Chapter 5 - what Dana knew)
Dana disappeared for nine hours.
She did not answer Emily.
She did not answer the police.
She did not return to Patricia’s house.
By ten the next morning, Noah was awake, complaining about hospital eggs and asking whether his scooter could be repaired.
That complaint nearly made Emily cry from relief.
The doctor discharged him shortly before noon with strict instructions for rest and observation.
Michael called from Oregon.
Emily told Noah’s father everything.
There was a long silence.
Then Michael asked the question Emily had been avoiding.
“Do you want me there?”
“Yes.”
“I’m booking a flight.”
He arrived that evening.
Patricia hated him.
At that moment, Emily considered that an advantage.
Michael hugged Noah so carefully that Noah laughed.
“You’re squishing me weird.”
“I’m trying not to break anything.”
“Nothing’s broken.”
“I know.”
“You’re still hugging weird.”
Emily watched them and felt some of the pressure leave her chest.
After Noah fell asleep, Emily and Michael sat in her living room.
Mark had called twice.
Officer Holloway once.
Dana had called nobody.
Michael listened without interrupting.
When Emily finished, he leaned forward.
“You think Patricia is more afraid of the drive than the DUI.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Foundation?”
“Maybe.”
Michael rubbed his hands together.
“Remember when we were married and she asked me to sign that confidentiality agreement?”
Emily looked up.
“What?”
He stared.
“You don’t remember?”
“No.”
“It was after your dad died.”
Thomas Carter had died four years earlier.
A stroke at sixty-four.
His death had reopened every old wound in the family.
“What agreement?”
“Patricia asked me to sign something saying I wouldn’t discuss family finances.”
Emily sat completely still.
“You never told me.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“During that huge argument when Noah had pneumonia.”
Emily thought back.
That week was a blur.
Hospital visits.
Medication.
Patricia interfering with everything.
“What did you do?”
“I refused.”
“Why did she ask you?”
“She said because your father left certain assets to you and Dana.”
Emily frowned.
“My father didn’t leave me anything except the education account for Noah.”
Michael shook his head slowly.
“That’s not what she told me.”
Emily stared.
“What exactly did she say?”
“She said you were receiving shares in the Carter property company.”
Emily felt the room shift.
“I never received shares.”
“I assumed you knew.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
Her phone rang.
Dana.
Emily answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
“Dana?”
“I need you to come somewhere.”
“No.”
“Emily, please.”
“Come here.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Dana sounded as though she had been crying.
“Because Mom has people watching your house.”
Emily stood.
Michael looked at her.
“What people?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dana.”
“She knows the police are going to search the SUV data.”
“Good.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
A long pause.
“The accident isn’t what she’s most afraid of.”
Emily closed her eyes.
She had known that.
Hearing Dana confirm it made the fear real.
“What is?”
Dana whispered, “Dad.”
Emily sat down again.
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know.”
“What does he have to do with this?”
Dana began crying.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
The way she used to cry when they were children and Patricia told them they had disappointed her.
“He found out what Mom was doing.”
Emily felt Michael watching her.
“What was she doing?”
“With the company.”
“What company?”
“Carter Property Holdings.”
Emily thought of Michael’s words.
The shares.
“Dana.”
“I can’t do this on the phone.”
“Where are you?”
“A motel near the airport.”
“Which one?”
Dana hesitated.
Emily said, “If you want me to trust you, start now.”
Dana gave the name.
Michael stood.
“I’m going.”
Emily shook her head.
“You stay with Noah.”
“Emily.”
“I need him here.”
Michael understood.
Emily pulled on her coat.
Before she left, Michael said, “Record the conversation.”
She paused.
The instinctive part of her wanted to reject it.
Then she remembered the driveway.
No more blind trust.
She activated the voice recorder on her phone and slipped it into her coat pocket.
The motel was twenty-five minutes away.
Dana opened the door before Emily knocked.
Her older sister looked terrible.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Same black sweater from the night before.
Emily entered.
Dana locked the door.
“You moved the scooter.”
Dana began crying again.
“I know.”
“You told Noah to lie.”
“I know.”
“You tried to stop me calling 911.”
“I panicked.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I know.”
Emily remained standing.
“What did Dad find?”
Dana wiped her face.
“Mom had been taking money from the family company for years.”
Emily said nothing.
Dana continued.
“Small amounts at first. Then larger.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Millions?”
Dana looked at her.
“Yes.”
Emily felt cold.
“And Dad?”
“He discovered it during the divorce.”
“Why didn’t he go to the police?”
“Because Mom threatened him.”
“With what?”
Dana looked away.
“With us.”
Emily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She told him if he accused her publicly, she’d make sure he never saw either of us again.”
“We were adults by then.”
“I was twenty-two. You were nineteen.”
Emily stared.
Dana shook her head.
“That wasn’t the only threat.”
“What else?”
“Mom had recordings.”
Emily thought of the SUV.
“Of Dad?”
“Of everyone.”
Dana sat on the edge of the bed.
“She recorded arguments. Business meetings. Phone calls in the car. She kept everything.”
“Why?”
“Because she never wanted to be the person without leverage.”
Emily’s heart pounded.
“What was on the drive last night?”
Dana looked at her.
“Mom and Martin.”
Emily froze.
“The lawyer?”
“Yes.”
May you like
“What were they talking about?”
Dana whispered, “Your inheritance.”
