Chapter 6 - The Truth Mike Finally Had to Hear
The man in Evelyn's hospital room was not Robert Carter.
He was Robert's younger brother.
Thomas.
Mike had called him Dad because Thomas had practically raised him after Robert's wife died.
I remembered him.
Barely.
He had lived in Arizona during most of our marriage and appeared twice at Christmas.
Tall.
Quiet.
The kind of relative Mike described with one sentence:
Uncle Tom keeps to himself.
Apparently Uncle Tom had kept quite a lot to himself.
When Rachel and I arrived, Lauren stood near the window.
Thomas Carter sat beside Evelyn.
Mike stood across from him.
Claire held Lily's hand.
Anna was crying.
Nobody spoke.
I closed the door.
“Someone start.”
Mike looked at Thomas.
“Go ahead.”
Thomas sighed.
“I came because Lauren called me.”
“Why?”
“She said Anna had found Claire.”
Mike laughed bitterly.
“You knew too.”
“Yes.”
“All of you knew.”
“Yes.”
“And not one of you thought I should?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Your father made us promise.”
“My father is dead.”
“Promises don't always die with people.”
“No.”
Mike stepped closer.
“Cowards just keep them alive.”
Thomas flinched.
I had never heard Mike speak to an elder in his family like that.
His family had hierarchy.
Reverence.
Rules.
Maybe the most important thing happening to him wasn't discovering a niece.
Maybe it was discovering obedience had protected the wrong people.
Thomas looked at Anna.
“I owe you an apology.”
Anna shook her head.
“No more apologies without facts.”
He nodded.
Fair.
“Robert found out about Claire after she was placed.”
“We know,” Rachel said.
“He found out because Andrew came to him.”
That contradicted Lauren.
Mike noticed.
“Lauren said she told Andrew later.”
Thomas looked at her.
Lauren closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Anna laughed without humor.
“Which lie are we on now?”
Lauren whispered, “I was trying to keep Andrew out of it.”
“He's dead,” Mike said. “You've kept him out long enough.”
Thomas continued.
“Andrew discovered Anna had been pregnant because one of her friends contacted him.”
Anna frowned.
“Who?”
“Vanessa Price.”
Anna covered her mouth.
“My roommate.”
“Yes.”
“She told him?”
“She found him through the university.”
Anna began crying quietly.
All those years believing Andrew had never looked.
The truth had become almost unbearably crowded.
“He confronted Robert,” Thomas said. “Robert confronted Lauren.”
“And then?” Mike asked.
“Lauren admitted what she'd done.”
Claire stared at her.
“So Robert paid everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To prevent scandal.”
Mike's jaw tightened.
“Of course.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You need to understand your father believed he was protecting Andrew.”
“I understand exactly what my father believed.”
Mike's voice was flat.
“That his reputation mattered more than everyone else's life.”
Nobody argued.
“What happened before Andrew died?” I asked.
Thomas looked tired.
“He planned to petition for paternity.”
“We found his letter.”
Thomas nodded.
“Then you know.”
“No,” Mike said. “I know what he intended. I don't know why he died two weeks later.”
Lauren turned away.
Thomas went silent.
That silence answered before words could.
Mike walked toward him.
“Tell me.”
“The accident was an accident.”
“Then why are you hesitating?”
“Because Robert saw Andrew that night.”
Mike stopped.
“What night?”
“The night he died.”
Anna covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
“They argued.”
“About Claire?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Robert threatened to cut him off.”
“Financially?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He threatened to report the relationship with Anna.”
Mike looked sick.
“Then?”
“Andrew left.”
“And crashed.”
“Yes.”
“Was he drinking?”
“No.”
“Drugs?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Thomas looked at Lauren.
She whispered, “Don't.”
Mike turned.
“What?”
Lauren cried.
“Please.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Thomas stood.
“Laura followed him.”
Every person in the room froze.
Lauren stared.
Thomas continued.
“You told me yourself.”
“That isn't what happened.”
“What happened?” Anna demanded.
Lauren shook her head.
“I followed him because I wanted to stop him from filing.”
“You chased him?”
“No.”
“Were you driving?”
“Yes.”
Mike's face changed.
“Did you cause the crash?”
“No.”
“Lauren.”
“No.”
Her voice rose for the first time.
“I followed him. I flashed my lights. I called him. He wouldn't pull over.”
Thomas looked down.
“And then?”
Lauren's breathing became ragged.
“He took the curve too fast.”
Mike stared.
“You were behind him.”
“Yes.”
“How close?”
“I don't know.”
“How close?”
“Maybe fifty feet.”
Mike turned away.
He pressed both hands against his head.
Nobody spoke.
Lauren cried.
“I didn't hit him.”
“That isn't the same as not causing it,” Anna said.
“I wasn't trying to hurt him.”
“You were trying to stop him.”
“Yes.”
“From reaching a lawyer.”
“Yes.”
Anna's voice went cold.
“And he died.”
Lauren sank into a chair.
“Yes.”
Claire stepped backward.
I had watched her do that once already.
Each small retreat from Lauren seemed to mark another relationship dying.
Mike looked at Thomas.
“Did my father know?”
“Yes.”
“And he covered it up.”
“The police ruled it an accident.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Thomas sighed.
“Robert paid for Lauren's lawyer.”
Mike laughed.
“Of course he did.”
Then he looked at me.
I don't know why.
Maybe because for years I had accused his family of treating truth like a public-relations problem.
Maybe because he had always called me cynical.
I didn't say I told you so.
Some victories are too sad to claim.
Rachel sat beside Evelyn.
“You transferred Lauren eight thousand dollars three weeks ago.”
Everyone looked at her.
Evelyn nodded.
Anna stared.
“Mom?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“She called me.”
“For what?”
“She knew you were investigating.”
“And you paid her?”
“I paid her to tell me where Claire lived.”
Silence.
Anna's anger shifted.
“You knew where Claire was.”
“For three weeks.”
“And didn't tell me.”
“I was trying to make sure.”
“Mom.”
“I was afraid of giving you hope.”
“That wasn't your choice.”
“No.”
Evelyn began crying.
“You're right.”
Anna turned away.
The pattern was almost unbearable.
Everyone deciding for Anna.
For seventeen years.
What she could know.
What she could survive.
What would hurt her.
The language of protection used like a locked door.
Claire spoke.
“I want one thing.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stood beside Lily.
Her face was wet.
But steady.
“I want everyone to stop deciding what truth I can handle.”
That silenced the room.
She looked at Lauren.
“You don't contact me unless I contact you.”
Lauren nodded.
“Claire—”
“No.”
Lauren stopped.
Claire looked at Mike.
“You don't call me your niece in public until I'm ready.”
Mike nodded.
“Okay.”
She looked at Anna.
“I want to know you.”
Anna cried.
“So do I.”
“But slowly.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm not calling you Mom yet.”
Anna nodded.
“Anything you need.”
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“Same.”
Evelyn smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
Then Claire looked at me.
“I want Jessica.”
I blinked.
“For what?”
She almost laughed.
“I don't know yet.”
That was the first lightness all day.
“Okay.”
Mike smiled faintly.
Then he looked at me.
The smile disappeared.
“Jess.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“I haven't said anything.”
“I know that face.”
“What face?”
“The apology face.”
That surprised him.
Maybe because he didn't know he had one.
We stepped into the hallway.
He closed the door behind us.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
“I was cruel to you.”
I stared.
Not what I expected.
“At the wedding?”
“During our marriage.”
My chest tightened.
Mike looked down.
“I spent years calling you suspicious whenever you questioned something my family told us.”
“Yes.”
“I made you feel unreasonable.”
“Yes.”
“I told people our divorce happened because you couldn't let things go.”
“Yes.”
Each answer cost something.
He nodded.
“I was wrong.”
I had imagined that sentence once.
During the first year after our divorce.
Maybe the second.
I imagined him appearing at my door.
Understanding.
Regretting.
Choosing me.
By year three, I stopped.
Now the sentence arrived.
And it did not heal me.
Because I had already done that without it.
“I appreciate you saying it.”
His eyes met mine.
“That's all?”
“What do you want, Mike?”
“I don't know.”
“That used to be my problem.”
He almost smiled.
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
He leaned against the wall.
“Do you hate me?”
“No.”
That surprised him more.
“I did.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“What changed?”
“I got busy.”
He laughed.
A real one.
Small.
Sad.
“I deserved that too.”
“Probably.”
He looked through the window into Evelyn's room.
Lily was showing Claire a drawing.
Anna watched them.
“For five years I thought you were the person who destroyed our marriage.”
I followed his gaze.
“I know.”
“I think maybe I just needed that story.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise I had to admit I could lose someone good without them being wrong.”
That was more self-awareness than Mike had displayed in nine years.
I believed him.
That did not mean I wanted him back.
Important distinction.
He looked at me.
“I don't know how to fix what I did.”
“You don't.”
His face fell.
“You do better with the next person.”
Lauren.
Or someone else.
Who knew.
“And with Claire,” I added.
He nodded.
“And maybe with yourself.”
He looked skeptical.
“Therapy?”
I smiled.
“You mocked mine.”
“I was an idiot.”
“We finally agree.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Jessica Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Harris with the Evanston Police Department.”
My smile disappeared.
“How can I help you?”
“We're trying to locate Anna Reed.”
I looked through the hospital-room window.
Anna was sitting beside Claire.
“She is with me.”
The detective paused.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“We recovered a vehicle registered to her near Wilmette Harbor.”
I glanced at Anna.
“What happened?”
“There was blood inside the car.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“That doesn't make sense. She's standing right here.”
The detective continued.
“We know.”
“What do you mean?”
“The lab finished preliminary identification.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“The blood doesn't belong to Anna.”
“Then whose is it?”
A pause.
“Lauren Hayes.”
I turned.
The chair Lauren had occupied was empty.
She had left the room.
Again.
Mike followed my gaze.
“Where is she?”
I opened the door.
“Lauren?”
No answer.
Thomas stood.
“She was here a second ago.”
Rachel looked toward the stairwell.
Mike ran.
I followed.
We reached the stairwell door.
It was closing.
Mike caught it.
On the landing below us, Lauren's champagne dress disappeared around the corner.
And somebody was waiting for her.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Charles Denton.
May you like
He held Anna's missing phone in one hand.
And a bloodstained envelope in the other.
