Chapter 7 - My Mother Was Watching
I spent the entire drive to the storage facility staring at the photograph.
Rachel.
My mother.
Alive.
At least six months ago.
Maybe tonight.
Maybe right now.
Thomas drove.
Dad sat in the back seat with me.
Vanessa was beside him.
Nobody spoke.
Finally I asked,
“Why did Mom leave me?”
Dad whispered,
“She didn't.”
“Then why?”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
He looked at Thomas.
Thomas kept driving.
“Your mother discovered something about a company your father worked for.”
“What kind of company?”
“Financial investigations.”
Dad answered.
“She discovered money was being moved through accounts that shouldn't exist.”
Thomas glanced at him.
“And you helped them.”
Dad shook his head.
“I was forced.”
“By whom?”
Dad hesitated.
“A man named Victor Hale.”
Thomas's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“I know him.”
“Who is he?”
Thomas said,
“He was a federal prosecutor.”
My stomach twisted.
“Was?”
Thomas nodded.
“He disappeared after Rachel vanished.”
The storage facility appeared ahead.
Rows of metal doors stretched into darkness.
M17 was near the end.
Thomas unlocked it.
Inside was almost nothing.
One wooden chair.
A metal box.
A photograph.
And an old cassette recorder.
My heart pounded.
Thomas picked up the photograph.
It showed Rachel holding me as a baby.
On the back was a message.
For my daughter, when she is old enough to understand.
I couldn't stop crying.
Thomas opened the metal box.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Bank statements.
Court records.
Photographs.
Letters.
And a small red envelope.
Thomas opened it.
A note fell out.
If Thomas is with her, play the recording.
He looked at me.
Then pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then my mother's voice.
“If you're hearing this, something went wrong.”
I covered my mouth.
Her voice.
I remembered it.
Barely.
But I remembered.
Rachel continued.
“I need you to know one thing. I never left you.”
My tears fell.
“I was forced to disappear because someone inside the system was protecting the people who wanted me silent.”
Thomas stared at the recorder.
Rachel continued.
“Thomas, if you're listening, I'm sorry.”
He closed his eyes.
Then she said something that made everyone freeze.
“The person you trusted most is the one who betrayed us.”
The recording stopped.
Nobody moved.
Dad whispered,
“No.”
Thomas looked at him.
Rachel's voice returned.
“One more thing.”
The recording crackled.
“If Daniel is still alive, do not believe him.”
My father looked at me.
And I realized my entire childhood had been built around a story that was never true.
Then the recorder clicked again.
Rachel spoke one final sentence.
“Because Daniel wasn't the only one who betrayed me.”
May you like
The room went silent.
Vanessa began to cry.
