Chapter 5 - My Father’s Name in Roman’s Ledger
I had spent nineteen years believing my father died in a boating accident.
Evelyn Hail destroyed that belief in less than five minutes.
She opened the black ledger to a page dated June 14, nineteen years earlier.
Thomas Ward.
My father.
His name appeared beside a series of coded transactions.
I looked at Roman.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn said, “Your father discovered Malcolm Voss was using Hail shipments to move illegal cargo.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“My father knew?”
“Eventually.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing.”
Roman looked at his mother.
“That doesn’t sound like him.”
“You were seventeen, Roman. You knew the version of your father he allowed you to see.”
I understood that better than I wanted to.
Evelyn continued.
“Thomas wanted to go to federal investigators. Alexander Hail refused.”
“My father threatened him?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“Voss did.”
She turned toward me.
“Your father had a wife and fourteen-year-old daughter.”
My chest tightened.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“Where did he go?”
“He disappeared before Voss could reach you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t have a better one.”
“Is he alive?”
Evelyn looked away.
“I don’t know.”
I stepped toward her.
“You knew my father might be alive for nineteen years and you never told me?”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
Roman’s eyes moved toward his mother.
“That sounds familiar.”
Evelyn looked at him sharply.
He didn’t flinch.
I asked, “Why was Ethan involved?”
“Because Ethan found Thomas’s old records.”
“When?”
“Before he married you.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Ethan married me because of my father?”
“At first, possibly.”
That hurt in an entirely new way.
Roman said, “Mother.”
“I’m not going to soften it.”
I felt sick.
“So my entire marriage was fake?”
“Not necessarily.”
“That is an impressive use of necessarily.”
Roman moved closer to me.
I hated how much the gesture helped.
Evelyn continued.
“Ethan was originally hired by Dean to find information Thomas might have left with you.”
“Who hired Dean?”
She closed the ledger.
“Malcolm Voss.”
Roman looked toward Victor.
“Get Rachel Kim.”
I asked, “Who?”
“A federal prosecutor.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“Your father would roll in his grave.”
Roman looked at her.
“Maybe he deserves the exercise.”
For the first time, I saw Evelyn smile.
It lasted only a second.
Victor left to make the call.
Lily came downstairs holding her stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy?”
I crouched.
“What are you doing awake?”
“I heard yelling.”
“Sorry.”
She looked at Evelyn.
“Are you Roman’s mommy?”
Evelyn froze.
“Yes.”
Lily studied her.
“You’re old.”
I closed my eyes.
Roman turned away to hide a smile.
Evelyn said, “I’ve been called worse.”
Lily held out her rabbit.
“This is Bunny.”
“How do you do, Bunny?”
That was the moment Evelyn Hail became human.
Not much.
But enough.
Lily looked at the ledger.
“What’s that?”
“Grown-up trouble,” I said.
“Grown-ups have too much trouble.”
Roman nodded solemnly.
“Correct.”
Mrs. Dalton took Lily upstairs.
Victor returned.
“Rachel’s on her way.”
“Good.”
“And Ethan’s awake.”
I turned.
“At the clinic?”
“Yes.”
“He’s asking for Claire.”
Roman looked at me.
“You don’t have to go.”
“Yes, I do.”
He nodded.
“I’m coming.”
At the clinic, Ethan looked terrible.
I stood beside his bed.
Roman remained near the door.
Ethan’s eyes went to him.
“Privacy?”
“No,” I said.
Ethan almost smiled.
“Fair.”
I sat.
“Did you marry me because of my father?”
His eyes closed.
Then opened.
“At first, I got close to you because Dean paid me.”
My heart broke quietly.
Not explosively.
Some pain is too deep for drama.
“How much?”
“Five thousand.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Ethan looked ashamed.
“I was twenty-five and stupid.”
“You married me.”
“I fell in love with you.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because leaving nearly killed me.”
I laughed bitterly.
“It seemed pretty easy from my side.”
He looked toward the ceiling.
“Dean found out I’d stopped reporting on you. He told me if I didn’t disappear, Voss would make sure you disappeared instead.”
“So you abandoned a pregnant woman.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was scared.”
“That is becoming everybody’s favorite excuse.”
Roman looked away.
Ethan whispered, “I checked on you.”
“You watched us?”
“Sometimes.”
“Lily?”
His eyes filled.
“I saw her first birthday from across the street.”
I hated him.
And I pitied him.
Both were exhausting.
“What did my father leave?”
Ethan looked at Roman.
“Something Voss has spent nineteen years searching for.”
“What?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ethan.”
“Thomas gave it to someone before he disappeared.”
“Who?”
He looked directly at me.
“Your mother.”
I shook my head.
“She died six years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then it’s gone.”
“No.”
“How can you know?”
“Because three nights ago, when I came to your apartment, I found the message she left.”
I stood.
“What message?”
“In Lily’s room.”
Roman straightened.
“Why would Claire’s mother hide anything in Lily’s room?”
“Because some of the furniture belonged to Claire when she was a child.”
My mind raced.
The old white bookshelf.
The cedar toy chest.
The yellow rocking chair.
All from my childhood.
Ethan whispered, “The message was carved into the underside of the toy chest.”
“What did it say?”
He closed his eyes.
Then repeated it.
“Where Claire learned to swim, Thomas left the truth beneath the red stone.”
I stopped breathing.
Roman asked, “Where did you learn to swim?”
I answered immediately.
“My grandmother’s lake house.”
“Still standing?”
“No. Sold years ago.”
“Location?”
“Lake Briar.”
Roman turned toward the door.
Ethan suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Claire.”
I looked down.
“Dean knows.”
“How?”
“He photographed the message.”
Roman stopped.
“When?”
“The night he drugged her.”
My pulse accelerated.
Roman looked at Victor.
“How far is Lake Briar?”
“Two hours.”
Roman checked his watch.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Speak.”
Dean’s voice came through the speaker.
“You’re getting closer.”
Roman’s face hardened.
Dean continued.
“Come to Lake Briar.”
“Why?”
“Because I already found the red stone.”
My stomach dropped.
Dean laughed softly.
“But the key isn’t here.”
He paused.
“Your maid’s father is.”
I grabbed Roman’s arm.
My father.
Alive.
After nineteen years.
May you like
Dean continued.
“And if Claire wants to see Thomas Ward breathing again, she’ll come alone.”
