Chapter 12: The Missing Minute
“No.””
I grabbed the mouse.
I clicked the video again.
Same ending.
“I know who was behind the wheel.””
Black screen.
“That’s it?””
Claire checked the file.
“It ends there.””
“Why would he record that and stop?””
Dad stared at the computer.
“Because someone interrupted him.””
“How do you know?””
“He looked toward the door before it ended.””
Claire replayed the final seconds.
Martin’s eyes shifted.
A faint sound came from somewhere off-camera.
A door.
Then darkness.
Daniel whispered, “There could be another file.””
We searched.
Nothing.
I turned toward Dad.
“You said another car was involved.””
“Yes.””
“Did police know?””
“They found paint transfer and debris.””
“Did they identify the driver?””
“No.””
“Did you suspect Martin?””
“For years.””
“Why?””
“Because your mother was meeting him that night.””
My knees weakened.
“What?””
Dad’s eyes filled.
“She was going to collect the ledger.””
The room disappeared around me.
Mom had not simply been driving home.
She had been trying to expose Martin.
“And Linda?””
Dad shook his head.
“I didn’t know Linda was involved until tonight.””
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
I answered.
“Hello?””
Martin’s voice.
“Sarah.””
Claire motioned for me to keep him talking.
“Where are you?””
“Doesn’t matter.””
“You left the drive.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I’m tired.””
“Of what?””
“Being the only monster in everyone’s story.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Who hit my mother’s car?””
Silence.
“Martin.””
“I wasn’t driving.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“Who was?””
Martin breathed slowly.
“You need to understand something about Linda. She doesn’t destroy people because she hates them.””
“I don’t care.””
“She destroys them because she convinces herself she’s protecting someone.””
“Who was driving?””
“Ask Daniel.””
I looked at him.
Daniel shook his head frantically.
“I don’t know.””
“Daniel was a child,” I said.
“Exactly.””
The line went dead.
I stared at my husband.
“How old were you when my mother died?””
Daniel calculated.
“Twelve.””
Same age I had been.
Claire suddenly stood.
“Linda.””
Dad looked at her.
“What?””
“If Daniel was twelve, Martin may be saying Linda did it while believing she was protecting him.””
Daniel went pale.
“No.””
My phone buzzed.
A text from Martin.
Storage unit 418. Waukegan. Ask for the Catherine box.
Police reached the facility first.
Inside unit 418 were old furniture, filing cabinets and dozens of boxes.
One was labeled CATHERINE.
My hands trembled as Claire opened it.
Inside was a damaged purse.
A broken wristwatch.
A photograph of my mother.
And a cassette tape.
Dad made a sound I had never heard from him.
“That was hers.””
The purse.
Recovered from the crash?
“How did Martin get this?””
Dad shook his head.
“He shouldn’t have it.””
The cassette was labeled:
CATHERINE — OCT 14.
The night she died.
The facility manager found an old tape player.
We gathered around it.
Static.
Then Mom’s voice.
I hadn’t heard it in more than twenty years.
My knees almost buckled.
“Martin, if you’re recording this, keep recording.””
Dad covered his mouth.
Mom continued.
“I have the ledger. I know about the accounts.””
Martin’s younger voice answered.
“You shouldn’t have brought Linda.””
Then Linda spoke.
My blood froze.
“I’m trying to help.””
Mom replied.
“Then tell Robert everything.””
“I can’t.””
“Why?””
“Because Martin will take Daniel.””
Daniel sank into a chair.
The tape continued.
Martin laughed.
“He’s my son, Linda.””
“Charles is his father.””
“Not biologically.””
A chair scraped.
Mom said, “This has nothing to do with Daniel anymore.””
“It has everything to do with him,” Linda snapped.
“You used my daughter’s identity.””
“I didn’t know!””
“You took Martin’s money.””
“I was trapped.””
“Then testify.””
Silence.
Mom’s voice softened.
“Linda, come with me. We go to the police tonight.””
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then Linda whispered, “Okay.””
Daniel began crying.
“She was going to help.””
Maybe.
Then Martin’s voice exploded.
“You walk out that door and I tell Charles everything!””
The tape became chaotic.
Footsteps.
A door slamming.
Mom breathing heavily.
Then another sound.
A car starting.
The recording continued inside Mom’s purse.
Her voice was faint.
“Linda, slow down.””
My entire body went cold.
Dad grabbed the table.
On the tape, Linda was driving.
Mom was in the car with her.
Linda shouted, “He’s following us!””
Mom said, “Keep your eyes on the road.””
A horn blared.
Tires screamed.
Then impact.
The tape dissolved into static.
Dad was sobbing silently.
But it wasn’t over.
Thirty seconds later, another voice appeared.
Martin.
“Linda!””
She was crying.
“I didn’t see the turn.””
“Where’s Catherine?””
“I don’t know.””
“You have to leave.””
“We need an ambulance.””
“You leave now, or Daniel loses everything.””
Then Linda whispered the sentence that had apparently governed the next twenty-three years.
“Get me out of here.””
The tape ended.
Nobody moved.
Daniel stared at the machine.
“My mother left her there.””
Dad looked like he might collapse.
I couldn’t speak.
Claire reached for my hand.
Then one of the detectives entered the storage unit.
His expression told me something else had happened.
“We found Linda.””
Daniel stood.
“Where?””
The detective hesitated.
“At the Lake Forest house.””
“Is she okay?””
“She’s alive.””
My chest loosened slightly.
Then he continued.
“But she isn’t alone.””
“Martin?””
“No.””
The detective looked directly at my father.
“She’s with Rebecca.””
Daniel frowned.
“Why?””
The detective held up a phone.
“Linda called dispatch herself.””
“What did she say?””
He looked at me.
“She said Rebecca knows where the original financial records are.””
Claire frowned.
“We already found the ledger.””
“Apparently there’s another set.””
My stomach tightened.
“Another set of what?””
The detective answered.
“Records created after Catherine’s death.””
Daniel looked at me.
I knew before anyone said it.
Whatever Linda and Martin had done twenty-three years ago hadn’t ended with my mother’s crash.
May you like
It had continued.
And somewhere inside those records was the reason they had spent years trying to get control of me.
