Chapter 11 - What Rebecca Buried
Rebecca Sterling's grave sat beneath an old cedar tree in a private family cemetery.
Arthur, Daniel, Emily, and Claire arrived shortly after sunset.
Richard remained under police supervision after Emily anonymously sent evidence from the Red Haven drive to a federal investigator she trusted.
Arthur had asked why she trusted him.
Emily had answered, "Because he hates Richard Sterling."
It was not perfect logic.
But Arthur accepted it.
Daniel knelt beside Rebecca's headstone.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Arthur stayed back.
Some grief needed privacy even after seventeen years of shared secrets.
Finally Daniel touched his sister's name.
"She was better than all of us."
Claire stood beside him.
"She knew."
Daniel looked up.
"What?"
"She knew you loved her."
He nodded.
Then they began searching.
They were not digging up a coffin.
Rebecca had designed something subtler.
Daniel found a small metal latch inside the stone base.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a waterproof case.
Arthur exhaled.
"Please tell me that's the archive."
Daniel shook his head.
"Too easy."
Inside was a child's music box.
Emily frowned.
Daniel wound it.
A melody played.
Simple.
Seven notes.
Anna's childhood lullaby.
Daniel opened the bottom panel.
There was a handwritten message.
MEMORY REQUIRES A WITNESS.
Arthur said, "Meaning?"
Daniel stared at the music box.
"Anna needs someone who heard the song with her."
"Who?"
Claire whispered, "Richard."
Daniel's face hardened.
Of course.
Rebecca had made the archive accessible only through two people who distrusted each other.
Her daughter.
And her father.
Arthur said, "Then we need Richard."
Emily checked her phone.
"Federal investigators have him."
Daniel looked toward her.
"Not anymore."
Emily frowned.
Daniel held up his phone.
A hospital security alert showed Richard Sterling leaving through a service exit.
He was not alone.
Elias Mercer walked beside him.
Arthur swore.
Mercer had taken Richard.
Claire asked, "Why?"
Daniel looked at the music box.
"Because Richard is the witness."
Arthur checked the time.
10:21 p.m.
Less than two hours before Mercer's deadline.
Emily's phone rang.
She answered.
NICU.
Her face changed as she listened.
"What do you mean unstable?"
Arthur stepped closer.
Emily listened again.
Then hung up.
"The baby is crashing."
Arthur's heart stopped.
"What?"
"Heart rate fluctuations. Oxygen instability. She won't settle."
Arthur started toward the truck.
Daniel caught his arm.
"If you go back now, Anna dies."
Arthur shoved him.
"If I don't, the baby might."
"Arthur."
"Don't."
Daniel stood his ground.
"Mercer designed this choice."
Arthur stared at him.
"He wants you emotionally reactive."
"She's a child."
"She's my family."
Arthur's voice cracked.
"Then act like it."
Daniel flinched.
Arthur regretted the words immediately.
But he did not take them back.
Emily stepped between them.
"There's another option."
Both men looked at her.
"The baby stabilizes with Arthur's voice."
Arthur frowned.
"So?"
"I can call the NICU."
Daniel understood first.
"A recording."
Emily nodded.
"We give them a live audio feed."
Arthur's phone connected to the neonatal unit.
A nurse placed the speaker near the incubator.
Arthur felt ridiculous.
Then terrified.
He whispered, "Hey, little one."
Nothing.
Emily listened to the nurse.
"Keep going."
Arthur closed his eyes.
He did not know lullabies.
He did not know what people said to babies.
So he told the truth.
"My name is Arthur."
Daniel stared at him.
Arthur continued.
"I knew your grandfather."
His voice nearly failed.
"He was the bravest idiot I ever met."
Daniel almost laughed.
Arthur swallowed.
"And your mother is waiting for you."
The monitor stabilized.
Emily's eyes filled.
Arthur continued.
"So you keep breathing."
A pause.
"That's an order."
The NICU nurse began crying over the phone.
"She's stable."
Arthur lowered his head.
Daniel placed a hand on his shoulder.
For the first time that night, neither man said anything.
Then Claire looked toward the cemetery entrance.
Headlights appeared.
May you like
Three black vehicles stopped outside the gates.
Mercer had found them.
