The hospital disappeared into blackness.
Someone shouted.
A door slammed.
Then came the sound of running feet.
I reached for Daniel.
My hand caught someone's sleeve.
"Daniel?"
The person pulled away.
I heard Marcus yell.
Then something struck the floor.
Glass shattered.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Red illumination filled the stairwell.
Daniel was gone.
So was the ledger.
Thomas stood against the wall, breathing heavily.
Ruth was beside him.
Marcus had blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
Adrian was nowhere to be seen.
I looked at Thomas.
"Where is Daniel?"
He didn't answer.
I ran into the corridor.
Empty.
A hospital cart had been knocked sideways.
Papers were scattered across the floor.
One page had landed beneath a chair.
I picked it up.
It was from the ledger.
At the bottom, someone had circled an address.
Cedar Hill Road.
Again.
"He's taking Daniel there," Marcus said.
"Who?"
"Adrian."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel knows where Jonah is."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
I looked at him.
"Then where is Jonah?"
Thomas's expression changed.
"He was supposed to meet Daniel tonight."
I stared at him.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"Stop saying that."
He looked at me.
"I didn't know who Daniel was meeting."
"Jonah."
"Yes."
I turned toward the exit.
"We're going to Cedar Hill."
Thomas caught my arm.
"No."
I pulled away.
"You're not leaving me here."
"I'm not."
"Then come with me."
He hesitated.
Marcus spoke.
"She's right."
Thomas looked at him.
"We go together."
Ruth shook her head.
"I'll stay."
"No," I said. "You're coming."
She looked surprised.
"You don't know me."
"You knew my mother."
Ruth nodded.
"That's enough."
We left through the rear entrance.
The night air was cold.
Marcus drove.
Thomas sat beside him.
Ruth and I sat in back.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Ruth said, "Your mother loved both of you."
I looked out the window.
"She still lied."
"She was trying to protect you."
"That doesn't make the lies disappear."
"No."
Ruth folded her hands.
"Sometimes protecting someone and hurting them happen at the same time."
I didn't answer.
The road toward Cedar Hill was empty.
Halfway there, Thomas's phone rang.
He answered.
"Daniel?"
A man's voice replied.
"Wrong guess."
Thomas went silent.
The speaker said, "Bring the tape."
"Where is Daniel?"
"Safe."
I leaned forward.
"Let me speak to him."
The voice laughed.
"She wants to hear her uncle."
Thomas handed me the phone.
"Don't do anything stupid," the voice said.
"Put Daniel on."
A pause.
Then Daniel spoke.
"I'm okay."
His voice sounded strained.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Daniel—"
"Listen to your father."
The line went dead.
I stared at Thomas.
"What did he mean?"
Thomas looked straight ahead.
"Your uncle knows where Jonah is."
"You said you didn't know."
"I said I didn't know who Daniel was meeting."
"Where is Jonah?"
Thomas finally answered.
"At Cedar Hill."
The car became silent.
Marcus accelerated.
When we reached the farmhouse, the front door stood open.
No lights.
We entered.
The kitchen table was empty.
The hidden basement room was open.
The tape recorder was gone.
So was the ledger.
A single chair had been placed in the center of the room.
Daniel sat in it.
His hands were tied.
I ran toward him.
Marcus stopped me.
"Wait."
Daniel looked up.
"I'm fine."
"Who did this?"
He glanced toward Thomas.
"Not Adrian."
Thomas's face hardened.
"Who?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Jonah."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"He wanted me to bring you."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
Daniel looked toward the barn.
"He said you'd understand when you saw the car."
We went outside.
Behind the barn sat an old sedan.
The same kind of car I had seen outside the farmhouse on the first night.
Its rear door was open.
Inside was a box.
I approached slowly.
The box contained photographs.
Dozens of them.
Jonah at different ages.
Jonah with my mother.
Jonah at school.
Jonah standing beside the river.
And one photograph of me.
Taken when I was about seven.
I recognized the dress.
The backyard.
My mother standing behind the camera.
But I had never seen the photograph before.
On the back, Jonah had written:
*I watched you grow up from somewhere you never knew existed.**
I swallowed hard.
Beneath the photographs was a note.
*Come alone.**
Thomas reached for it.
I moved it away.
"No."
He looked at me.
"You don't know what he's planning."
"Neither do you."
I walked toward the field.
"Where?"
Daniel pointed.
"The old mill."
Marcus followed.
Thomas caught up.
"You're not going alone."
I looked at him.
"Then don't."
We reached the mill before dawn.
Fog lay across the creek.
A figure stood on the far bank.
Young.
Tall.
Still.
He looked exactly like the photograph.
Jonah.
He raised one hand.
Then he called across the water.
"Tell Dad to stay back."
Thomas stopped.
Jonah looked directly at me.
"You're the only one I want to talk to."
I stepped toward the bridge.
Behind me, Daniel whispered, "Don't trust him."
Jonah heard.
He smiled sadly.
"That's what they taught both of us."
Then he lifted the original ledger.
And threw it into the river.
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Jonah Destroyed the Evidence Before My Eyes, Then Told Me Why My Father Had Spent Years Lying About His Death
The Night I Pretended to Sleep While My Uncle Whispered a Name I Had Never Heard Before
Part 11 of 20
