Chapter 3 - The Number Grandma Hid)
Brooke waited until 1:13 in the morning.
Gary and Laura’s bedroom door had been closed for nearly two hours.
The house was silent.
Ethan slept on a mattress on Brooke’s floor.
Brooke had told him it was because they were having a movie night.
Neither of them believed it.
She slipped into the hallway.
The stairs creaked near the bottom.
She avoided the third step.
Gary had once said the noise annoyed him.
Brooke had memorized every noisy place in the house.
The old phone sat on a small table near the living room.
It was not cordless.
Gary had insisted that cordless phones were unreliable.
Brooke lifted the receiver.
Dial tone.
She entered the number from memory.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Someone answered.
No greeting.
Brooke whispered, “Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man said, “Who is this?”
Her throat tightened.
“Brooke.”
Another silence.
Longer.
She almost hung up.
Then she heard him exhale.
“Brooke Hale?”
Nobody called her Hale anymore.
Gary had pushed their mother to change Brooke and Ethan’s last names after the marriage.
Whitlock.
Brooke had refused.
Ethan had been too young to understand.
“How do you know me?”
“Are you alone?”
“I asked you a question.”
“Brooke, listen carefully. Are you safe right now?”
The words made her angry.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Adam.”
Brooke’s fingers went numb.
She nearly dropped the phone.
“No.”
“Brooke.”
“No.”
“Your grandmother told me you might call.”
“My father’s name was Adam.”
“I know.”
“He left us.”
The man said nothing.
“She said you abandoned us.”
Still nothing.
“Gary said you stole money.”
Silence.
“He said you ran because the police were going to arrest you.”
The man finally answered.
“Gary said that?”
“You’re not my father.”
“I can prove who I am.”
“How?”
“You have a scar under your chin.”
Brooke stopped.
“You got it when you were six. You tried jumping from the back porch with a red umbrella because you thought it would work like a parachute.”
Brooke’s knees weakened.
Nobody knew that story.
Her grandmother had.
Her mother had.
Gary did not.
And her father.
“You cried until I promised not to tell anybody you screamed.”
Brooke lowered herself onto the staircase.
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“I tried.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I sent letters.”
“We never got them.”
“I know that now.”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I called every week for seven months.”
Brooke thought about one of Gary’s earliest rules.
Never answer numbers you do not recognize.
Her stomach turned.
“Why did you disappear?”
“I can’t explain everything over the phone.”
“Try.”
“I was accused of stealing from the restoration company Gary and I owned.”
Brooke closed her eyes.
The photograph.
“You were partners.”
“Yes.”
“Mom lied.”
“Your mother believed I was guilty.”
“That doesn’t explain nine years.”
“I was convicted.”
Brooke opened her eyes.
“What?”
“Wire fraud. Embezzlement. Forgery.”
She gripped the phone.
“You were in prison?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
Brooke could barely breathe.
“Were you guilty?”
“No.”
“Everybody says that.”
“I know.”
“So why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t. Not because I say it.”
That answer surprised her.
“Then why call?”
“Because Evelyn found evidence.”
“Grandma?”
“Two years before she died, she contacted me.”
“How?”
“She found one of my letters before Gary did.”
Brooke looked toward the dark kitchen.
“What evidence?”
“Brooke, did you find something today?”
Her chest tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Your mother sent a message.”
Brooke stood.
“My mother talks to you?”
“Keep your voice down.”
“She talks to you?”
“Yes.”
Brooke felt betrayed in a dozen directions.
“How long?”
“A little over four months.”
“Why?”
“Because Laura finally found proof that Gary set me up.”
Brooke nearly laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the idea was too enormous.
“She knew and she still lets him live here?”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“She’s afraid of him.”
“So are we.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her voice rose.
Floorboards creaked upstairs.
Brooke froze.
Adam whispered, “Someone awake?”
“I don’t know.”
“Put the phone down if you need to.”
“Why is Gary scared of those papers?”
“What papers?”
“In the cabinet.”
Adam went silent.
“Tell me exactly what you saw.”
“Bank records. Deed. Court document. A picture of you, Gary and Mom.”
“Was there a blue sheet?”
“I don’t know.”
“Brooke, listen to me. Do not look again.”
“Why?”
“Because if those are the records I think they are, Gary has been hiding them for nine years.”
The upstairs bedroom door opened.
Brooke heard Gary’s voice.
“Laura?”
Adam heard it too.
“Brooke.”
Footsteps.
“Hang up,” Adam said.
She whispered, “What do three knocks mean?”
Silence.
Then Adam said something that made the skin on her arms rise.
“It means I’m at the door.”
Brooke stared into darkness.
Footsteps reached the upstairs landing.
“When?”
“When you need me.”
“How would you know?”
“Your mother has a way to signal me.”
Brooke almost shouted.
“My mother stood there today and lied to my face.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know she is terrified Gary will hurt you if he realizes what she’s doing.”
Gary’s footsteps began descending the stairs.
Brooke whispered, “I have to go.”
“Brooke.”
“What?”
“If Gary loses control, don’t try to win the fight. Protect Ethan. Get to the phone. Call the number.”
She looked toward the hallway.
Gary’s shadow appeared.
“Three knocks?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“I come through the door.”
Brooke put down the receiver.
She barely made it back into the living room before Gary appeared.
He wore sweatpants and a T-shirt.
His eyes went straight to the telephone.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting water.”
“At the phone?”
“I thought I heard it ring.”
Gary stared.
“Did it?”
“No.”
He walked closer.
Brooke kept her expression flat.
Gary reached past her and lifted the receiver.
Then pressed redial.
Brooke’s heart hammered.
The line rang once.
Then a recorded female voice said, “Thank you for calling Franklin County weather information.”
Brooke almost smiled.
Adam had redirected the number.
Gary hung up.
“Go to bed.”
Brooke walked past him.
At the staircase, she stopped.
“Gary?”
“What?”
“Did you know my dad?”
Gary did not answer immediately.
Then he smiled.
“Your father was a criminal.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
His smile faded.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Well enough to know you’re better off without him.”
Brooke climbed the stairs.
Gary called after her.
“Brooke.”
She looked back.
“Some doors stay closed for a reason.”
Brooke held his gaze.
Then went upstairs.
In her room, Ethan was awake.
“Did you call?”
“Yes.”
“Who answered?”
Brooke looked toward the door.
Then at her little brother.
For nine years, she had believed their father walked away.
Now she knew he had been much closer than she imagined.
“It was Dad.”
Ethan sat up.
May you like
Brooke expected surprise.
Instead, Ethan whispered, “I know.”
