Chapter 7: Before Our First Date
“What do you mean Linda knew who I was?””
Dad stared at the frozen security footage.
The man beside Linda looked ordinary.
Gray hair.
Heavy winter coat.
Wire-frame glasses.
Nothing about him suggested he had been waiting somewhere in the shadows of my life for thirty years.
Dad finally spoke.
“His name is Martin Hale.””
Daniel shook his head.
“I’ve never heard that name.””
“You weren’t supposed to,” Dad said.
I stepped between them.
“Dad. Start talking.””
He looked exhausted.
“Martin worked for me when the company was still small. He handled property acquisitions and financing.””
“What happened?””
“I fired him.””
“Why?””
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Because he was taking kickbacks.””
Claire looked up sharply.
“You proved it?””
“Enough to terminate him. Not enough for prosecutors to pursue at the time.””
“And Linda?””
Dad looked toward the security image.
“Martin was dating her.””
Daniel stared at him.
“My mother?””
“Yes.””
“No.””
“Ask her.””
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
“She’s gone.””
Rebecca folded her arms.
“I knew Linda had an old boyfriend named Martin. She never told me his last name.””
I felt something ugly forming in my stomach.
“When was this?””
Dad answered.
“About thirty years ago.””
“Before Daniel was born?””
“Shortly before.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
He noticed the implication too.
“No.””
Dad immediately raised a hand.
“I’m not saying Martin is your father.””
“Then don’t look at me like that.””
“I’m saying Martin and Linda knew each other.””
I looked at the torn envelope.
“And somehow that leads to Linda knowing me before Daniel did?””
Dad nodded slowly.
“After I fired Martin, he threatened me. Said I had no idea how much information he had copied.””
“What information?””
“Investments. Properties. Early trust structures.””
Claire frowned.
“That would be decades out of date.””
“Most of it, yes.””
“Most?””
Dad looked at me.
“One investment survived.””
I already knew.
“The land behind Lake North.””
He nodded.
The room became very quiet.
Dad explained that decades earlier, his company had purchased a large commercial parcel north of Chicago. Most of it had been sold, but one section remained inside a holding company.
Years later, that land became valuable.
Very valuable.
And through a chain of financing agreements, it now supported part of Lake North Properties.
“Martin knew,” Dad said.
“Or at least suspected.””
“So Linda knew too.””
“Yes.””
Daniel stepped backward.
“No. My mother couldn’t have planned something for thirty years.””
“I’m not saying she did.””
“Then what are you saying?””
Dad’s voice hardened.
“I’m saying she recognized Sarah’s last name.””
My skin prickled.
Mitchell.
My maiden name.
I remembered my first dinner with Linda.
Daniel and I had been dating only three weeks.
Linda had asked my father’s full name.
At the time, I thought it was small talk.
Then she had asked where he worked.
I had said construction.
Her entire demeanor changed afterward.
She became warmer.
Invited me back.
Bought me a Christmas gift.
Later, after Daniel proposed, the insults began.
I had never connected those things.
“Daniel.””
He looked at me.
“Did your mother encourage you to date me?””
“No.””
“Think.””
“I don’t have to think.””
“Daniel.””
His anger disappeared.
Something replaced it.
Memory.
“She asked about you.””
“When?””
“After our second date.””
“What did she ask?””
“My mother asks about everyone.””
“What did she ask?””
He rubbed his forehead.
“Your surname. Your father. Where you grew up.””
Rebecca whispered, “Oh God.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She pulled out her phone.
“I saw something months ago.””
Daniel stiffened.
“Rebecca.””
“Stop protecting her.””
Rebecca searched her email.
Then held the phone toward Claire.
“Linda sent me this when we were setting up Lake North.””
Claire read silently.
Her expression changed.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
Claire turned the screen.
An email.
From Linda.
One sentence stood out.
If Sarah ever discovers the Mitchell connection, Daniel loses everything.
My heart hammered.
“What connection?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I asked. Linda said it was family history.””
Dad took the phone.
His face became stone.
“Martin.””
“What?””
“This language. ‘Mitchell connection.’ Martin used to call our holdings that.””
Daniel stared at him.
“So my mother knew.””
“Yes.””
He sat on a storage bench.
For the first time, he didn’t look like my husband.
He looked like a frightened little boy.
“She used me.””
I should have felt sympathy.
Instead, I remembered soup burning my skin.
“You still forged my signature.””
His eyes lifted.
“I know.””
“You still lied.””
“I know.””
“You still watched your mother slap me.””
He closed his eyes.
“I know.””
“Then don’t make yourself the victim.””
He nodded.
That surprised me.
“I’m not.””
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Linda.
She was sitting inside what looked like a hotel room.
The stolen documents were spread across a table.
Under the photo was a message.
Tell Robert to withdraw the Lake North loan review or the original letter goes public.
I showed Dad.
“What’s in that letter?””
He didn’t answer.
“Dad.””
Claire looked at him.
“Robert, whatever it is, we need to know.””
Dad slowly sat down.
“The letter isn’t about Lake North.””
“Then what is it?””
He looked at Daniel.
“It’s about Sarah’s mother.””
I stopped breathing.
My mother, Catherine, had died when I was twelve.
“What about Mom?””
Dad’s voice dropped.
“Before she died, she discovered Martin had stolen more than money.””
“What did he steal?””
Dad looked at me.
“Your identity.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Before he could answer, another message arrived.
This time there was no photograph.
Only an address.
May you like
And six words.
Sarah comes alone, or I send everything.
