried for Twenty Years
My father didn't open the door.
Instead, Samuel moved the kitchen table against it while I helped Mom into the back room.
Patricia knocked again.
“Richard, I know you're frightened. But you need to hear me.””
My father stood in the center of the living room, gripping the second cassette.
“Why now?”” he whispered.
“Because she knows Thomas is alive,” I said.
He shook his head.
“No. If Thomas were alive, he would have contacted me.””
“Maybe he couldn't.””
My father looked at me, and I saw the possibility land in his mind.
For twenty years, he'd believed his brother was dead.
For twenty years, I'd believed my father was dead.
And now we were both learning that our grief might have been built on the same lie.
Samuel approached the door.
“Patricia, you need to leave.””
She ignored him.
“Richard, I brought proof.””
She slid a thick envelope beneath the door.
My father stared at it.
“Don't touch it,” I warned.
He stopped.
Samuel pulled on a pair of gloves and retrieved the envelope. He opened it carefully, removing several photographs and a folded document.
The first photograph showed a man standing outside a small building.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably Thomas Reed.
My father's brother.
On the back was a handwritten date from two weeks earlier.
My father sank into a chair.
“Thomas.””
The second photograph showed Thomas sitting at a table with a woman whose face was turned away from the camera.
The third showed both of them entering a courthouse.
“Why would he be meeting Patricia?”” I asked.
My father unfolded the document.
It was a sworn statement, signed by Thomas and notarized three days earlier.
The first paragraph read:
I, Thomas Reed, acknowledge that I participated in the transfer of funds from Mitchell Development Holdings in 2001 and 2002. I did so at the direction of Daniel Mitchell and Philip Grant.
My father closed his eyes.
The statement continued.
When Richard discovered the scheme, I attempted to withdraw my cooperation. Daniel threatened my family and arranged for Richard to be removed from the investigation.
I looked up.
“Removed?””
My father nodded grimly.
“That's the language criminals use when they want something to sound harmless.””
The statement went on to describe the night of the hotel meeting. Thomas claimed that Philip Grant had arranged for two men to intercept my father and take him to a remote property.
Arthur had discovered the plan and helped my father escape.
But Thomas had been forced to disappear himself after Daniel threatened to frame him for the entire fraud.
“Why didn't he come forward later?”” I asked.
My father looked at the photographs.
“Because Daniel had leverage over him.””
“What leverage?””
Before he could answer, Patricia spoke through the door.
“His daughter.””
Mom returned from the back room.
“What daughter?””
Patricia's voice cracked.
“Thomas had a daughter. Daniel found her when she was sixteen. He threatened to have her arrested for a crime she hadn't committed if Thomas ever contacted Richard.””
My father stared at the door.
“Where is she now?””
“I don't know,” Patricia replied.
“But Thomas has been trying to find her.””
I looked at my father.
“Is that why you stayed away? Because you thought Thomas was dead and Daniel would come after us?””
My father nodded slowly.
“I thought I was protecting you.””
I felt the old anger rise again.
“You protected us by abandoning us.””
He didn't argue.
“I know.””
Patricia knocked once more.
“Richard, please. Let me inside.””
Samuel looked toward my father.
“Do you trust her?””
“No,” my father replied.
“But I want to know why she brought these documents.””
He nodded to Samuel.
The door opened only a few inches, with Samuel standing firmly in the gap.
Patricia looked older than she had at the wedding. Her makeup was smudged, and her hands trembled as she clutched her purse.
She stepped inside.
Mom immediately moved beside my father.
“Why are you here?””
Patricia looked at her.
“Because Daniel has discovered that Thomas is alive.””
My father stood.
“How?””
“He intercepted a message Thomas sent to Arthur.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Is Arthur alive?””
Patricia's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.””
“Where is Thomas?””
She shook her head.
“He was supposed to meet me tonight. He never arrived.””
My father gripped the table.
“You expect us to believe you?””
“No. I expect you to look at the evidence.””
She opened her purse and removed a small digital recorder.
“Thomas recorded a conversation with Daniel last week. He sent it to me because he thought I might be able to help him expose the truth.””
I stared at the device.
“Why didn't you take it to the police?””
“Because Daniel owns people inside the department.””
“Then why not go to the FBI?””
“Because Daniel has been laundering money through businesses connected to federal contractors. I don't know who else is involved.””
My father looked at her with disgust.
“You helped him conceal the fraud.””
“Yes.””
“You let me believe my brother was dead.””
“Yes.””
“You let Eleanor believe I was dead.””
Patricia began to cry.
“Yes.””
Mom stepped forward.
“Then why should we listen to anything you say?””
Patricia lowered her head.
“Because I helped create this nightmare, and I'm tired of living inside it.””
The room fell silent.
For the first time, Patricia looked less like the elegant woman who had sat at the head of our wedding table and more like someone who had finally run out of excuses.
She placed the recorder on the table.
“Listen to this.””
My father pressed play.
A man's voice emerged.
Daniel.
“Thomas, you've made a serious mistake.””
Another voice answered.
Thomas.
“I've made mistakes for twenty years. I'm done making them.””
Daniel laughed quietly.
“You think anyone will believe you? You helped me move the money. You signed the papers. You knew what Richard was doing.””
“I knew Richard was innocent.””
“You knew what I told you.””
“I knew you were stealing from investors.””
A pause.
Then Daniel spoke again.
“If you testify, your daughter will pay for everything you've done.””
Thomas's voice broke.
“Leave her out of this.””
“I can make sure she spends the rest of her life in prison.””
“You wouldn't dare.””
“Try me.””
A chair scraped.
Then Thomas said something that made my father grip the edge of the table.
“Richard survived. I know he did. And when I find him, I'm going to tell him everything.””
Daniel's reply was almost cheerful.
“Then I suppose we'll have to find him first.””
The recording ended.
My father looked at Patricia.
“Where is Thomas's daughter?””
Patricia hesitated.
Then she looked directly at me.
“She's closer than you think.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
She reached into her purse again and removed an old birth certificate.
The name at the top belonged to Thomas Reed.
The mother's name was unfamiliar.
But the child's name was unmistakable.
Charlotte Bennett.
My mind went blank.
“Charlotte? Vanessa's maid of honor?””
Patricia nodded.
“Arthur Bennett raised her after Thomas disappeared. She believed Arthur was her biological father.””
My father staggered backward.
Arthur had been protecting Thomas's daughter for twenty years.
He had helped my father escape, hidden evidence, and maintained a false story about the past.
And Charlotte had been standing in my wedding reception, holding the recording that exposed Daniel.
I reached for my phone.
Before I could dial her number, a message arrived from Charlotte.
*Marcus, I'm sorry I didn't tell you who I was. I've found Arthur. But we're not alone.*
A second message appeared.
It contained a photograph of Arthur sitting in a chair, his hands tied behind his back.
Behind him stood Daniel Mitchell.
May you like
The final message made my blood run cold.
*Daniel knows where your father is. He's coming for all of us.*
