I stood in the kitchen with the phone pressed against my ear.
“Jonah?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm not alone.”
My father looked at me.
I turned away from him.
“Who are you with?”
“My mother.”
The words made my chest tighten.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
There was a pause.
“For now.”
Daniel's voice came through my other phone.
“Miranda, stay where you are.”
I nodded even though he couldn't see me.
Jonah continued.
“She wants to speak with you.”
“Put her on.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“She doesn't trust phones.”
I almost laughed.
After everything we'd discovered, that seemed like the least strange thing anyone had said.
“When can I meet her?”
“Tonight.”
“Where?”
“Property seventeen.”
Daniel immediately shook his head.
I covered the phone.
“I need to go.”
“No.”
“She has information.”
“She also knows you're being watched.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand why you're not going.”
I returned to the call.
“Jonah, I can't come alone.”
“That’s fine.”
“Daniel will be there.”
Silence.
Then Jonah said, “Good.”
The call ended.
For several minutes nobody moved.
My father looked at me.
“She's really alive.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
My mother began crying.
I turned toward her.
“You knew she might be alive.”
“I hoped.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever try to find her?”
“After she left, yes.”
“Then why did you tell me she was gone?”
“Because your grandfather told us never to speak her name.”
I looked at Dad.
“And you obeyed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His answer was barely audible.
“Because the last person who refused him disappeared.”
I thought of Peter.
Of the ledger.
Of all the people who had lived around secrets until secrecy became a habit.
Daniel arranged a controlled meeting at the farmhouse.
Officers were positioned along the road.
Another team watched the surrounding fields.
I was told to remain in the vehicle until they confirmed the area was secure.
At 9:17 p.m., Jonah arrived.
He was younger than I expected.
Late thirties, perhaps.
Dark hair.
A worn brown coat.
He stepped from an old pickup and stood beneath the porch light.
He looked toward my car.
Then toward the officers.
He didn't seem surprised.
Daniel approached him first.
After a brief conversation, Jonah walked toward us.
He stopped a few feet away.
“Miranda?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
“You look like her.”
“Evelyn?”
He nodded.
“My mother.”
I didn't know what to say.
“You're really Jonah.”
“Yes.”
“The name was in the records.”
“I know.”
“Why did nobody tell me about you?”
He glanced toward my parents.
“Because they were afraid.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It’s the only one I've got.”
I looked at the farmhouse.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Jonah pointed toward the trees.
“She didn't come.”
I frowned.
“You said she wanted to meet me.”
“She does.”
“Then where is she?”
He lowered his voice.
“She wouldn't come near the farmhouse.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where everything happened.”
“What happened?”
Jonah looked at my father.
Then back at me.
“My mother found your grandfather's ledger there.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You know about the ledger. You don't know what she found.”
I waited.
“She found a second book.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What second book?”
Jonah looked at him.
“A record of people.”
“What people?”
“People your grandfather paid.”
I felt the cold air against my face.
“Paid for what?”
Jonah shook his head.
“My mother never knew all of it.”
“Then what did she know?”
“That your grandfather wasn't protecting property.”
“What was he protecting?”
“People.”
I stared at him.
“Which people?”
Jonah looked toward the dark trees.
“People who had done things for him.”
My father closed his eyes.
I turned toward him.
“Dad?”
He didn't answer.
Jonah continued.
“My mother wanted to expose everything.”
“Why didn't she?”
“Because she had me.”
The simplicity of the answer hurt.
“She was afraid they'd come after you.”
“Yes.”
“And Brooke?”
“She found my mother years later.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“What did Brooke want?”
“The ledger.”
I thought about the meeting at the station.
Brooke had said she wanted her life back.
Now I wondered whether that had ever been true.
“What did Evelyn tell her?”
“That the ledger could destroy the people who were still alive.”
“Who?”
Jonah looked at me.
“Charles Vane.”
My father flinched.
Jonah noticed.
“You know him.”
Dad nodded.
“He worked with my father.”
Jonah shook his head.
“He worked against him.”
Everyone went silent.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Charles wanted the ledger for himself.”
“Why?”
“Because it gave him leverage.”
“Over whom?”
“Everyone.”
Jonah took an envelope from his coat.
“My mother wanted you to have this.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Evelyn stood beside a younger man.
Peter Lawson.
On the back was a date.
Thirty-eight years earlier.
Beneath it, a handwritten note.
Peter knows where the first ledger went.
I looked at Jonah.
“Peter told me your grandfather had the ledger.”
“He had one.”
“One?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the first one?”
Jonah pointed toward the farmhouse.
“Under the floor.”
Daniel immediately moved toward the building.
Jonah stopped him.
“Not there.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother moved it.”
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
“Where?”
Jonah looked at me.
“She gave it to your father.”
I turned toward Dad.
He looked stunned.
“I never received anything from Evelyn.”
Jonah shook his head.
“You did.”
“When?”
“The night she left.”
Dad's face went pale.
“I don't remember.”
“You were there.”
“Where?”
“At the old church.”
Dad stood very still.
Then his eyes changed.
A memory had returned.
“The envelope.”
Jonah nodded.
Dad whispered, “She gave me an envelope.”
“What happened to it?”
“I gave it to your mother.”
My mother covered her mouth.
I looked at her.
“Mom?”
She shook her head.
“I don't remember.”
Dad looked at her.
“It had a photograph.”
My mother went pale.
“A photograph of Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You kept it.”
She looked at me.
“I thought it was gone.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
I felt frustration rise.
“Everybody knows pieces.”
I stepped back.
“Everybody has forgotten the one piece that matters.”
Jonah spoke quietly.
“Maybe nobody forgot.”
I looked at him.
“Maybe they were afraid to remember.”
The words stayed with me.
Then Daniel's radio crackled.
“Movement on the south road.”
Everyone turned.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
A vehicle approached slowly.
Daniel signaled the officers.
The vehicle stopped.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Charles Vane.
He raised both hands.
“I came to talk.”
Daniel approached.
“You need to remain where you are.”
Charles looked past him.
His eyes settled on me.
Then on my father.
“You finally told her.”
Dad said nothing.
Charles sighed.
“She deserves the truth.”
I stepped forward.
“Then tell me.”
He looked at the farmhouse.
“Your grandfather left property seventeen to you because he knew the family would eventually turn on itself.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what was inside the second ledger.”
“What?”
Charles looked directly at my father.
“The names.”
“Whose names?”
“People who ordered things.”
“What things?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“You can tell us at the station.”
Charles nodded.
Then he looked at me.
“There is one thing you should know first.”
“What?”
“Brooke doesn't have the ledger anymore.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Who does?”
Charles said:
“Your mother.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: My Mother’s Secret Possession Forced Her to Admit What She Had Hidden Since Evelyn Disappeared and Why Brooke Had Been So Desperate
The Christmas Invitation My Parents Never Answered Left Me Wondering Who Had Decided I Wasn’t Worth Showing Up For
Part 13 of 20
