Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO STOOD BESIDE ME AT MY WEDDING
My mother didn’t answer the call.
Robert called again.
Then a third time.
Detective Alvarez took the phone.
“Don’t pick up yet.”
My mother looked at me.
“He calls me every Friday.”
“It’s not Friday.”
She swallowed.
“He must know something happened.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer no longer comforted me.
I looked down at my father’s letter again.
Especially your uncle Robert.
For fourteen years, Robert Walker had been one of the most dependable people in my life.
When my father died, Robert repaired my mother’s roof.
He helped arrange the funeral.
He called every Sunday for months.
When I married Megan, Robert stood beside me while I waited at the altar.
He held Lily when she was three hours old.
He gave Tommy a carved wooden train for his first Christmas.
The idea that he could be connected to Diane felt impossible.
But impossible had become meaningless.
Alvarez nodded toward the phone.
“Answer naturally.”
My mother put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
“Helen.”
Robert sounded cheerful.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Ethan’s house is crawling with police.”
My mother glanced at me.
“How do you know that?”
“Neighbor called me.”
“Which neighbor?”
A pause.
“Martin.”
I frowned.
There was no Martin on my street.
My mother knew it too.
“Robert, what do you want?”
His voice changed slightly.
“I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
Alvarez raised his eyebrows.
Good lie.
Robert hesitated.
“Your house phone isn’t answering.”
“It’s broken.”
Another pause.
“Helen… did Ethan come back from his trip?”
“Yes.”
“And Megan?”
My mother looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
Robert became quiet.
Then he said something that changed everything.
“Did Ethan find the room?”
My mother’s face drained of color.
I grabbed the phone.
“How do you know about the room?”
Silence.
“Robert.”
Then he sighed.
“Damn it.”
“Answer me.”
“Where are the kids?”
“Safe.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
My hands tightened.
“You will never ask me that question again.”
“Ethan, listen.”
“No. You listen. Dad left me a letter.”
Silence.
Long enough to confirm everything.
“You found the box.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t have opened it.”
“Why?”
“Because your father didn’t understand what he was involved in.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t over the phone.”
“Why not?”
“Because the police are listening.”
Detective Alvarez gave me a slight nod.
Keep him talking.
“You afraid of police?”
“I’m afraid of stupid people with badges deciding they understand something after reading half a file.”
“Did you help Diane?”
Robert didn’t answer.
“Did you help her frame me?”
“No.”
“Did you help her kill Dad?”
The silence after that question nearly stopped my heart.
“Robert?”
“No.”
But his voice was different.
Broken.
“You’re lying.”
“I did not kill your father.”
“Did you know someone was going to?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was investigating Diane?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he asked me not to.”
“My father specifically warned me about you.”
“That’s because he thought I betrayed him.”
“Did you?”
Another long pause.
“Yes.”
My mother covered her mouth.
I wanted to scream.
Instead I forced the question out.
“How?”
“I told Diane where Richard had hidden copies of the financial records.”
“Why?”
“Because she had something on me.”
“What?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Ethan—”
“She almost killed my children.”
Robert cursed under his breath.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Everyone in the room froze.
I stared at the phone.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“You said it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“I meant—”
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew something was planned.”
“Ethan, I swear to you, I did not know Diane would leave those kids without food.”
“What did you think she was going to do?”
“She told me Megan was taking them away.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expected Megan to leave you. That’s all.”
“Why?”
“Because Diane believed you found the accounts.”
“I didn’t even know they existed.”
“She wasn’t sure.”
“So she destroyed my family just in case?”
“That’s Diane.”
The casual way he said her name made me sick.
Like this had been normal for years.
“Where is Megan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Diane?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
He stopped speaking.
Detective Alvarez wrote something and slid it toward me.
KEEP HIM ON.
“Robert?”
“I’m outside Springfield.”
“Doing what?”
“Driving.”
“Where?”
“To your mother’s house.”
My mother stiffened.
“Why?”
“To get your father’s box.”
The room became very quiet.
“Why?”
“Because if Diane finds out it exists, Helen becomes a target.”
“She already knows.”
“What?”
“She knows I opened it.”
Robert cursed loudly.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ethan, you need to move your mother.”
“We did.”
“And the children?”
“Protected.”
“No one is protected from Diane if she’s desperate.”
“Then help me.”
“I’m trying.”
“No. You’re hiding.”
He exhaled.
“I have something.”
“What?”
“An address.”
“For who?”
“Calvin Shaw.”
Alvarez leaned forward.
“Where?”
Robert named a motel outside Indianapolis.
Police began writing it down.
“How do you know he’s there?”
“Because I helped him disappear.”
“You’ve spoken to him?”
“Two days ago.”
My pulse jumped.
“Did he have Megan?”
“No.”
“Did he know where she was?”
“He thought she was trying to reach him.”
“Why?”
“Because she stole something from Diane.”
“What?”
Robert became quiet.
“An original insurance policy.”
I frowned.
“What kind of policy?”
“Not insurance like you’re thinking.”
“Then what?”
“Diane keeps files on everyone she uses. Secrets. Crimes. Affairs. Debts. Anything that makes people obedient.”
“Blackmail.”
“Yes.”
“Megan stole the files?”
“One.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
That explained his fear.
“What did Diane have on you?”
“I told you—”
“Say it.”
He remained silent.
Then my mother spoke.
“Robert, enough.”
Her voice was colder than I had ever heard it.
“My grandchildren nearly died. My son has been framed. Your brother may have been murdered. You don’t get to protect yourself anymore.”
Robert breathed heavily.
Then he said, “I was driving the night Richard died.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I didn’t tamper with the car.”
“Then what did you do?”
“Diane called me.”
“Why?”
“She said Richard had stolen documents from her. She wanted me to follow him.”
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“He lost control on the highway.”
My mother began crying silently.
“You watched him crash?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call 911?”
“No.”
I stood.
“You left him there?”
“I was scared.”
“You left him to die.”
“I didn’t know whether he was alive.”
“That makes it worse.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
I could barely stay still.
“You let his family believe it was an accident.”
“Yes.”
“You let my father keep investigating without telling him what you saw.”
“Yes.”
“And when my father died?”
Robert’s voice cracked.
“I knew.”
Everything inside me went still.
“You knew what?”
“I knew Diane had done something.”
My mother whispered, “Oh my God.”
“What happened to Dad?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Robert.”
“I swear.”
“You said you knew.”
“I knew Diane visited his house the day before he died.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“To search for the ledger.”
“Did she find it?”
“No.”
“Because Dad hid it.”
“Yes.”
“What did she do to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you think she killed him?”
“Yes.”
I stared at my mother.
Fourteen years.
Robert had hugged us at the funeral while suspecting the woman responsible.
My mother ended the call.
She did it without warning.
Then she sat down and stared at the floor.
“I let him into my house.”
“Mom.”
“For fourteen years.”
“You didn’t know.”
“He held me while I cried.”
I knelt beside her.
“He knew.”
“I know.”
“I don’t understand people like this.”
“Neither do I.”
She looked at me.
“Don’t become like them.”
“What?”
“Don’t let what they did turn you into someone who only wants revenge.”
I didn’t answer.
Because at that moment, revenge sounded easier than restraint.
Detective Alvarez’s phone rang.
He stepped away.
When he returned, his expression was serious.
“Officers reached the motel Robert named.”
“And?”
“Calvin Shaw is there.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief hit me.
“Bring him in.”
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“He’s been shot.”
My stomach dropped.
“Is he alive?”
“Barely.”
“Did he say who did it?”
“He was conscious long enough to say one name.”
“Diane?”
Alvarez shook his head.
“Megan.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“He told the responding officer, ‘Megan shot me.’”
It made no sense.
Megan had been tied up.
Bleeding.
Terrified.
Unless the video had been staged.
Unless nothing about her disappearance was what I believed.
Twenty minutes later, police sent Alvarez a photograph from Calvin’s motel room.
Blood on the carpet.
A broken lamp.
An open suitcase.
And one printed photograph lying on the bed.
It showed Megan standing beside Calvin three days earlier.
Neither of them appeared afraid.
They were smiling.
May you like
On the back, written in Megan’s handwriting, were six words:
WE END THIS BEFORE ETHAN KNOWS.
