Chapter 9 - THE WIFE I BURIED
Rebecca appeared beneath the bell tower.
Older.
Silver at her temples.
A scar along her jaw.
Alive.
For one second, I forgot Arthur had a gun nearby.
Forgot Margaret.
Forgot Emily.
Forgot how to breathe.
Rebecca looked at me.
“Daniel.”
I couldn’t speak.
Thirteen years of grief became rage so fast it frightened me.
“You’re dead.”
“I know.”
“I buried you.”
“I know.”
“You let Emily bury you.”
Her face broke.
“I know.”
I crossed the room before anyone could stop me.
Not to embrace her.
I stopped inches away.
“Where is our daughter?”
Rebecca looked at Arthur.
“With Evan.”
My body went cold.
“Evan took her?”
“To protect her.”
I laughed bitterly.
“The man with the baseball bat?”
“He’s weak,” Rebecca said. “Not loyal.”
Arthur sneered.
“Touching family reunion.”
Rebecca ignored him.
“The ledger, Daniel.”
“No.”
“We need it.”
“We?”
She closed her eyes.
That word had escaped.
I stepped back.
“You’re working with him.”
“No.”
“You disappeared. Arthur disappeared. Now both of you show up for the same ledger.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Then make it simple.”
Rebecca looked toward Chen.
“There are names in that book who will kill everyone in this church if it becomes public.”
Arthur laughed.
“She still thinks she’s protecting people.”
Margaret suddenly pointed the gun at Arthur.
“Stop talking.”
Arthur looked genuinely surprised.
Rebecca moved slowly toward her.
“Margaret.”
“Stay away.”
“You don’t want to do this.”
Margaret’s hands shook.
“I spent twenty years cleaning his mess.”
Arthur’s smile vanished.
“You enjoyed the money.”
“I enjoyed surviving.”
Then she looked at me.
“Daniel, your daughter found something bigger than the ledger.”
“What?”
Margaret nodded toward Rebecca.
“Ask your wife.”
Rebecca said sharply, “Don’t.”
“What did Emily find?”
Margaret smiled.
“The real reason Rebecca disappeared.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Margaret.”
“Tell him.”
Arthur lunged.
The gun fired.
Everyone dropped.
Arthur hit the floor.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Not fatal.
Margaret backed toward the stairs, stunned.
Chen raised her weapon.
“Drop it!”
Margaret dropped the pistol.
Then my phone rang.
Emily.
I answered immediately.
“Emily?”
“Dad?”
Her voice shook.
I closed my eyes.
“Where are you?”
“With Evan.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“Tell me where you are.”
She didn’t.
Instead she said:
“Dad, Mom is alive.”
I looked at Rebecca.
“I know.”
Emily started crying.
“No. You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“I found her files.”
Rebecca’s face changed.
“Emily, stop.”
My daughter heard her.
“Mom?”
Rebecca moved toward the phone.
“Emily, please.”
I stepped away.
“What files?”
Emily continued.
“The basement files weren’t about Arthur.”
My skin went cold.
“They were about Mom.”
Rebecca whispered:
“Daniel…”
I ignored her.
“Emily, tell me.”
“She wasn’t hiding from Arthur.”
Arthur started laughing from the floor.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Emily whispered:
“She was hiding from you.”
The line went silent.
I stared at my wife.
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at me like she had been waiting thirteen years for this question.
Then Marcus spoke behind me.
“Daniel.”
His voice sounded wrong.
I turned.
He was holding one of the cassette tapes.
His face was white.
“What?”
He looked at the label.
OPERATION GLASS HARBOR — INTERNAL TARGET D.H.
My initials.
Daniel Hale.
Marcus swallowed.
“Rebecca wasn’t the only informant.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“You were the investigation.”
