\u201cYes.\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s eyes filled.
\n\u201cI found documents I couldn\u2019t explain. Accounts. Transfers. Company names.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd Rebecca confirmed it?\u201d
\n\u201cShe told me exactly where to look.\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s voice dropped.
\n\u201cShe said Mark never stopped.\u201d
\nI thought about Rebecca\u2019s video.
\nThe fake companies.
\nThe missing money.
\nThe corrupted reports.
\n\u201cWhat happened after she contacted you?\u201d
\n\u201cWe met.\u201d
\nMy eyes widened.
\n\u201cYou met Rebecca?\u201d
\n\u201cOnce.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere?\u201d
\n\u201cAt a diner nearly two hours away.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause she begged me not to.\u201d
\nEmily looked toward the trees.
\n\u201cShe was terrified Foster would find out she was alive.\u201d
\n\u201cBut Foster did find out.\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cHow?\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s face tightened.
\n\u201cSomeone followed me.\u201d
\nMy mind immediately went to Tom Bennett.
\n\u201cYou thought it was Tom?\u201d
\n\u201cAt first.\u201d
\n\u201cBut?\u201d
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cThen who?\u201d
\nEmily opened her mouth.
\nBefore she could answer, Ramirez\u2019s radio exploded with shouting.
\n\u201cSuspect down!\u201d
\nMy heart stopped.
\n\u201cFoster?\u201d
\nRamirez answered.
\n\u201cConfirm.\u201d
\nA pause.
\nThen,
\n\u201cFoster is alive. Leg injury. In custody.\u201d
\nEmily exhaled.
\n\u201cAnd the box?\u201d
\nRamirez asked immediately.
\nAnother pause.
\nThen her expression changed.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nShe listened.
\n\u201cThe box is gone.\u201d
\nMy stomach dropped.
\n\u201cWhat do you mean gone?\u201d
\n\u201cFoster didn\u2019t have it when they caught him.\u201d
\n\u201cBut we saw him carrying it.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cHe passed it to someone.\u201d
\nI looked toward the trees.
\nThere had been two gunshots.
\nMaybe Foster wasn\u2019t running alone.
\nRamirez started issuing orders.
\nSearch the perimeter.
\nClose the cemetery exits.
\nCheck vehicles.
\nNobody leaves.
\nThen one officer hurried toward us.
\n\u201cLieutenant, you need to see this.\u201d
\nRamirez followed.
\nEmily and I stayed close behind.
\nNear the tree line, a flashlight illuminated disturbed leaves.
\nThere was blood on the ground.
\nNot much.
\nAnd beside it lay the metal box.
\nEmpty.
\nMy chest tightened.
\n\u201cThe ledger?\u201d
\nGone.
\nThe lock had been broken.
\nInside was nothing except a single photograph.
\nRamirez lifted it with gloves.
\nThe image showed Rebecca.
\nOlder.
\nUnder her new identity.
\nAnna Mercer.
\nStanding beside someone.
\nI stepped closer.
\nThe second person\u2019s face was partially turned.
\nBut I knew her.
\nEmily knew her too.
\nShe gasped.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d
\nShe didn\u2019t answer.
\n\u201cEmily.\u201d
\nHer lips trembled.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s Mark\u2019s mother.\u201d
\nI felt cold.
\n\u201cHis mother?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nI had met Carol Foster dozens of times.
\nChristmases.
\nBirthdays.
\nFamily dinners.
\nShe had always acted like Rebecca never existed.
\nNow there was a photograph proving she had met Rebecca recently.
\n\u201cWhen was this taken?\u201d
\nRamirez checked the back.
\nA date was written in pen.
\nTwo months ago.
\nOne month before Rebecca died.
\nEmily stared at the picture.
\n\u201cShe knew.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cShe knew Rebecca was alive.\u201d
\nMy mind raced.
\n\u201cThen why would she hide that from Mark?\u201d
\nEmily looked at me.
\n\u201cMaybe she didn\u2019t.\u201d
\nThe implication landed hard.
\nMaybe Mark\u2019s mother had been part of this too.
\nRamirez\u2019s radio crackled again.
\nThey had found tracks leading from the trees toward the cemetery\u2019s service road.
\nFresh tire marks.
\nA vehicle had left minutes before police sealed the exits.
\nSomeone had escaped.
\nWith the ledger.
\nI looked toward Mark.
\nHe was being loaded into an ambulance under guard.
\nHe was injured.
\nFoster was captured.
\nTom was detained.
\nSo who had taken the box?
\nEmily suddenly grabbed my wrist.
\n\u201cSarah.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cThe person who followed me after I met Rebecca.\u201d
\nMy stomach tightened.
\n\u201cWho was it?\u201d
\nShe whispered,
\n\u201cCarol.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cMark\u2019s mother followed you?\u201d
\n\u201cI saw her car twice.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell police?\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know whether it meant anything.\u201d
\nEmily shook her head.
\n\u201cBut now\u2026\u201d
\nNow it meant everything.
\nThen Ramirez received another call.
\nShe listened silently.
\nHer face hardened.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nShe looked at Emily.
\n\u201cWhere does Carol live?\u201d
\n\u201cAbout thirty minutes away.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\nRamirez turned the phone toward us.
\nAn officer had checked her address.
\nCarol\u2019s house was empty.
\nBack door open.
\nDrawers overturned.
\nAnd on the kitchen table was a handwritten note.
\nThree words.
\nHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
\nI frowned.
\n\u201cWho knows?\u201d
\nNobody answered.
\nThen another officer approached.
\n\u201cWe found Foster\u2019s phone.\u201d
\nRamirez took it.
\nMost messages were deleted.
\nBut one had been received less than an hour earlier.
\nFrom a contact saved only as C.
\nThe message read:
\nGET THE BOX.
\nI\u2019LL HANDLE THE WOMEN.
\nEmily went pale.
\n\u201cCarol.\u201d
\nI looked at her.
\n\u201cYou think C is her?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nRamirez scrolled.
\nAnother message appeared.
\nOlder.
\nThree days earlier.
\nEMILY FOUND REBECCA.
\nMARK IS LOSING CONTROL.
\nThen one from the night Noah came to my house.
\nMAKE SURE THE BOY DOESN\u2019T HAVE ANYTHING.
\nI felt sick.
\nThis had been planned before Mark ever dropped Noah at my door.
\nThen Ramirez found a voice message.
\nShe played it.
\nA woman\u2019s voice.
\nOlder.
\nControlled.
\nFamiliar.
\nCarol.
\n\u201cRobert, Mark cannot know the truth yet.\u201d
\nEmily grabbed my arm.
\nThe recording continued.
\n\u201cIf he discovers what Rebecca put in that ledger, he will destroy all of us.\u201d
\nI stared at Ramirez.
\nAll of us.
\nNot him.
\nUs.
\nCarol was involved.
\nBut apparently she was also afraid of Mark learning something.
\nThe message continued.
\n\u201cKeep Sarah out of it. Get Noah away from the documents. I\u2019ll deal with Emily.\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s face drained of color.
\n\u201cShe took me.\u201d
\nMy heart stopped.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nEmily looked at me.
\n\u201cI thought Mark arranged everything.\u201d
\nShe shook her head slowly.
\n\u201cBut the first person who came to the house that night was Carol.\u201d
\n\u201cHis mother?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cShe said she wanted to help.\u201d
\nEmily began crying.
\n\u201cShe told me Mark was dangerous.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat happened?\u201d
\n\u201cShe convinced me to get into her car.\u201d
\nMy skin prickled.
\n\u201cAnd then?\u201d
\n\u201cShe drove me to the blue house.\u201d
\n\u201cWas Mark there?\u201d
\n\u201cLater.\u201d
\n\u201cFoster?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cSo Carol handed you to them?\u201d
\nEmily looked uncertain.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d
\n\u201cShe kept arguing with Foster.\u201d
\n\u201cAbout what?\u201d
\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t hear everything.\u201d
\nEmily concentrated.
\n\u201cShe said, \u2018This was never supposed to happen again.\u2019\u201d
\nRebecca.
\nIt had to be about Rebecca.
\nThen Ramirez scrolled farther through Foster\u2019s phone.
\nOne final audio file.
\nTimestamped that evening.
\nCarol\u2019s voice again.
\n\u201cIf Mark gets the ledger before I do, Noah will never be safe.\u201d
\nNoah.
\nMy heart dropped.
\n\u201cWhy Noah?\u201d
\nEmily whispered.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nThen my phone rang.
\nUnknown number.
\nRamirez nodded for me to answer.
\n\u201cHello?\u201d
\nSilence.
\nThen a woman spoke.
\n\u201cSarah.\u201d
\nI knew the voice.
\nCarol.
\nMark\u2019s mother.
\n\u201cWhere are you?\u201d
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d
\n\u201cDo you have the ledger?\u201d
\nA pause.
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nEmily stared at me.
\nI put the phone on speaker.
\nCarol continued.
\n\u201cYou need to listen carefully.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere is Noah?\u201d
\nHer question made my blood run cold.
\n\u201cWith police.\u201d
\n\u201cGood.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause Mark cannot get near him.\u201d
\nI looked toward the ambulance.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s in custody.\u201d
\n\u201cThat won\u2019t stop this.\u201d
\n\u201cCarol, what is in the ledger?\u201d
\nShe started crying.
\nQuietly.
\n\u201cI spent fourteen years trying to make sure nobody ever learned.\u201d
\n\u201cLearned what?\u201d
\n\u201cRebecca didn\u2019t discover Mark\u2019s crimes.\u201d
\nI frowned.
\n\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d
\n\u201cShe discovered where they started.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere?\u201d
\nCarol whispered,
\n\u201cWith his father.\u201d
\nMy stomach dropped.
\nMark\u2019s father had supposedly died when Mark was a teenager.
\nAt least that was what we had always been told.
\nCarol continued.
\n\u201cMark was never supposed to become part of it.\u201d
\n\u201cPart of what?\u201d
\n\u201cThe accounts. The bribes. The disappearances.\u201d
\nEmily covered her mouth.
\nI whispered,
\n\u201cWho was his father?\u201d
\nCarol didn\u2019t answer immediately.
\nThen she said,
\n\u201cYou already know him.\u201d
\nMy heartbeat slowed.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nI looked around the cemetery.
\nAt Foster.
\nAt Tom.
\nAt the officers.
\nAt every man who had been part of our lives.
\n\u201cWho?\u201d
\nCarol whispered one name.
\n\u201cRobert Foster.\u201d
\nEverything inside me stopped.
\nMr. Foster.
\nMark\u2019s father.
\nThe retired officer who had lived two houses away from me for years.
\nThe man who watched our neighborhood.
\nThe man who helped my mother.
\nThe man who had supposedly been a family friend.
\nHe wasn\u2019t Mark\u2019s friend.
\nHe was his father.
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cOh my God.\u201d
\nCarol continued.
\n\u201cAnd Sarah\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cMark doesn\u2019t know.\u201d
\nI stared toward Foster as officers lifted him into an ambulance.
\n\u201cHe doesn\u2019t know Foster is his father?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why hide it?\u201d
\nCarol\u2019s voice broke.
\n\u201cBecause Foster didn\u2019t just help cover up Rebecca\u2019s disappearance.\u201d
\nMy grip tightened around the phone.
\n\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d
\n\u201cHe caused it.\u201d
\nI couldn\u2019t breathe.
\nThen Carol said the sentence that changed everything again.
\n\u201cAnd if you want Emily and Noah to survive what comes next, you need to find out why Rebecca wrote your father\u2019s name on the first page of the ledger.\u201d
\nThe call ended.
\nI stared at Emily.
\nShe stared back.
\nDad.
\nRebecca.
\nFoster.
\nMark.
\nSomehow my father had been connected to all of them long before any of us knew.
\nAnd now the only person holding the ledger had vanished with the truth.<\/p>\n
PART 9 \u2014 THE FIRST PAGE OF THE LEDGER<\/h1>\n
For several seconds, neither Emily nor I spoke.
\nOur father\u2019s name.
\nOn the first page of Rebecca\u2019s ledger.
\nAfter everything we had learned, that frightened me more than anything else.
\nBecause Dad had been the one person I still believed was completely outside this nightmare.
\nThe one person who had helped Rebecca.
\nProtected her.
\nHidden her evidence.
\nNow even that certainty was gone.
\nEmily finally whispered,
\n\u201cSarah\u2026 what if Dad wasn\u2019t protecting Rebecca?\u201d
\nI turned toward her.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat if he was involved?\u201d
\n\u201cHe helped her escape.\u201d
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean he was innocent.\u201d
\nI hated hearing it.
\nBut I hated even more that she was right.
\nOfficer Ramirez approached us.
\n\u201cWe need to get both of you somewhere secure.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat about Carol?\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re tracing what we can.\u201d
\n\u201cShe has the ledger.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd she knows what\u2019s on the first page.\u201d
\nRamirez nodded.
\n\u201cWhich means she may be our best chance of understanding what started all of this.\u201d
\nI looked toward Foster.
\nParamedics had stabilized his leg.
\nHe was conscious.
\nHandcuffed.
\nWatching us.
\nNot Mark.
\nNot the police.
\nUs.
\nI walked toward him before Ramirez could stop me.
\n\u201cDid you know my father?\u201d
\nFoster smiled faintly.
\n\u201cI knew a lot of people.\u201d
\n\u201cDid you know him before Rebecca disappeared?\u201d
\nHis smile faded slightly.
\nThat was enough.
\n\u201cYou did.\u201d
\nHe looked away.
\n\u201cWhat was his role?\u201d
\nNo answer.
\nI stepped closer.
\n\u201cYou spent years pretending to be our neighbor.\u201d
\n\u201cI was your neighbor.\u201d
\n\u201cYou had a key to my mother\u2019s house.\u201d
\n\u201cShe trusted me.\u201d
\n\u201cYou watched my son grow up.\u201d
\nHis jaw tightened.
\n\u201cYou think that means nothing?\u201d
\n\u201cI think everything you did had a reason.\u201d
\nHe looked at me then.
\nReally looked at me.
\n\u201cYou sound like your father.\u201d
\nThe words hit hard.
\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d
\nFoster laughed once.
\n\u201cHe always thought he could control the ending.\u201d
\nMy chest tightened.
\n\u201cEnding of what?\u201d
\nBut before he answered, another officer moved between us.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s enough.\u201d
\nFoster leaned back against the stretcher.
\nThen quietly said,
\n\u201cAsk Emily what your father did in 2010.\u201d
\nI turned.
\nEmily had gone pale.
\n\u201cYou know something.\u201d
\nShe shook her head.
\n\u201cNot exactly.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d
\n\u201cAfter Rebecca contacted me, she told me Dad hadn\u2019t found her by accident.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cYou never told me that.\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know what it meant.\u201d
\n\u201cHow did he find her?\u201d
\nEmily swallowed.
\n\u201cShe called him.\u201d
\nMy heart stopped.
\n\u201cWhy would Rebecca call Dad?\u201d
\nEmily looked toward Foster.
\nThen back at me.
\n\u201cBecause they already knew each other.\u201d
\nI felt sick.
\n\u201cHow?\u201d
\n\u201cRebecca said Dad had been helping her for months.\u201d
\n\u201cWith what?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s not good enough.\u201d
\n\u201cI know!\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s voice cracked.
\n\u201cI asked her.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd?\u201d
\n\u201cShe said if I knew everything about Dad, I might not want to remember him the same way.\u201d
\nThose words hurt.
\nOur father had been dead six years.
\nWe had mourned him.
\nDefended him.
\nTurned him into the safest memory in the family.
\nAnd now a dead woman had warned Emily that the truth could change that.
\nRamirez\u2019s radio crackled.
\nAn officer had found something near Anna Mercer\u2019s grave.
\nA second object buried beneath loose soil.
\nNot the ledger.
\nA plastic tube sealed at both ends.
\nInside were rolled documents.
\nRamirez had them brought to us.
\nThe first was a photocopy of a handwritten ledger page.
\nAt the top:
\nMARCH 17, 2008.
\nMy heart jumped.
\n3 \u2014 17 \u2014 8.
\nThe numbers written beneath Noah\u2019s red toy truck.
\nEmily saw it too.
\n\u201cOh my God.\u201d
\nThe first three numbers were a date.
\nMarch 17, 2008.
\n\u201cWhat about 26?\u201d I whispered.
\nRamirez unfolded the next page.
\nThere were numbered entries.
\nShe scanned downward.
\nEntry 26.
\nMy father\u2019s name.
\nDANIEL HARPER.
\nI stopped breathing.
\nThe four numbers were instructions.
\n3 \u2014 17 \u2014 8 \u2014 26.
\nMarch 17, 2008.
\nEntry twenty-six.
\nEmily grabbed my arm.
\n\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d
\nRamirez read carefully.
\nPayment received.
\nTransfer authorized.
\nDH.
\nWitness protection relocation preparation.
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cWitness protection?\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what it says.\u201d
\n\u201cDad wasn\u2019t law enforcement.\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why would his name be beside that?\u201d
\nNobody answered.
\nBelow Dad\u2019s name was another set of initials.
\nRF.
\nRobert Foster.
\nMy stomach turned.
\nDad and Foster.
\nConnected years before Rebecca disappeared.
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cKeep reading.\u201d
\nThe next line said:
\nSUBJECT: CAROL M.
\nNEW IDENTITY REQUESTED.
\nI stared at Emily.
\n\u201cCarol?\u201d
\nMark\u2019s mother.
\nRamirez continued.
\nReason:
\nDOMESTIC THREAT \/ FINANCIAL COERCION \/ MINOR CHILD.
\nMinor child.
\nMark.
\nMy brain struggled to assemble the pieces.
\n\u201cDad helped Carol?\u201d
\nEmily whispered.
\n\u201cMaybe he was trying to get her away from Foster.\u201d
\nThat changed everything again.
\nMaybe Dad hadn\u2019t been part of the crimes.
\nMaybe he had been helping people escape them.
\nRamirez turned to the next document.
\nA letter.
\nWritten in Dad\u2019s handwriting.
\nI recognized it immediately.
\nThe sharp D.
\nThe strange way he crossed his T\u2019s.
\nMy hands started shaking.
\nSarah and Emily,
\nIf either of you ever reads this, then Robert found what I tried to hide.
\nEmily covered her mouth.
\nI kept reading.
\nI made mistakes.
\nI trusted the wrong people.
\nBut I need you to understand this clearly:
\nI never worked for Robert Foster.
\nI worked against him.
\nMy eyes filled.
\nEmily started crying.
\nThe letter continued.
\nIn 2008, Carol came to me terrified.
\nShe said Robert had been using his position to protect financial crimes and intimidate anyone who discovered them.
\nShe wanted to leave with her son.
\nMark.
\nBut she changed her mind at the last moment.
\nNot because Robert became better.
\nBecause she became afraid Mark would lose everything.
\nI looked toward Foster.
\nHis face was unreadable.
\nDad\u2019s letter continued.
\nTwo years later, Rebecca found me.
\nShe had discovered Mark was repeating Robert\u2019s methods.
\nI tried to help her.
\nI failed.
\nThat sentence broke me.
\nDad had carried guilt for years.
\nNot guilt because he caused Rebecca\u2019s disappearance.
\nGuilt because he couldn\u2019t prevent it.
\nThen came the next paragraph.
\nRebecca survived because I reached her before Robert did.
\nBut someone betrayed our escape route.
\nThat person was Carol.
\nEmily gasped.
\nI looked at her.
\nCarol had helped Rebecca?
\nNo.
\nCarol had betrayed her.
\nThe letter continued.
\nCarol told Robert where Rebecca was going.
\nI moved Rebecca again before he could reach her.
\nAfter that, Rebecca never trusted Carol.
\nNeither did I.
\nMy heart pounded.
\nSo Carol had been lying to us too.
\nShe wasn\u2019t simply a terrified mother protecting Mark.
\nShe had played both sides for years.
\nThen I reached the final page.
\nThere was only one paragraph.
\nIf Robert or Carol ever comes for my daughters, there is one person you can trust.
\nFind Rebecca\u2019s brother.
\nHis name is Michael Collins.
\nHe has the complete copy.
\nThe complete copy.
\nNot the ledger Carol had.
\nA second copy existed.
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cRebecca had a brother?\u201d
\n\u201cI never knew.\u201d
\nRamirez immediately started checking.
\nThen she stopped.
\nHer expression changed.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a Michael Collins connected to Rebecca\u2019s old address.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere is he?\u201d
\nRamirez looked up.
\n\u201cLocal.\u201d
\nMy pulse jumped.
\n\u201cHow local?\u201d
\nShe turned her phone toward me.
\nThe address was less than three miles from my house.
\nI stared at the street name.
\n\u201cThat can\u2019t be right.\u201d
\nEmily leaned closer.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\nBecause I knew the house.
\nEveryone in the neighborhood did.
\nIt belonged to the man who had lived there for nearly twelve years.
\nQuiet.
\nPrivate.
\nAlways gardening.
\nRarely speaking.
\nWe knew him as Michael Cole.
\nNot Collins.
\nI suddenly remembered something.
\nThe day Noah arrived, Michael had been trimming hedges near the corner.
\nHe had watched Mark\u2019s black sedan drive away.
\nAnd when he saw Noah, his face had changed.
\nAt the time, I thought nothing of it.
\nNow I understood.
\nHe recognized him.
\nRebecca\u2019s nephew by marriage.
\nRamirez radioed officers immediately.
\nThen my phone rang.
\nUnknown number.
\nI expected Carol.
\nInstead, a man spoke.
\n\u201cSarah Harper?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cMy name is Michael.\u201d
\nMy heart pounded.
\n\u201cMichael Collins?\u201d
\nSilence.
\nThen,
\n\u201cSo Daniel left you the letter.\u201d
\nI almost dropped the phone.
\n\u201cYou knew my father?\u201d
\n\u201cHe saved my sister.\u201d
\nEmily stepped closer.
\n\u201cIs Rebecca really dead?\u201d
\nMichael didn\u2019t answer immediately.
\nThen he said,
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nEverything stopped.
\nI stared at the phone.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cRebecca isn\u2019t dead.\u201d
\n\u201cBut Anna Mercer\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cWas another identity.\u201d
\nMy pulse thundered.
\n\u201cThe grave?\u201d
\n\u201cEmpty.\u201d
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cOh my God.\u201d
\nMichael continued.
\n\u201cRebecca needed everyone to believe she was dead.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause someone found her again.\u201d
\n\u201cFoster?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cCarol?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nI looked at Ramirez.
\n\u201cThen who?\u201d
\nMichael lowered his voice.
\n\u201cMark.\u201d
\nMy skin went cold.
\n\u201cMark knew she was alive?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cFor how long?\u201d
\n\u201cThree months.\u201d
\nEmily covered her mouth.
\nThat was when Rebecca contacted her.
\nMichael continued.
\n\u201cRebecca knew Mark was getting close, so she started preparing everything.\u201d
\n\u201cThe memory card?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cThe ledger?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cThe grave?\u201d
\n\u201cA distraction.\u201d
\nI tried to breathe.
\n\u201cWhere is Rebecca now?\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t need to know yet.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, I do.\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nHis voice hardened.
\n\u201cBecause Carol has the ledger, and if she knows Rebecca is alive, she\u2019ll lead Foster directly to her.\u201d
\nI looked toward Foster.
\nHe was watching me.
\nLike he could somehow hear every word.
\nThen Michael said,
\n\u201cSarah, I need you to leave the cemetery.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cNow.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been watching the road.\u201d
\nMy blood turned cold.
\n\u201cWhat road?\u201d
\n\u201cThe cemetery access road.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd?\u201d
\n\u201cThere are two vehicles coming toward you.\u201d
\n\u201cPolice?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nI looked at Ramirez.
\nShe immediately started issuing orders.
\nMichael continued.
\n\u201cOne belongs to Carol.\u201d
\nMy chest tightened.
\n\u201cAnd the other?\u201d
\nHe went silent.
\n\u201cMichael?\u201d
\nWhen he answered, his voice had changed.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s something Daniel never learned.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cRobert Foster wasn\u2019t the man in charge.\u201d
\nThe cemetery entrance suddenly exploded with headlights.
\nTwo vehicles came through the gate.
\nFast.
\nToo fast.
\nOfficers shouted.
\nRamirez pulled me and Emily behind a stone monument.
\nMy phone remained pressed to my ear.
\n\u201cWho was in charge?\u201d I whispered.
\nMichael answered with four words.
\n\u201cMark\u2019s grandfather is alive.\u201d
\nThen the first vehicle slammed into a police cruiser.
\nAnd an elderly man stepped from the second car.
\nEmily looked over the stone.
\nHer face went completely white.
\n\u201cSarah\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cI know him.\u201d
\nThe old man lifted his head.
\nAnd smiled.
\nEmily whispered,
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the man who came to my house the night before I disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\ud83d\udc49\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/svg\/1f449.svg\")
\u00a0PART 10 \u2014 THE MAN BEHIND EVERYTHING<\/a><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"