Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE WHERE MY MOTHER HID
We found the house two days later.
It was outside Franklin, Tennessee.
A small white farmhouse surrounded by trees.
No neighbors.
No cameras.
No signs of anyone living there.
But Anna knew the address.
She had received it from the unknown number.
We entered just before sunset.
Sophie stayed with a trusted family friend.
Anna held a flashlight.
I carried the evidence bag.
Every room was empty.
Then we found the basement.
There were photographs covering the walls.
Photographs of Anna.
Me.
Sophie.
Daniel.
Rebecca.
Our entire family had been watched.
For years.
Anna touched one photograph.
“This was taken three months before I disappeared.”
I looked closer.
Someone had photographed her outside the grocery store.
Another showed Sophie leaving school.
Another showed Daniel entering a bank.
Then I noticed something.
A photograph of me.
I was standing outside my apartment.
On the back was a date.
Three days before Anna disappeared.
And one sentence:
MARCUS KNOWS TOO MUCH.
I felt cold.
“I didn't know anything.”
Anna looked at me.
“I believe you.”
Then we heard a sound upstairs.
A door closing.
We turned off the flashlight.
Someone was inside.
Footsteps moved across the floor.
Anna grabbed my arm.
A woman's voice called from above.
“Anna?”
Anna froze.
“Mom?”
The footsteps stopped.
Then our mother appeared at the top of the stairs.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Anna began crying.
“You're alive.”
Our mother descended slowly.
“I had no choice.”
Anna stared at her.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From who?”
Our mother looked at me.
“From your father.”
Anna stepped backward.
“But Rebecca said Dad was alive.”
“He was.”
“Where is he?”
Our mother closed her eyes.
“He died eight months ago.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“What?”
“He was murdered the night Anna disappeared.”
Anna stared at her.
“By whom?”
Our mother looked toward the photographs.
“By the person who wanted the trust.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Rebecca?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Our mother whispered:
“Me.”
The room became silent.
Anna shook her head.
“You killed Dad?”
“I stopped him.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was going to kill you.”
Anna looked horrified.
“What?”
Our mother sat down.
“Your father had become obsessed with the trust.”
“He was trying to take it from you.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He was trying to take it from Sophie.”
Anna stared.
“Why?”
“Because he discovered the final beneficiary.”
“Sophie.”
Our mother nodded.
“He believed if Sophie died, the trust would transfer to him.”
I covered my mouth.
“That night, your father came to the bridge.”
Anna whispered:
“He was there.”
“Yes.”
“He tried to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I followed him.”
Our mother began crying.
“I pushed him.”
Anna looked at her.
“You killed him.”
“I saved you.”
“Then why did you let me disappear?”
“Because Daniel had already called the police.”
Our mother looked at me.
“If you survived, they would know.”
“So you faked Anna's death?”
“Yes.”
“For eight months?”
“Yes.”
Anna sat down.
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
Our mother reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a tiny recorder.
“Because someone was listening to everything.”
She pressed play.
A man's voice emerged.
Daniel.
“If Anna survives, kill Sophie.”
Anna covered her mouth.
I stared at the recorder.
Our mother whispered:
“That was recorded the night you disappeared.”
Anna began shaking.
Daniel hadn't merely wanted her money.
He had been willing to kill his own daughter.
Then another voice appeared on the recording.
A voice none of us expected.
Rebecca.
“If you kill Sophie, I'll expose you.”
Daniel answered:
“You'll never get the trust.”
Rebecca whispered:
“I don't want the trust anymore.”
The recording ended.
Anna looked at me.
“Then why did Rebecca marry him?”
Before I could answer, our mother's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
“It's him.”
“Who?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Your father.”
