Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN IN THE GRAVE
Emily’s first reaction was laughter.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the alternative was screaming.
“You’re insane.”
Daniel didn’t move.
“I wish I were.”
“I watched my mother die.”
“You watched a woman you believed was your mother die.”
Emily’s hand slammed against the table.
“Stop.”
Daniel fell silent.
“My mother got sick. She had pancreatic cancer. I took her to appointments. I sat beside her hospital bed.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I investigated.”
Emily’s voice rose.
“You investigated my mother?”
“I investigated everything connected to Robert.”
Curtis had disappeared into the kitchen.
Good.
Emily didn’t want witnesses.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel opened another file.
Inside were photographs.
One showed Susan Carter at age thirty-two.
Emily recognized her instantly.
Another showed her mother at forty-five.
Then a third.
The woman Emily knew.
At first, they looked identical.
Then Emily noticed differences.
The nose.
The chin.
The ears.
Small things.
Terrible things.
Daniel spoke softly.
“The woman who raised you after your father died was named Laura Bennett.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“No.”
“She was Susan’s older half-sister.”
Emily remembered Aunt Laura vaguely.
A name from old Christmas stories.
Her mother had once said Laura moved to Arizona.
“Why would she pretend to be my mother?”
“To protect you.”
Emily stared.
“From whom?”
“Marcus Halpern.”
Daniel explained.
Three days after Robert died, Susan vanished.
She knew Halpern suspected Robert had copied documents.
She knew he would search the family.
So Susan made a decision.
She disappeared.
And Laura took her place.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was easier than you think. Similar age. Similar appearance. Few photographs. You and Tyler were children.”
“Tyler was four.”
“Yes.”
Emily felt sick.
“She lied to us for ten years.”
“She kept you alive for ten years.”
“Where was my real mother?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“That’s what Robert wanted me to find.”
“You never found her?”
“I found traces.”
“What traces?”
“Bank withdrawals. A motel in Indianapolis. A bus ticket to Detroit.”
“And then?”
“Nothing.”
Emily covered her face.
Her memories rearranged themselves.
Her mother becoming quieter after Dad died.
Changing apartments.
Never attending old family gatherings.
Refusing to talk about childhood.
Calling herself stupid when she forgot details.
It made terrible sense.
Emily lowered her hands.
“Does Tyler know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Daniel frowned.
“You don’t want to tell him?”
“Not until I understand it.”
She looked at the documents again.
“Why reveal this now?”
“Because someone else has started looking for Susan.”
“Who?”
Daniel slid a recent photograph across the table.
A man entering the Golden Spoon three weeks earlier.
He wore a gray suit.
Emily recognized him.
“Richard Vale.”
“You know him?”
“He’s one of the owners.”
“No.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“He manages the restaurant through a holding company.”
Emily stared.
“Who is he?”
“Marcus Halpern’s son.”
A chill passed through her.
Richard had visited the restaurant five or six times during Emily’s employment.
He had always been polite.
Always tipped well.
Once he had asked where she grew up.
At the time, she thought he was making conversation.
Daniel continued.
“Richard learned the Carter trust exists.”
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
“And if he finds my mother?”
“He can challenge the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because Susan’s signature appears on the original transfer.”
Emily understood.
“If she admits she signed willingly…”
“Your family could lose everything.”
Emily looked toward the entrance.
At that exact moment, the front door opened.
Richard Vale walked inside.
He smiled when he saw her.
“Emily.”
Daniel stood.
Richard’s smile widened.
“I was hoping you’d be here.”
Then he placed a photograph on the nearest table.
An older woman stood outside a motel.
Silver hair.
Thin face.
But unmistakable eyes.
Emily’s eyes.
May you like
Richard looked at her.
“I found your mother.”
