Chapter 2: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Nobody moved.
Calvin stared at his phone as if it had become a bomb.
The ringtone kept chirping through the diner.
One note.
Then another.
Then another.
I felt cold all the way to my fingertips.
"Marlene," I whispered.
Victor turned toward me.
"Who is Marlene?""
"My sister.""
"You said she's dead.""
"She is.""
Calvin answered the phone.
"Hello?""
A woman's voice came through.
Even from across the room, I heard it.
"Calvin, why are those men in the diner?""
My knees almost buckled.
That voice.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in our childhood bedroom.
At family dinners.
At my wedding.
At my father's funeral.
I had heard it whispering lies behind closed doors for half my life.
"Marlene?"" I whispered.
Calvin's eyes flashed toward me.
The caller said something.
Calvin lowered his voice.
"I'll handle it.""
He hung up.
Victor stepped forward.
"Put the phone on speaker.""
"Mind your own business.""
Victor took another step.
"This became my business when you put your hands on her.""
Calvin glared at him.
"You don't know anything about this family.""
Victor looked at me.
"Apparently I know more than you think.""
I lowered myself carefully into a chair.
My hand was still throbbing where Calvin had grabbed me.
One of the bikers brought me a glass of water.
"Drink," he said gently.
I nodded.
Victor remained standing near me.
He looked at the photograph.
"Tell me everything.""
I stared at the picture.
Forty-three years earlier.
A younger Elijah stood beside me beneath the Blue Lantern sign.
His arm was around my shoulder.
He was smiling.
He had always smiled that way.
Like the world couldn't possibly be cruel enough to take him from us.
"He was my only child," I said.
Victor listened silently.
"Elijah was twenty-three when he disappeared.""
"How?""
"He had just married Rebecca.""
Victor looked down.
"My mother.""
I nodded.
"They were happy. They were saving money. Elijah wanted to buy a motorcycle repair shop.""
One of the bikers smiled faintly.
"Sounds familiar.""
I looked at Victor.
"He loved engines. He could hear a bad carburetor from the parking lot.""
Victor's mouth twitched.
"My father could rebuild an engine blindfolded.""
My eyes filled.
"He must have learned it from Elijah.""
Victor sat down across from me.
"What happened?""
I looked toward Calvin.
His jaw was tight.
"On the night Elijah disappeared, he was supposed to bring Rebecca here for dinner.""
Victor waited.
"They never came.""
"And the police?""
"They said they probably ran away.""
Victor's fingers curled into fists.
"I never believed that.""
"Neither did I.""
"Why?""
I looked at the photograph.
"Because Elijah left his wallet.""
Victor frowned.
"And?""
"His wedding ring was gone.""
"Meaning?""
"He would never leave without it.""
Victor stared at the table.
The diner suddenly felt smaller.
I rubbed my wrist.
"After he disappeared, Marlene told me Rebecca had run away with another man.""
Victor looked up sharply.
"What?""
"She said Rebecca had been planning it for months.""
"That's a lie.""
"I thought so.""
"Then why did you believe her?""
I closed my eyes.
"Because my sister brought me a letter.""
Victor's expression hardened.
"What letter?""
"One that looked like it was from Rebecca.""
"What did it say?""
"That Elijah was dead.""
Victor went perfectly still.
"What?""
I looked at him.
"The letter said there had been an accident. That Rebecca couldn't live with what happened. That she was leaving.""
"Where is it?""
"I destroyed it.""
Victor's chair scraped backward.
"You destroyed evidence?""
"I was grieving!""
His eyes softened immediately.
"I know.""
Silence.
Then I noticed something.
The edge of the pendant beneath his shirt.
"Where did you get that?""
Victor touched it.
"My mother gave it to me.""
"When?""
"When I was seventeen.""
My heart stopped.
"You knew her?""
"Not well.""
He looked toward the window.
"I grew up in foster homes.""
I stared at him.
"What?""
"My mother disappeared when I was a baby.""
"Rebecca disappeared before...""
I couldn't finish.
Victor nodded.
"I was told my father was dead.""
My eyes filled with tears.
"So was I.""
He looked directly at me.
"For all these years?""
"Yes.""
I whispered the words.
"Everyone told me my family was gone.""
Victor reached across the table.
He didn't touch me.
He simply placed his hand beside mine.
"I'm sorry.""
Behind him, Calvin laughed bitterly.
"This is ridiculous.""
Victor turned.
Calvin had stopped looking frightened.
Now he looked angry.
"You really believe some old photo proves anything?""
Victor stood.
"DNA can.""
Calvin's face tightened.
"You think I'm scared?""
"No.""
Victor's voice was quiet.
"You should be.""
Calvin pulled another document from his coat.
"She signed an agreement with me last year.""
He dropped it on the table.
I stared.
"I did not.""
"You did.""
Victor picked it up.
I saw my own signature.
My stomach twisted.
"I've never seen that.""
Calvin smiled.
"You've been forgetful lately.""
The biker beside Victor snapped his head toward him.
"Careful.""
Calvin ignored him.
"The diner has been in financial trouble for years. I'm fixing it.""
"You've been taking money from the register," I said.
His smile vanished.
"You have no proof.""
"I keep the books.""
"You barely know how to use a computer.""
"I know how much coffee I sell.""
Victor looked at me.
"How much money has he taken?""
I hesitated.
"Almost ninety thousand dollars.""
Victor stared at Calvin.
"From her?""
Calvin shrugged.
"Family needs money.""
"Family doesn't steal.""
He laughed.
"You don't get to lecture me about family.""
Victor's voice dropped.
"You'd be surprised.""
Then his biker companion reached into his jacket.
"Boss.""
He handed Victor a phone.
Victor looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?""
The biker pointed.
"Found the old county record.""
Victor turned the screen toward me.
There was a scanned document.
A hospital birth certificate.
A baby's name.
*Victor Elijah Carter.*
Below it was the mother's name.
*Rebecca Carter.*
And beneath Rebecca's name was another line.
*Emergency contact: Marlene Hart.*
My sister.
I covered my mouth.
Victor stared at the screen.
"Why was my mother connected to Marlene?""
"I don't know.""
"Think.""
I searched my memory.
Then something surfaced.
A sentence my sister had whispered forty years ago.
Something I hadn't thought about in decades.
I stood too quickly.
The diner spun.
Victor caught my elbow.
"What is it?""
I looked at him.
"The night before Elijah disappeared...""
My voice trembled.
"Marlene asked me where I kept the deed to this diner.""
Victor's face hardened.
"Why?""
"I thought she wanted to help.""
"What else?""
I closed my eyes.
"She said, 'One day, this place will belong to us.''"
Nobody spoke.
Then Calvin's phone rang again.
He looked at the screen.
This time, the number was unknown.
He answered cautiously.
"Hello?""
A man's voice came through.
Calvin's face drained of color.
The caller said only seven words.
"Tell your aunt to check the basement.""
Calvin hung up.
Victor stared at him.
"Who was that?""
Calvin shoved the phone into his pocket.
"I don't know.""
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Then why do you look terrified?""
Calvin said nothing.
I looked toward the kitchen.
The basement door was beside the pantry.
Locked.
Always locked.
I had not opened it in twenty years.
Victor followed my gaze.
"What's down there?""
I swallowed.
"Old records.""
"Anything else?""
I looked at the door.
"Memories.""
Victor stood.
"Let's go.""
When he opened the basement door, cold air rushed up the stairs.
At the bottom sat boxes covered in dust.
He shone his phone flashlight across the room.
Then stopped.
On the concrete wall, barely visible beneath years of grime, was a message written in faded red paint.
May you like
Three words.
*I SAW EVERYTHING.*
