I slid the folder beneath my jacket.
The footsteps stopped above me.
For one terrible second, the farmhouse became completely silent.
Then the basement door opened.
Light spilled down the stairs.
I pressed myself against the wall.
A man's shoes appeared on the first step.
He descended slowly.
I recognized the voice before I saw his face.
"Come out."
Marcus.
My throat tightened.
He continued down.
"I know you're here."
I glanced at the small window behind me.
Too high.
Too narrow.
The metal room was my only cover.
I slipped inside and pulled the door almost closed.
Marcus entered the basement.
His footsteps moved between the shelves.
He didn't hurry.
That frightened me more than if he had.
He knew the house.
He knew where everything was.
He stopped beside the cabinet where I had found the keys.
"Your father always thought he could hide things forever," he said.
I kept one hand over my mouth.
He opened the cabinet.
Then closed it.
"Your mother lasted longer than I expected."
My blood ran cold.
He knew about her.
Maybe he had been watching her too.
Marcus walked toward the metal door.
I looked down at the tape recorder.
There was still another cassette beside it.
Without thinking, I took it.
The footsteps stopped outside.
The door began to move.
I pushed against it with both hands.
Marcus grabbed the other side.
"Open the door."
I said nothing.
He pulled harder.
The old hinges screamed.
Then headlights swept across the basement window.
A car had arrived.
Marcus released the door.
He stepped backward.
I heard Daniel shouting from outside.
"Marcus!"
The basement door slammed.
Marcus ran upstairs.
I waited two seconds and followed.
By the time I reached the kitchen, Daniel and Marcus were standing several feet apart.
Daniel looked furious.
Marcus looked calm.
"You brought her here," Marcus said.
Daniel shook his head.
"I didn't."
Marcus glanced at me.
His expression changed when he saw the folder under my jacket.
"You found it."
Daniel looked at me.
"What did you find?"
I backed away from both of them.
Neither man answered.
Marcus turned toward Daniel.
"She knows about the records."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Enough."
"Does she know what happened to her brother?"
I stared at him.
"My brother?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Marcus smiled faintly.
"There it is."
I looked from one man to the other.
"I don't have a brother."
Daniel whispered, "Not anymore."
The room seemed to tilt.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Your parents had another child."
Daniel interrupted.
"Stop."
Marcus ignored him.
"A boy."
I couldn't speak.
"What was his name?"
Marcus looked at Daniel.
Daniel's face had gone pale.
Then he answered.
"Jonah."
The name struck something loose inside me.
Not a memory exactly.
A feeling.
A blue blanket.
A child's wooden train.
Someone laughing in the upstairs hallway.
I had always thought those fragments belonged to a dream.
Marcus watched my face.
"Your mother spent years telling herself you were too young to remember."
Daniel stepped between us.
"She doesn't need to hear this from you."
"Then you should have told her."
Daniel turned toward me.
I wanted to hear him deny everything.
He didn't.
Instead, he said, "Jonah was your twin."
The word echoed through the room.
Twin.
I looked at the photograph.
My father.
My mother.
Daniel.
And the scratched-out figure in the doorway.
I finally understood why someone had tried so hard to erase that man's face.
But there was one thing I still couldn't explain.
I pulled the second cassette from my pocket.
"My father left this."
Daniel stared at it.
His expression collapsed.
"What?"
I held it up.
"Before I listen to it, I want one answer."
Daniel said nothing.
"Did you know Jonah was alive?"
His silence lasted only a few seconds.
But it was long enough.
Marcus looked toward the window.
Outside, another car had stopped at the end of the lane.
Daniel whispered the truth.
"Yes."
The headlights went dark.
Someone stepped out of the vehicle.
And this time, Daniel was the one who looked afraid.
Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Stranger Outside the Farmhouse Was Someone I Had Seen Before, and Daniel Finally Admitted What He Had Been Hiding
The Night I Pretended to Sleep While My Uncle Whispered a Name I Had Never Heard Before
Part 4 of 20
