Chapter 13 - THE EMPTY GRAVE
Nathan ordered his mother’s burial records examined legally.
He did not send men with shovels in the middle of the night.
That old Nathan—the man who solved fear with force—was disappearing.
The cemetery records contained inconsistencies almost immediately.
Evelyn Drake’s coffin had been sealed before the family viewing.
The identification paperwork had been signed by a doctor later convicted of falsifying records.
There was no verified DNA.
No dental confirmation.
Nothing.
Nathan looked at me.
“My mother might have survived.”
Daniel remembered something.
After the shootings, Evelyn had been taken away alive.
Vincent had told everyone she died in the staged crash.
But Daniel believed she had been held somewhere because Vincent needed information only she possessed.
“Where?” Nathan asked.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Lake house.”
Vincent owned several.
One had belonged to the Drake family before Nathan was born.
Federal agents searched the property.
They found no Evelyn.
But they found evidence that someone had lived in a hidden apartment on the grounds for years.
Medical supplies.
Books.
Women’s clothing.
Photographs of Nathan cut from newspapers.
And hundreds of letters.
Every one addressed to him.
Nathan opened the first.
My darling boy, if you ever read this, please know I never left you.
Nathan sat down.
For almost twenty years, Evelyn had written to her son.
Vincent had never delivered a single letter.
The most recent had been written only nine years earlier.
Then they stopped.
A second search uncovered a transfer record.
An unnamed female patient had been moved from the property to a private assisted-living facility under another identity.
She was still there.
Nathan could barely speak during the drive.
When we entered the facility, an elderly woman sat beside a window overlooking a garden.
Her hair was completely white.
Her body was fragile.
Nathan stopped in the doorway.
The woman turned.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Then her hand flew to her mouth.
“Nathan?”
His knees almost gave out.
“Mom?”
Evelyn Drake began crying.
Nathan crossed the room and fell into his mother’s arms.
I turned away because some reunions were too sacred to watch.
But Evelyn reached for me.
“You must be Hannah’s girl.”
I stared.
“You know me?”
She smiled through tears.
“Hannah showed me your baby photograph once.”
Then her expression changed.
“Where is she?”
I told her.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I’m so sorry.”
Nathan took her hand.
“Mom, Vincent is running.”
Evelyn looked frightened.
“No.”
“What?”
“He isn’t running.”
She gripped Nathan’s wrist.
“He’s finishing what he started.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn whispered:
“He has a list.”
“What list?”
“Everyone who can testify against him.”
May you like
Then she looked at me.
“Bella is the final name.”
