Chapter 7
I chased my sister down the hospital corridor.
“Melissa!”
She hit the elevator button repeatedly.
I caught her arm.
“Stop.”
“Let go of me.”
“What does Mom mean?”
“Nothing.”
“She said Jason is alive.”
“Of course he’s alive.”
My hand dropped.
“What?”
Melissa looked trapped.
I stared at her.
“You told us you hadn’t heard from him in almost a year.”
“I lied.”
The elevator opened.
She stepped inside.
I followed.
Sarah slipped in behind me.
Melissa looked at both of us.
“Please.”
I pressed the lobby button.
“No more please.”
She started crying.
“No more half-truths.”
“I was trying to protect my children.”
“You don’t have children.”
She froze.
Sarah stared at her.
“What children?”
Melissa closed her eyes.
That single reaction terrified me.
“Melissa.”
She slid against the elevator wall.
“I have a son.”
I thought she was having some kind of breakdown.
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s nine.”
My mouth went dry.
“You have a nine-year-old son?”
She nodded.
“Where is he?”
“With Jason.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at her.
“You don’t know where your own child is?”
“He moves him.”
The elevator doors opened into the lobby.
Nobody moved.
Sarah pressed the close button.
“Start from the beginning.”
Melissa wiped her face.
“Jason and I had a baby before we married.”
My mind raced backward.
Nine years ago, Melissa had supposedly spent almost a year traveling after ending an engagement.
She had barely seen us.
“Mom knew?”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
“And you hid him from me?”
“From everyone.”
“Why?”
“Because he was born sick.”
Sarah’s face softened.
“What was wrong?”
“A heart condition.”
Melissa shook her head.
“It got better. But Jason became obsessed with money.”
“What does that have to do with hiding a child?”
“Dad paid the medical bills.”
Of course he did.
“And?”
“Then he told us publicity around an unmarried daughter having a baby would be bad for the company.”
I stared at her.
“Are you serious?”
“I was twenty-seven and terrified.”
“So Dad convinced you to hide your own child?”
“At first, just until after the surgery.”
“But nine years?”
She looked ashamed.
“One lie became another.”
“Where did he live?”
“With Jason’s mother outside Providence.”
“And we never met him?”
“You met him once.”
I froze.
“When?”
“At Dad’s company picnic.”
A memory surfaced.
A little boy holding Melissa’s hand.
She had introduced him as Jason’s nephew.
I felt sick.
“That was your son?”
She nodded.
“His name is Noah.”
I stepped away.
My own nephew.
Nine years old.
And I had no idea he existed.
Sarah whispered, “Why is he with Jason now?”
Melissa began trembling.
“Because Jason threatened to expose everything.”
“To whom?”
“Everyone.”
“What does that matter now?”
“It’s not just Noah.”
She looked at me.
“Jason knows what Dad did with the company.”
Sarah’s eyes narrowed.
“So the two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Jason demanded it.”
“He blackmailed you?”
Melissa nodded.
“He said if I didn’t pay, he would release records proving Dad falsified property values to get loans.”
“And Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He offered Jason more money.”
My stomach twisted.
“From Mom?”
“Yes.”
It all connected.
The missing money.
The forged signatures.
The fake companies.
My father hadn’t been stealing for one reason.
He was plugging holes everywhere.
Company debt.
Blackmail.
His secret daughter.
Melissa’s fraud.
A family held together by money that wasn’t his.
“What does Laura have to do with Jason?” Sarah asked.
Melissa looked at the elevator floor.
“She found him.”
“When?”
“A month ago.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she tell Mom?”
“That Jason had been meeting Dad.”
My chest tightened.
“And?”
“She said Dad wasn’t paying him to stay quiet anymore.”
“What was he paying him for?”
Melissa’s voice dropped.
“To leave the country.”
“With Noah?”
“Yes.”
I felt anger rise again.
“You knew?”
“I found out yesterday.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I confronted Dad.”
“At the hospital?”
She nodded.
“That’s why you visited Mom.”
“Dad told me Mom had caused all of this by digging into accounts.”
Sarah’s voice turned sharp.
“So you blamed Evelyn?”
“For a few minutes, yes.”
“Did you give her anything?”
“No.”
“Did you see Dad give her anything?”
Melissa hesitated.
“No.”
“Who was in the room?”
“A nurse came in.”
“Name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Describe her.”
Melissa did.
Sarah looked at me.
It matched Jason’s sister.
The woman caught on hospital security.
My father had someone inside.
I called security.
Then police.
This time, the evidence moved faster.
Hospital records showed a temporary agency nurse named Rachel Mercer had worked three shifts in the building that week.
Jason’s sister was Rachel Mercer.
She had used access belonging to another department.
By noon, police were searching for her.
But my father was still missing.
And so was Jason.
I went back upstairs.
Mom was awake enough to speak for a few minutes.
Melissa stood outside.
She was afraid to enter.
I went in alone first.
“Mom.”
Her eyes opened.
I sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Noah?”
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
“Melissa asked me not to.”
“You let Dad hide him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a coward.”
There was no excuse in her voice.
Only shame.
“I thought protecting the family name mattered.”
I laughed bitterly.
“What family name?”
She started crying.
“I know.”
I took her hand.
“Who is my biological father?”
Her eyes closed.
I almost regretted asking.
But there was no room left for secrets.
“Tell me.”
She whispered a name.
“Thomas Reed.”
I knew it.
Not personally.
But I knew it.
Thomas Reed had been my father’s closest friend when they were young.
He died when I was five.
I had seen photographs of him.
He had attended my first birthday.
“Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“Before I was born?”
“No.”
“When did he find out?”
“When you were three.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted to leave.”
I stared at her.
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“His father threatened to cut him out of the business.”
That made grim sense.
Richard had stayed to protect money.
The pattern was older than I was.
“Did Thomas know?”
“Yes.”
“Did he want me?”
Mom sobbed.
“Yes.”
My throat closed.
“What did you do?”
“I told him Richard was your father in every way that mattered.”
“Was he?”
Mom looked at me.
“For many years, yes.”
That answer hurt because it was true.
My father had taught me to ride a bike.
Sat beside me in the emergency room when I broke my arm.
Taught me to drive.
Attended every graduation.
Helped me start my first business.
A person could love you and still destroy the people around you.
That was the hardest truth yet.
“Why did Dad hate Laura if she was his daughter?”
“He didn’t.”
“Then why use her name?”
“Because he knew I would believe money was going to her.”
Mom looked ashamed.
“I had spent years resenting Laura for existing.”
Just as she had resented Sarah.
My father knew which wounds to press.
Mom whispered, “Richard understands shame better than anyone.”
“What about Rachel?”
“Jason’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“I saw her twice at the house.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
“Doing what?”
“Richard said she was helping organize medications.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did she give you the sedatives?”
“I don’t know.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Sometimes I drank tea and lost hours.”
“Did Dad bring the tea?”
“Sometimes.”
“And Rachel?”
“Sometimes.”
That gave us two suspects.
Then Mom opened her eyes again.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Find Noah.”
“I will.”
“Before Richard does.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because Noah saw something.”
“What?”
“Jason brought him to the house three weeks ago.”
“For what?”
“To see Melissa.”
“Did she?”
“No. She was away.”
“What happened?”
Mom struggled to stay awake.
“Richard and Jason fought.”
“About money?”
She nodded.
“Noah was upstairs.”
“What did he see?”
Mom whispered.
“Richard hit Jason.”
I leaned closer.
“Then what?”
“He fell.”
“Where?”
“Down the cellar stairs.”
I stopped breathing.
“Was he hurt?”
“Yes.”
“How badly?”
Mom began crying.
“I thought he was dead.”
My stomach turned.
“But you said Jason is alive.”
“Laura found proof.”
“What proof?”
Mom’s eyes closed.
I shook her hand gently.
“Mom.”
But she had drifted back into sleep.
I found Melissa outside.
I told her.
She stared at me.
“Dad pushed Jason down the stairs?”
“That’s what Mom says.”
“Why didn’t she call police?”
“I don’t know.”
Melissa looked destroyed.
Sarah stepped beside us.
“If Jason survived, maybe that’s why Richard wants him out of the country.”
Melissa pulled out her phone.
“I have a number.”
“For Jason?”
“He changes it constantly.”
“Call.”
She did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Sarah said, “Call Noah.”
Melissa stared at her.
“He doesn’t have a phone.”
“You said he’s with Jason.”
“He uses a tablet to message me sometimes.”
“Message him.”
Melissa opened an app.
She typed with shaking hands.
Noah, sweetheart, it’s Mom. Please answer me.
We waited.
A minute.
Two.
Five.
Nothing.
Then three dots appeared.
Melissa gasped.
A message arrived.
Mom?
She started crying.
I crouched beside her.
“Ask where he is.”
She typed.
Where are you, baby?
The reply came.
I don’t know.
Then another.
Dad told me not to look outside.
Sarah whispered, “Ask who is with him.”
Melissa typed.
Is anyone else there?
The dots appeared again.
Then stopped.
Then appeared.
The answer came.
Grandpa.
My stomach dropped.
My father had Noah.
Melissa typed so quickly she made mistakes.
Is Dad there too?
No reply.
“Noah?” she whispered at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
Grandpa says Dad went away.
Melissa started shaking.
“What does that mean?”
I didn’t know.
Then one final message arrived.
Uncle Daniel, Grandpa says you are not really family.
I stared at the words.
My father knew we were communicating with Noah.
May you like
And he was sitting beside my nephew.
Watching.
