Chapter 9
Evelyn Walker had vanished three days before she was supposed to testify.
No body.
No confirmed sighting.
No arrest.
Nothing.
“She was your source?” I asked.
Mom nodded.
“Initially, she contacted an inspector general hotline. Later, she agreed to provide documents.”
“What happened?”
“She became frightened.”
“Of Patrick?”
“Yes.”
“Did you protect her?”
“We tried.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Mom accepted the accusation.
“We failed.”
The word landed heavily.
“She disappeared from a secure relocation point.”
“How?”
“Someone leaked information.”
“Who?”
“We never proved it.”
“And Patrick escaped.”
“Yes.”
“So he blamed you for turning his wife against him.”
“Among other things.”
I touched my stomach.
“And then his son married your daughter.”
Mom’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
Nothing about my marriage felt accidental anymore.
But Ryan’s words from the video call wouldn’t leave me.
At first.
He claimed he had been ordered to approach me.
Then claimed he fell in love.
Could both be true?
I hated that part of me cared.
Sarah returned with updates on the emergency protective order.
Ryan would have no contact with me.
Diane would have no contact either.
Any communication had to go through lawyers or investigators.
I signed everything.
My hand shook only once.
By evening, doctors were optimistic.
No new fetal decelerations.
Contractions decreasing.
If I remained stable overnight, I could possibly leave the hospital the next day.
Not home.
I would never return to that house.
Mom offered her place.
I hesitated.
“You don’t trust me,” she said.
“I do.”
“Not completely.”
I looked at her.
“Would you?”
A sad smile.
“No.”
We settled on secure temporary housing arranged through victim services.
Not a general’s house.
Not Ryan’s house.
Somewhere neutral.
At eight that night, Agent Brooks entered with a photograph.
“We may have found Evelyn.”
Mom stood.
“What?”
“Maybe.”
“Where?”
Brooks placed the picture in front of us.
A woman in her late fifties leaving a bus terminal in Pennsylvania.
Gray hair.
Glasses.
Thin.
The image was grainy.
“How do you know it’s her?”
“Facial comparison is preliminary.”
“When was this taken?”
“Yesterday.”
My heart began pounding.
“Yesterday?”
Brooks nodded.
“Someone used an alias historically linked to Evelyn to purchase a bus ticket.”
Mom stared at the photo.
“Why surface now?”
“We don’t know.”
I looked at Brooks.
“Does Patrick know?”
“We hope not.”
A terrible thought hit me.
“What if she’s coming because of Ryan?”
Brooks frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“If she knew Patrick had a son.”
Mom looked at me.
“We don’t know if she did.”
“What if she’s been watching too?”
Nobody answered.
Brooks gathered the photo.
“We’re attempting to locate her.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
Since investigators had cloned and monitored the device, Brooks nodded for me to answer on speaker.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman’s voice.
“Emma?”
Older.
Breathless.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Evelyn.”
Mom’s face changed.
Brooks immediately signaled another agent outside.
I gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because Patrick knows about the baby.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“He’s known for months.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You don’t understand.”
“What don’t I understand?”
“He doesn’t care that the baby is Ryan’s child.”
I looked at Mom.
“Then why does he care?”
Evelyn was silent.
When she spoke again, her voice shook.
“Because Ryan is not the only child Patrick had.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Diane wasn’t the first woman.”
Mom’s face went pale.
Evelyn continued.
“Patrick used relationships the way he used companies. As access.”
My breathing slowed.
“Access to what?”
“People.”
The word chilled me.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“There is a reason Patrick picked Ryan to approach you.”
“Because Ryan was his son.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because Ryan looked harmless.”
I thought about our first date.
His nervous smile.
The flowers.
How safe he had seemed.
Evelyn continued.
“Patrick trained him to be useful.”
My eyes filled.
“Since when?”
“Since he was a teenager.”
No.
Ryan had told me his father abandoned him.
That Diane struggled alone.
That his uncle Patrick occasionally helped financially.
Every story was being rewritten.
“Did Diane know?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“All of it.”
Rage burned.
“Then why did she let her son do this?”
“She didn’t let him.”
Evelyn’s voice became quieter.
“She helped train him.”
Mom swore.
I felt sick.
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t. Not yet.”
That answer surprised me.
“But there’s something investigators haven’t found.”
Agent Brooks leaned closer.
“What?”
Evelyn continued.
“A second ledger.”
“Where?”
“I won’t say on this call.”
Brooks mouthed, Keep her talking.
I nodded.
“What’s in it?”
“Names. Payments. Operations.”
“Ryan’s name?”
“Yes.”
“Diane?”
“Yes.”
“Patrick?”
“Of course.”
“My name?”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“Why?”
“Because Patrick opened a file on you six years ago.”
Six years.
I had met Ryan four years ago.
“What?”
Mom stepped forward.
“Evelyn, this is Rebecca Bennett.”
A long silence.
Then Evelyn laughed once.
A broken sound.
“I wondered when I’d hear your voice again.”
“Where are you?”
“You know I can’t tell you.”
“We can protect you.”
“You said that last time.”
Mom closed her eyes.
The words cut deep.
“I know.”
Evelyn continued.
“Rebecca, you need to tell your daughter the truth.”
My mother went still.
“What truth?”
“The reason Patrick opened a file on her before Ryan ever met her.”
I stared at Mom.
She looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
“Tell her about Kabul.”
Mom’s face lost color.
My pulse spiked.
“What happened in Kabul?”
Mom said nothing.
“Mom?”
Evelyn’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ask your mother who saved her life seventeen years ago.”
I stared at Mom.
She whispered, “Daniel Bennett.”
My father.
The man who died when I was ten.
“What does Dad have to do with Patrick?”
Evelyn answered.
“Everything.”
Mom grabbed the bedrail.
I had never seen her look so shaken.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
Evelyn took a breath.
“Daniel Bennett discovered Patrick’s network years before Rebecca’s investigation.”
My heart pounded.
“Dad was an intelligence officer.”
“Yes.”
Mom whispered, “He never told me.”
“He was trying to protect you.”
I almost laughed at the cruel repetition.
Protecting someone by hiding truth.
It seemed to run through every branch of my family.
Evelyn continued.
“Daniel collected evidence. Patrick found out.”
My throat closed.
“My father died in a vehicle accident.”
Silence.
I knew before she answered.
“No, Emma.”
Mom made a broken sound.
“No.”
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“Your father was killed.”
Everything inside me stopped.
Mom backed away from the bed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Rebecca—”
“I saw the investigation.”
“It was manipulated.”
“No.”
“Daniel knew too much.”
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
For the first time in my life, my mother looked helpless.
I reached for her.
She didn’t seem to notice.
Evelyn spoke one final sentence.
“And now Patrick believes Daniel left the original evidence with you.”
“Me?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“But I was ten.”
“He doesn’t care.”
The line crackled.
Brooks signaled desperately to trace the call.
I gripped the phone.
“Evelyn, wait.”
“There’s something your father gave you before he died.”
I stopped.
A memory surfaced.
A small wooden music box.
My father handing it to me before his last deployment.
His voice.
Keep this safe, bug.
I hadn’t opened it in years.
“Emma?” Mom whispered.
I looked at her.
“The music box.”
Her face changed.
Evelyn heard me.
May you like
Then she whispered, “He knows.”
The call ended.
