Chapter 8 - Rick's First Mistake)
Emily did not answer.
Rick stepped forward.
She immediately pressed the phone against her chest.
"Give me that."
"No."
"Emily."
"No."
Rick's eyes hardened.
He grabbed for it.
Emily moved back.
The pantry shelf struck her shoulder.
The phone slipped from her hand and landed behind a sack of potatoes.
Rick reached down.
Laura appeared.
"Don't."
Rick turned.
Laura stood several feet away holding the leather belt he usually kept hanging beside the basement stairs.
For one second no one understood.
Then Laura dropped it into the kitchen trash can.
"You're done."
Rick laughed.
"You think throwing away a belt changes anything?"
"No."
Laura looked at Emily.
"But telling my daughter the truth does."
Rick's expression changed.
Emily saw it.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Laura continued.
"I know about James's accounts."
Rick said nothing.
"I know about the mechanic."
Nothing.
"I know Rebecca was alive after you told me she was dead."
Rick glanced toward the pantry wall.
That was his mistake.
Small.
Automatic.
But Emily saw it.
So did Laura.
He knew about the hidden room.
Laura whispered, "You were inside."
Rick recovered.
"Inside what?"
"The room."
"You're losing it again."
The words struck Laura harder than shouting would have.
For years Rick had used the same weapon.
You're confused.
You're emotional.
You don't remember correctly.
You're becoming unstable again.
This time Laura did not retreat.
She smiled.
"I wondered when you'd say that."
Rick stared at her.
Laura took out her regular phone.
The screen showed an audio recorder.
"I've been recording for eleven minutes."
Rick lunged.
Emily grabbed his arm.
Laura stepped back.
The phone kept recording.
"Say it again," Laura said.
Rick stopped.
For the first time, the power in the room shifted.
Not completely.
But enough.
He looked at Emily.
Then at Laura.
"Where is the box?"
Laura said, "Somewhere you'll never get it."
Rick's jaw tightened.
"Richard put you up to this."
"No. You did."
Rick laughed bitterly.
"You think Richard's coming to save you? Ask him where he was when James died."
Laura froze.
Emily stared at him.
Rick noticed.
He smiled.
"There it is."
"What are you talking about?" Laura asked.
"Richard knew James was in danger."
Laura shook her head.
"He begged him to go to the authorities."
"He also knew exactly where James was driving that morning."
Emily stepped closer.
"How?"
"Because Richard called him."
Laura looked sick.
Rick continued.
"James changed his route because of that call."
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
Rick pointed toward the pantry.
"Check the recording. Your precious father isn't the hero you think he is."
Emily's mind raced.
Could Richard have been involved?
Rick had spent eight years making Laura afraid of him.
Maybe there had been a reason.
Emily reached for the prepaid phone.
Rick kicked the sack of potatoes aside.
The phone screen was dark.
Call ended.
Rick smiled.
"Looks like Grandpa hung up."
Then Noah screamed upstairs.
Everyone turned.
Emily ran.
She found Noah in his bedroom.
His window was open.
Curtains moved in the wind.
Noah stood in the center of the room staring outside.
"What happened?"
"Someone was there."
"Where?"
"At the window."
Emily looked down.
The roof beneath the window was empty.
"What did they look like?"
Noah was crying.
"A woman."
Laura entered.
"What woman?"
Noah looked at his mother.
For several seconds he could not speak.
Then he whispered, "She looked like you."
Laura went white.
Emily hurried to the window.
On the roof was a folded piece of paper.
She reached out and grabbed it.
The handwriting was hurried.
Laura opened the note.
Three sentences.
Rick knows about the second copy.
Do not trust the mechanic report.
Ask Richard what happened at 8:14.
At the bottom was a single initial.
R.
Laura whispered, "Rebecca."
Emily looked at the clock.
8:14.
The same first three numbers from the code.
8146.
May you like
Maybe the number had never been a lock code at all.
Maybe it was a time.
