Chapter 4 - Someone Had Been Inside)
By sunrise the recorder was gone from the shed.
Laura hid it somewhere she refused to tell Emily.
That frightened Emily more than anything.
For years Laura had survived by pretending not to know what was happening around her.
Now she was making plans.
Quiet plans.
Dangerous plans.
Rick sensed the change.
At breakfast he watched Laura longer than usual.
"You sleep okay?"
"Fine."
"You look tired."
"I am."
He stirred his coffee.
"Everything okay at work?"
"Yes."
Emily knew what he was doing.
He was not asking questions.
He was measuring answers.
Noah sat beside her, carefully avoiding Rick's gaze.
Rick suddenly looked at the boy.
"Finish your milk."
Noah lifted the glass.
His hand shook.
Rick noticed.
"So jumpy lately."
Emily reached over and steadied the glass.
Rick smiled at her.
"Protective sister."
"Someone has to be."
Laura kicked Emily gently beneath the table.
Rick's smile disappeared.
After he left for work, Laura immediately grabbed the prepaid phone.
Richard answered after one ring.
Emily could hear only fragments.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yesterday."
"James's recorder."
Then Laura said, "Richard, he's using Noah."
She listened.
Her eyes filled with fear.
"No. I won't wait another week."
Another pause.
"I understand what you need, but I don't care about the money anymore."
Emily moved closer.
Laura turned the speaker on.
A man's voice filled the kitchen.
"Laura, this stopped being about the money the moment Dawson put his hands on Noah."
Emily recognized the voice from the recording.
Older now.
Still controlled.
Richard Hale.
Laura whispered, "Emily is here."
Silence.
Then Richard said, "Hello, Emily."
Emily's throat tightened.
"Hi."
There were a thousand things she might have said to the grandfather she had been told abandoned her.
Instead she asked, "Why didn't you come get us?"
Laura closed her eyes.
Richard was silent for several seconds.
"Because every legal document I received said your mother wanted no contact."
"I never sent those," Laura said.
"I know that now."
Richard continued.
"I challenged the first two. Then your mother appeared in court eight years ago and confirmed she wanted distance."
Emily looked at Laura.
Her mother whispered, "Rick told me Dad was trying to take custody."
Richard's voice softened.
"He told me you believed I was trying to take the children."
Laura covered her face.
"He kept us afraid of each other."
"Yes."
Emily clenched her jaw.
"What do we do now?"
Richard's voice changed.
It became precise.
"The most important thing is keeping you and Noah safe."
"Then come here."
"I am coming."
"When?"
"Soon."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the answer I can give without risking Dawson discovering the plan."
Emily hated it.
She hated secret plans.
She hated adult voices telling children to wait while adults created the danger.
"There's a box," she said.
Richard went silent.
"What box?"
"Rick keeps asking Noah where Grandpa put the box."
Richard inhaled sharply.
"Emily, listen carefully. Your father believed the original transaction ledger was hidden somewhere on the property. I never knew where."
"Could Noah know?"
"He was two."
Noah appeared in the doorway.
He had heard his name.
Emily looked at him.
"Noah, do you remember a box?"
He shook his head.
Richard asked, "Can he hear me?"
Emily placed the phone on speaker.
"Yes."
Richard spoke gently.
"Noah, this is Richard."
Noah stared at the phone.
"The man from the recording."
Richard paused.
"Yes."
Noah sat slowly.
Richard continued.
"Did your dad ever show you a box?"
"No."
"Did anybody?"
Noah thought.
Then he whispered, "Mom did."
Laura stared at him.
"I did what?"
"You put it under the floor."
Laura went completely still.
"When?"
"In the green room."
"Noah, I've never taken you inside that shed."
Noah started crying.
"Yes you did."
"No, sweetheart."
"You were wearing the blue coat."
Laura's expression changed.
She looked at Emily.
"I didn't own a blue coat."
Richard suddenly spoke.
"What did the woman look like?"
Noah rubbed his eyes.
"Like Mom."
Laura's face drained of color.
Emily felt cold.
"What does that mean?"
Richard said nothing.
Laura looked frightened in a way Emily had never seen before.
Finally Richard spoke.
"Laura, was your sister ever at the house after James died?"
Laura gripped the edge of the counter.
"My sister?"
Emily frowned.
"You have a sister?"
Laura did not answer.
Richard said the name.
"Rebecca."
Laura turned toward him as if the phone itself had struck her.
"Rebecca died before Noah was born."
Richard's voice became quieter.
"No, Laura."
The kitchen seemed to shrink around them.
"No," Laura whispered.
May you like
Richard continued.
"Rebecca Hale is alive."
