Chapter 7: The Woman Standing at My Door
I drove home so fast that Marcus had to tell me twice to slow down.
My hands were locked around the steering wheel. Every red light felt like a personal attack, and every second I spent away from Isaiah made the fear inside me grow.
The woman claiming to be Renee was standing outside my house.
My dead daughter-in-law.
The mother Isaiah still dreamed about.
And somehow, she had found her way into our lives again.
When we turned onto my street, I saw Mrs. Carter standing on my porch with Isaiah beside her. A dark-haired woman stood several feet away, holding a leather handbag against her chest.
Even from the driveway, I could see the resemblance.
She had Renee's heart-shaped face, the same dark eyes, and a small dimple near the corner of her mouth. Her hair was longer than Renee's had been, and she wore expensive sunglasses despite the cloudy afternoon.
For one terrible moment, my heart tried to believe the impossible.
Then I remembered the funeral.
I remembered holding Renee's cold hand at the hospital. I remembered Marcus sobbing into my shoulder. I remembered the coffin lowering into the ground.
The woman on my porch was not Renee.
But she wanted us to believe she was.
I jumped out of the car.
"Step away from my grandson.""
The woman turned.
Her expression softened as she looked at Isaiah.
"Sweetheart, I know this is confusing. But I came here because your mother wanted me to find you.""
Isaiah immediately moved behind Mrs. Carter.
"My mother is dead.""
The woman's face tightened.
"That's what they've told you.""
Marcus stepped onto the porch beside me.
"Who are you?""
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she removed her sunglasses.
"My name is Rebecca.""
"Rebecca what?""
"Rebecca Lane.""
"How do you know my son?""
She glanced at Isaiah.
"Because I knew Renee.""
"That's not an answer.""
Rebecca sighed as if we were being unreasonable.
"Renee and I were close. She trusted me with something important before she died.""
I folded my arms.
"Then tell us what it was.""
She reached into her handbag.
Mrs. Carter immediately stepped between her and Isaiah.
"Whatever you need to show them, you can do it without getting closer to that child.""
Rebecca stopped.
She withdrew a small photograph and held it out.
It showed Renee sitting on a park bench with a woman whose face was partly hidden by sunlight.
The woman looked remarkably like Rebecca.
Marcus took the photograph.
"Where did you get this?""
"Renee gave it to me.""
"When?""
"Shortly before she died.""
"Then why have you waited seven years?""
Rebecca looked down.
"Because I was afraid.""
"Of what?""
She glanced at me.
"Of Tasha.""
The name landed between us like a stone.
I took a step forward.
"What does Tasha have to do with any of this?""
Rebecca pressed her lips together.
"She knows about Daniel. She knows what happened before Marcus married her. And she's been trying to get control of money that doesn't belong to her.""
Marcus went rigid.
"How do you know about the trust?""
Rebecca's eyes flickered.
"I know more than you think.""
"Then start talking.""
She looked toward the street, where a delivery truck was passing.
"Not here. We should go somewhere private.""
"No," I said.
"You came to my home. You'll answer our questions here.""
Rebecca's face hardened.
"I have information about Renee's final wishes. If you refuse to listen, Isaiah may never learn the truth about his mother.""
Isaiah emerged from behind Mrs. Carter.
"What truth?""
Rebecca looked at him.
"Your mother wanted you to know that she never abandoned you.""
The boy's face crumpled.
"She didn't abandon me. She died.""
Rebecca blinked.
For the first time, her confidence faltered.
Marcus stepped between them.
"Don't use my son's grief to manipulate him.""
"I'm not manipulating anyone.""
"Then prove who you are.""
Rebecca reached into her bag again.
This time, she produced a folded sheet of paper.
It was a copy of a hospital record bearing Renee's name and a date from seven years earlier.
Marcus examined it.
"This is a medical document. Anyone could have obtained a copy.""
Rebecca's jaw tightened.
"Renee told me things she never told you.""
"Such as?""
She looked directly at him.
"That she suspected Tasha had lied about the identity of a child.""
Marcus stared at her.
"Daniel?""
Rebecca said nothing.
I stepped closer.
"Did you visit the bank yesterday?""
Her eyes moved toward me.
"What bank?""
"The bank where someone tried to withdraw eighty-five thousand dollars from Isaiah's trust using a forged authorization and a letter supposedly written by Renee.""
For a moment, Rebecca looked genuinely startled.
Then she recovered.
"I know nothing about that.""
"Someone claiming to be Renee brought a child there and identified him as Isaiah.""
Rebecca's face drained of color.
Marcus noticed.
"Why are you afraid?""
"I'm not.""
"Then why did you react like that?""
She took a step backward.
"I came here to help Isaiah. That's all.""
I pointed toward the sidewalk.
"Then leave us your contact information and go. We will verify everything you've told us through the proper channels.""
Rebecca stared at me with open hostility.
"You think you're protecting that boy, but you don't understand what's coming.""
"Then explain it.""
She shook her head.
"You'll have to ask Tasha.""
She turned and walked toward a dark sedan parked across the street.
Marcus called after her.
"Rebecca!""
She stopped beside the driver's door.
"Did Renee know you were going to contact Isaiah?""
Rebecca looked over her shoulder.
"Renee knew I might have to come back someday.""
Then she got into the car and drove away.
I stood on the porch, watching until the vehicle disappeared around the corner.
Mrs. Carter touched my arm.
"Should I call the police?""
"Not yet. But please tell them what you saw if they contact you.""
I turned to Isaiah.
He was staring at the street, tears running down his face.
"Grandma, what if she really knew Mom?""
I knelt in front of him.
"Knowing your mother doesn't make someone your mother, sweetheart.""
"But what if she knows something about her?""
"Then we'll find out. Together.""
He nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on the road.
Marcus went inside and immediately called his attorney.
I stayed with Isaiah until he was calm enough to eat something.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Rebecca entering a bank.
The date printed beneath it was yesterday.
A second message followed.
*Ask your son why his wife needed two birth certificates for the same child.*
I read it twice.
Then I turned toward Marcus, who was standing in the doorway.
"Your wife has been keeping more secrets than we realized.""
He looked at the screen.
And for the first time since the investigation began, my son looked genuinely terrified.
May you like
Because he recognized the bank in the photograph.
It was the same branch where Tasha had opened a savings account in his name.
