Chapter 3 - THE FATHER MY MOTHER BURIED
I had spent twenty-eight years believing my father died in a construction accident.
My mother had told me the story so many times that I could repeat every detail.
His name was Michael.
He worked with heavy machinery.
He died three months before I was born.
There were no photographs because our apartment flooded when I was little.
It was a sad story.
But it was my story.
Until Adrian Voss handed me a photograph of a living man named Richard Carter.
"You're telling me my mother lied?"
Adrian shook his head.
"I'm telling you there's a discrepancy we need to understand."
I stared at him.
"That's a very expensive way of saying nobody knows what's happening."
Mrs. Ellis gave a nervous laugh.
I didn't.
My phone vibrated.
MOM.
The screen showed three missed calls.
She was probably wondering whether I'd remembered her prescription refill.
For a moment, I considered asking her everything over the phone.
Then I pictured her exhausted face.
The way she counted pills before every doctor's appointment.
The way she'd worked nights cleaning offices when I was a child.
Whatever she had hidden, there had to be a reason.
"I need to see her," I said.
Adrian nodded.
"I'll arrange a car."
"No."
He paused.
"No?"
"I have my own car."
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"Miss Carter, your manager received instructions to have you fired today. We don't know whether someone is also watching your movements."
I glanced toward the parking lot.
My old Honda was parked beneath a flickering streetlight.
Suddenly, it seemed terribly exposed.
Adrian noticed.
"You don't have to trust me, Sophie. But you should know what risks we're dealing with."
I folded my arms.
"That's the first sensible thing you've said."
His mouth twitched.
"High praise."
We reached an agreement.
I would drive my own car.
Marcus would follow at a distance.
And Adrian would stop treating me like a helpless woman who needed his permission to breathe.
He agreed surprisingly quickly.
Forty minutes later, I reached my mother's small apartment in Lincoln Square.
She opened the door before I knocked.
"Sophie!"
Her face brightened.
Then she noticed Adrian standing behind me.
The color disappeared from her cheeks.
"Mom?"
She gripped the doorframe.
"Who is that?"
Adrian spoke gently.
"Mrs. Carter, my name is Adrian Voss."
My mother staggered backward.
"No."
I caught her arm.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Her breathing became shallow.
"Why is he here?"
I looked between them.
"You know him?"
Adrian seemed equally surprised.
"I don't believe we've met."
My mother shook her head violently.
"Stay away from my daughter."
"Mom!"
She grabbed my wrist.
"Sophie, get inside. Lock the door."
I had never seen her this frightened.
"Tell me what's happening."
Tears filled her eyes.
May you like
Then she whispered something I would never forget.
"His father is the reason your father disappeared."
