Chapter 5
The police officers moved first.
“Stay downstairs.”
The older officer climbed toward the second floor.
His partner followed.
Michael tried to go with them.
The officer stopped him.
“Sir.”
“But that's my—”
“Stay here.”
Michael stepped back.
I looked at Evelyn.
She was shaking.
“You know that voice?”
She nodded.
“I haven't heard it in eleven years.”
“You met Linda?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“The night before David disappeared.”
Michael turned.
“What?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“She came to our house.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn't know who she was then.”
“What happened?”
Evelyn's eyes stayed on the stairs.
“She said she worked with your father.”
David had told me Linda was simply the woman he ran away with.
Apparently even that story was incomplete.
“What did she want?”
“She asked for him.”
“And?”
“I told her he wasn't home.”
“Was he?”
Evelyn's mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
Michael frowned.
“Why did you lie?”
“Because he told me not to let her in.”
That surprised everyone.
“You knew something was happening?”
“I knew he was hiding something.”
“Did you know about the affair?”
“Not yet.”
Michael shook his head.
“Then what?”
“He was scared of her.”
A door opened upstairs.
We all looked up.
The officer called down.
“We have one adult female.”
Michael shouted.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes.”
A moment later, Linda appeared at the top of the stairs.
She was probably in her late fifties.
Her clothes were dirty.
Her hair was messy.
There was a small cut near her eyebrow.
She looked terrified.
Then she saw Evelyn.
Her face crumpled.
“I'm sorry.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“For which part?”
Linda started crying.
“I didn't know where else to go.”
The officers brought her downstairs.
One asked if she needed medical care.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Michael stared at her.
“You're Linda.”
She nodded.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You were with him when he left us.”
Linda closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why are you in my house?”
She looked toward the officers.
Then at Evelyn.
“Because David sent me.”
Everything inside me tightened.
Evelyn held up her phone.
“David is in Green Bay.”
Linda looked surprised.
“What?”
“He just called us.”
“No.”
Her face changed.
“That can't be right.”
Michael stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because he told me he was coming here.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Everyone froze.
I felt the first truly dangerous edge to the situation.
Two people were claiming David was in different places.
Vanessa supposedly with David in Green Bay.
Linda claiming David was heading here.
An abandoned car.
Hidden financial documents.
The police officer spoke.
“Let's slow down.”
He looked at Linda.
“Start with why you entered this house.”
“The back door was unlocked.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I needed to find Michael.”
“Why didn't you knock?”
“I was scared.”
“Of who?”
Linda looked at Michael.
“Vanessa.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Join the club.”
The officer raised a hand.
“Why are you afraid of Vanessa?”
Linda hesitated.
Then said, “Because she found out the truth about David.”
Michael's jaw tightened.
“What truth?”
Linda looked at Evelyn.
“I didn't take him from you.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You ran away with my husband.”
“He came to me.”
“That sounds exactly like taking him.”
“I know how it looks.”
“Don't.”
Evelyn's voice cracked.
“Do not stand in my son's house and explain how my marriage looked.”
Linda lowered her head.
“You're right.”
Evelyn breathed hard.
“Tell me why you're here.”
Linda nodded.
“David and I were together before he disappeared.”
“I know.”
“But I ended it.”
Evelyn frowned.
“When?”
“Two weeks before his car was found.”
The room went still.
Michael looked at her.
“So Dad didn't leave with you?”
“No.”
“Then where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“David told us he left with you.”
Linda looked shocked.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
“That isn't what happened.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“Of course it isn't.”
Linda continued.
“David had gambling debt.”
“We know.”
“He also owed money to someone through work.”
“Who?”
“I never knew.”
“He asked me to leave Chicago with him.”
“And?”
“I refused.”
Evelyn's face changed.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted me to help him take money from you.”
Evelyn went completely still.
“What money?”
“Your parents' trust.”
Michael looked at his mother.
Linda continued.
“He said if you signed certain papers, he could access the house and other assets.”
“I never signed anything like that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because he asked me to copy your signature.”
The room went silent.
Evelyn's face turned white.
“You forged my name?”
“No.”
Linda shook her head quickly.
“I refused.”
The officer wrote something down.
“Then what?”
“He became angry.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I ended the relationship.”
“And two weeks later he disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you let everyone believe you went with him?”
“I didn't.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Then where were you?”
“Arizona.”
“What?”
“My sister was sick.”
“Did police talk to you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I didn't know David had used my name.”
The officer frowned.
“Used your name how?”
Linda looked at him.
“The motel where his car was last seen.”
“What about it?”
“He checked in under both our names.”
Michael whispered, “He framed you as the woman he ran away with.”
Linda nodded.
“I found out years later.”
My head hurt from the layers of deception.
“Then how did you end up with David again?”
“He found me.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Why?”
“He apologized.”
Evelyn laughed without humor.
“That must be his favorite hobby.”
Linda ignored her.
“He was sick.”
Michael looked at me.
Another familiar excuse.
“He said he had changed.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For a while.”
“Were you together again?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
“Then?”
“I left.”
“Why?”
“Because he started gambling again.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Linda continued.
“That's when Vanessa came back into his life.”
“Back?”
Michael asked.
“She had left home years before.”
“Who is her mother?”
Linda looked confused.
“What?”
“Dad told us he raised Vanessa because she was your daughter.”
Her eyes widened.
“My daughter?”
Evelyn stared at her.
“She isn't?”
“No.”
Linda looked horrified.
“I never had children.”
Michael went pale.
“Then who is Vanessa?”
Nobody spoke.
Linda shook her head.
“I thought she was David's niece.”
My skin prickled.
“Niece?”
“Yes.”
“He introduced her as his sister's daughter.”
Evelyn looked at Michael.
“David doesn't have a sister.”
Michael nodded slowly.
“No.”
The officer stepped closer.
“So Vanessa's relationship to David is unclear.”
“Yes.”
Linda continued.
“She started visiting him three years ago.”
“What did she want?”
“Money.”
“Of course.”
“She said David owed her family.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
Michael crossed his arms.
“Did she know about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask questions?”
“All the time.”
“About?”
“You.”
My stomach tightened.
“What questions?”
“Where you lived.”
Michael's face hardened.
“What else?”
“Whether you were married.”
He looked at me.
“When was this?”
“Two years ago.”
That was before Michael claimed to have met Vanessa.
“When did you tell her?”
Linda hesitated.
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
“David.”
Michael shook his head.
“What else did he tell her?”
“About the house.”
“The money.”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell her Mom owned it?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell her about my investment account?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at Linda.
“Why did David send you here today?”
She looked frightened again.
“Last week, Vanessa came to my apartment.”
“What?”
“She hadn't contacted me in over a year.”
“What did she want?”
“She asked where David was.”
“Didn't you know?”
“No.”
“I haven't spoken to him in months.”
“Then?”
“She said he owed her two hundred thousand dollars.”
The same amount David mentioned.
“She wanted documents.”
“What documents?”
“The trust papers.”
Evelyn whispered, “Again.”
Linda nodded.
“I told her I didn't have them.”
“What did she do?”
“She threatened me.”
The officer asked, “Specifically?”
“She said if I warned David, she'd make sure everyone learned what he did.”
“What did he do?”
Linda looked down.
“I don't know.”
The officer frowned.
“She threatened to expose something you don't know?”
“I think David knows.”
Michael suddenly looked toward Evelyn's phone.
“Call him.”
Evelyn did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Michael took out his own phone.
He called.
No answer.
The officer asked Linda, “When did you last speak with him?”
“This morning.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Vanessa had found him.”
“In Wisconsin?”
“He didn't say.”
“He told you to come here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said Michael needed to know the truth before Vanessa got to him.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“She got to me six months ago.”
Linda stared at him.
“What?”
“She and I were having an affair.”
Her face went blank.
“Oh.”
Michael looked ashamed.
“She targeted you.”
I said, “Maybe.”
Linda looked at me.
“You're his wife?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“I'm sorry.”
I almost laughed.
People I had never met kept apologizing for destroying pieces of my life.
“Thank you.”
It was all I could manage.
Linda turned toward Michael.
“Did she ever ask about your mother?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Michael thought.
“She asked if Mom and I were close.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask about inheritance?”
His face changed.
Once.
“She joked about it.”
I stared at him.
“What joke?”
“She said being an only child must be nice.”
“That isn't a joke.”
“I know that now.”
“What else?”
“She asked if Mom had a will.”
Evelyn's face hardened.
“And you didn't find that strange?”
“It came up during a conversation.”
“About what?”
“My father.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You discussed David with Vanessa?”
“Some.”
“Did you tell her he was alive?”
“No.”
I noticed Linda staring at Michael.
“What?”
I asked.
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
She hesitated.
“Vanessa knew David was his father.”
Michael frowned.
“What?”
“She knew exactly who Michael was.”
“I know that now.”
“No.”
Linda shook her head.
“I mean she knew before David started talking about him.”
Everyone froze.
“How?”
“I heard them arguing once.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“What did she say?”
Linda tried to remember.
“She said something like, ‘I already know what your son looks like.’”
Michael went pale.
“She'd been watching me.”
“Maybe.”
I felt sick.
Michael suddenly turned toward the officer.
“You need to find Vanessa.”
“We are working on it.”
“No.”
His voice rose.
“You don't understand.”
The officer stayed calm.
“Then help me understand.”
Michael pulled out his phone.
He scrolled.
Then stopped.
“Vanessa sent me something last week.”
“What?”
“A picture.”
He handed the phone over.
The officer studied it.
“What is this?”
“Me leaving work.”
My heart jumped.
“What?”
Michael looked at me.
“She said she happened to see me.”
I stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I thought she was flirting.”
“When was the picture taken?”
“Last Tuesday.”
“Where?”
“Across the street from my office.”
The officer zoomed in.
Then his expression changed.
“Who is this?”
Michael frowned.
“What?”
The officer pointed at the edge of the photo.
A man was reflected in a store window.
Older.
Wearing a baseball cap.
Michael looked closer.
His face went white.
“Dad.”
Evelyn stood.
“David?”
“Yes.”
I felt cold.
David had been watching Michael with Vanessa.
Not from Green Bay.
From Chicago.
At least last week.
The officer's radio crackled.
He answered.
We could only hear his side.
“Yes.”
Pause.
“Confirmed?”
Another pause.
His expression became serious.
“Send me the address.”
He lowered the radio.
“What?” Michael asked.
The officer looked at him.
“Wisconsin police just reached the address your father gave us.”
“And?”
“No one is there.”
Michael frowned.
“What about Vanessa?”
“No sign of her.”
“Dad?”
“No sign of him either.”
My stomach tightened.
“So he lied about where he was.”
“It appears so.”
Before anyone could respond, my phone buzzed.
Another message from the unknown number.
This time there was a photo.
David stood beside Vanessa.
Both were looking directly at the camera.
Behind them was a familiar brick wall.
My heart stopped.
I knew that wall.
Michael did too.
“That's my office.”
May you like
Underneath the photo were six words.
Ask Michael what his father wants.
