Chapter 4: The Man Who Stood Beside My Mother
Richard Cole walked toward us with the same calm expression he'd worn all evening.
He was sixty-one, tall, silver-haired, and always impeccably dressed. His navy suit probably cost more than most people's monthly rent.
He'd been my father's best friend since college.
After Dad died, Richard became the man I called when I needed advice. He taught me how to drive, attended my high school graduation, and helped my mother deal with the insurance company.
He was also the man who had just told me he was proud to see me getting married.
Now I couldn't stop hearing his voice from Charlotte's recording.
“Marcus,” Richard said, adjusting his cufflinks.
“What's going on here?””
I held up my phone.
“Do you recognize this voice?””
His eyes flickered toward the screen.
“What voice?””
“The man who threatened my father.””
Richard looked at Charlotte.
Then at Patricia.
For a fraction of a second, his composure slipped.
“Where did you get that recording?””
I stepped closer.
“So you recognize it?””
“Marcus, you're upset. You've had a long day. Maybe we should discuss this privately.””
“No. We're discussing it right here.””
Richard lowered his voice.
“Your father was involved in some complicated business matters. That recording doesn't tell the whole story.””
“Then tell me the whole story.””
He glanced at the guests.
“Not in front of everyone.””
I pointed toward the photograph.
“Were you at the hotel on June 14, 2002?””
Richard stared at it.
His jaw tightened.
“Who gave you that?””
“My father.””
Richard let out a slow breath.
“Daniel was under tremendous pressure back then. He wasn't thinking clearly.””
My mother suddenly stepped forward.
“Don't you dare.””
Richard turned toward her.
“Elaine, please. This isn't helping.””
“You have been lying for twenty-four years.””
He shook his head.
“I was trying to protect this family.””
I almost laughed.
“Which family? Mine or the Mitchells'?””
Richard's eyes hardened.
“Watch your tone, son.””
That word hit me harder than it should have.
Son.
He'd called me that since I was seventeen.
I took another step toward him.
“Did you kill my father?””
The entire reception hall seemed to inhale.
Richard's expression changed.
Then he looked directly at me.
“No.””
His answer came too quickly.
“Then why were you threatening him?””
“I wasn't threatening him.””
Charlotte lifted her phone.
“That's your voice.””
“You're a young woman who doesn't understand what she found.””
Charlotte raised her chin.
“I understand enough to know someone wanted this recording destroyed.””
Richard reached for the phone.
Charlotte pulled it away.
“Don't touch me.””
“Give me that.””
“Richard!”” my mother shouted.
He stopped.
Mom had never raised her voice at him before.
Not even after Dad's funeral, when Richard had told her the insurance investigation was closed.
She stepped between him and Charlotte.
“Daniel trusted you. He considered you his brother.””
Richard looked exhausted now.
“And I loved him.””
“Then why did you leave him there?””
The question hung in the air.
Richard's face drained of color.
I turned sharply toward Mom.
“What do you mean?””
She pressed her lips together.
Richard recovered first.
“Elaine is confused. It's been a terrible evening.””
Mom shook her head.
“No, Richard. I've spent twenty-four years being quiet. I'm finished.””
He looked around at the guests.
Several people were already recording.
His voice became colder.
“Marcus, your father was involved in something that could have destroyed all of us. He made choices. Bad choices.””
“What choices?””
“He was going to expose people who trusted him.””
“Who?””
Richard looked toward Patricia.
She was clutching the edge of her chair.
Then he said something I would never forget.
“Ask your bride's mother what she was doing in that hotel room.””
Patricia stood abruptly.
“Richard, don't.””
He ignored her.
“Ask her why she was carrying your father's company documents.””
My stomach twisted.
I looked at Patricia.
“Were you stealing from my father?””
Patricia shook her head.
“It's not that simple.””
“Then make it simple.””
She glanced at Richard.
“Not here.””
I was sick of hearing those words.
Not here.
Not now.
Not in front of people.
Twenty-four years of silence had been packaged into excuses.
I reached for my mother's hand.
“Mom, what happened that night?””
She stared at Richard.
Then she looked at me.
“I wasn't at home when your father died.””
My fingers went cold.
“What?””
Richard closed his eyes.
Mom continued.
“I was on my way to meet him. He had called me and told me he had found something. Something that could change everything.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I never got there.””
Her voice cracked.
“And because Richard told me your father had died before I arrived.””
Richard stepped forward.
“Elaine, stop.””
Mom didn't move.
“He told me the police had already identified his body. He said there was nothing I could do except take care of you.””
I stared at Richard.
“You knew she was coming?””
He didn't answer.
And suddenly I understood something.
My father hadn't just been afraid of Patricia.
He'd been afraid of someone who knew where my mother would be.
I turned toward Richard.
“Did you stop my mother from reaching him?””
Richard's face became unreadable.
Then he reached inside his jacket and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“There's something else you should know about your mother, Marcus.””
He placed it on the nearest table.
It was an old hospital document.
At the top was a date.
*June 15, 2002.*
May you like
And beneath my mother's name was a signature I recognized.
My own father's.
