Dad\u2019s bedroom smelled exactly as it had the morning after his funeral: cedar, dust, and the faint medicinal scent of the aftershave he had used for as long as I could remember.<\/p>\n
I stood just inside the doorway while Anna remained behind me. The bed was made. Dad\u2019s reading glasses still rested beside the lamp. Three years of absence had flattened the room into something closer to a museum than a bedroom, and suddenly I resented myself for preserving it. I had treated his possessions as evidence of love while apparently never wondering what else they might be evidence of.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Anna pointed toward the wardrobe.<\/p>\n
I crossed the room and opened both doors.<\/p>\n
Suits hung in disciplined rows. Dad had arranged everything that way. Shirts by shade. Shoes paired precisely beneath them. Even his ties had been organized according to an order only he understood.<\/p>\n
I pushed the clothes aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack panel.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ran my hand along the wood. It felt solid until my fingers reached the lower left corner and found a slight ridge.<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched him open it once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The panel resisted. I slipped my fingers beneath the edge and pulled.<\/p>\n
A section of wood came away.<\/p>\n
Behind it was a narrow cavity.<\/p>\n
Inside sat a dark brown jewelry box.<\/p>\n
I forgot to breathe.<\/p>\n
It was smaller than I had imagined, its leather worn at the corners. A silver flower was set into the lid. Beneath it, nearly hidden beneath scratches, were two engraved initials.<\/p>\n
E.R.<\/p>\n
I touched them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father never told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me a first name when I was young. Then later he stopped using it. After enough years\u2026\u201d I shook my head. \u201cShe became \u2018your mother.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s expression tightened with something like anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose initials belonged to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lifted the box from the hiding place.<\/p>\n
It had weight.<\/p>\n
The tiny lock waited at the front.<\/p>\n
I put in the brass key.<\/p>\n
For one irrational second I hoped it would not fit.<\/p>\n
It slid in perfectly.<\/p>\n
The mechanism clicked.<\/p>\n
Anna caught my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the car is still there afterward, we don\u2019t stay here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really think somebody is watching us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think pretending otherwise would be foolish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s becoming a common answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled my wrist free, not roughly, and opened the lid.<\/p>\n
There was no stack of incriminating financial documents.<\/p>\n
At least not on top.<\/p>\n
There was a wedding ring, simple and scratched from wear. A silver pendant on a broken chain. A hospital identification bracelet folded carefully in half. Beneath those lay an envelope.<\/p>\n
My name was written across it.<\/p>\n
GEORGE.<\/p>\n
The handwriting matched the letter downstairs.<\/p>\n
I sat on the edge of the bed.<\/p>\n
Anna remained standing.<\/p>\n
I lifted the hospital bracelet first.<\/p>\n
The ink had faded, but the surname began with R. The date was close to my birthday.<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s bracelet.<\/p>\n
The reality of her existed in the small curve of plastic resting against my fingers. Not as a story Dad had told. Not as a photograph. Something she had worn against her skin.<\/p>\n
I set it down carefully.<\/p>\n
Then I opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
The first words blurred almost immediately.<\/p>\n
My dear George.<\/p>\n
I pressed the heel of my hand against one eye.<\/p>\n
Anna turned away, granting me privacy without leaving.<\/p>\n
I read.<\/p>\n
My mother wrote that if I was seeing the letter, she had failed to tell me certain things herself. She apologized for that. Then she warned me not to reduce my father to a monster simply because of what I might discover.<\/p>\n
That line surprised me.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t want me to hate him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter being afraid of him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted you to understand what happened before you decided what kind of man he was.\u201d<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
My mother described discovering irregular transfers from accounts belonging to her family\u2019s company. At first she believed Dad had taken money because his debts were worse than he admitted. She confronted him privately and offered to help if he stopped lying.<\/p>\n
He promised he would.<\/p>\n
He did not.<\/p>\n
A second set of transfers appeared.<\/p>\n
These did not lead to creditors.<\/p>\n
They led to an account controlled by a woman my mother had never heard of.<\/p>\n
I lowered the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s shoulders rose with a slow breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s identity was not included in that section. My mother wrote that Dad admitted knowing her long before the marriage and insisted that supporting her was an obligation he would not explain.<\/p>\n
When my mother threatened to expose the theft, he became frightened.<\/p>\n
When she told him she planned to leave and take me, fear apparently became something else.<\/p>\n
The letter contained one sentence that turned my stomach.<\/p>\n
That was when I stopped recognizing the man I had married.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after she told him she was leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna sat beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come over after dark. She had packed a suitcase. She had arranged somewhere for the three of us to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three of us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou, her, and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she trusted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna gave a humorless little smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith almost everything by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
I folded the letter across my knee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you friends?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLong before you could remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Dad knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew we were close. He didn\u2019t understand how close.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of the photograph downstairs: two women beside my crib, comfortable enough with one another that neither seemed posed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew she was leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last word landed quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at Dad\u2019s bedroom door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father came home early.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t supposed to be here until late. Your mother thought she had hours. She was upstairs collecting documents when his car pulled into the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old was I?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery young.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cDad said she died right after I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s face changed again.<\/p>\n
Another lie approaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow young?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were not a newborn.\u201d<\/p>\n
A cold sensation moved through my stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying some dates in the story your father gave you never matched what actually happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how old was I when she died?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna did not answer directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to keep reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated that answer, but the letter was already trembling in my hands.<\/p>\n
My mother described preparing to leave. She mentioned records copied from Dad\u2019s study, the lawyer she had consulted, and her fear that Dad might destroy anything she left behind.<\/p>\n
Then came a shorter passage.<\/p>\n
Anna knows what happened after that. If she is with you now, trust her even when what she says hurts.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour parents argued.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe downstairs hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was I?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they arguing about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money. The documents. You.\u201d<\/p>\n
I rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother told him she was taking you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told her she wasn\u2019t taking anything that belonged to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard glass break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s voice had become thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen your mother screamed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the section of floor near the bedroom door as though she could still see the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was standing over her.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he hit her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see what happened before I came in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Her voice sharpened unexpectedly. \u201cAnd I am not going to invent the part I didn\u2019t witness because it would make the story simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held her gaze.<\/p>\n
Anna drew a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I entered, your mother was on the floor. A table lamp had shattered. Your father was standing near her. She was injured and conscious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she say he did it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe tried to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pictured the room as it might have been two decades earlier. Different furniture perhaps. Different wallpaper. My mother on the floor. Dad above her. Anna running in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Dad do when he saw you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTold me to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
A ghost of the Anna I remembered appeared in that answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief came so quickly that I almost hated myself for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he helped her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told the paramedics she had fallen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFallen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDown the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced toward the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you found her in here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the hall outside this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would he say stairs?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that explanation fit the injuries better than admitting there had been a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed both hands to my forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did the doctors say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat some injuries didn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why wasn\u2019t there an investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was.\u201d<\/p>\n
My head came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA brief one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one ever told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father had attorneys before your mother was out of surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she conscious?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the police speak to her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was removed before I could find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a step toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemoved by who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father\u2019s lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words settled in the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s lawyer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis closest friend by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the man she meant even before she continued. He had appeared throughout my childhood as Uncle Martin, though we shared no blood. He attended holidays, advised Dad about business, and stood beside me at the funeral three years ago with one hand on my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helped cover it up?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helped control what people were allowed to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the answer I can prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
I began pacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you? What happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s hands clasped together.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the ambulance left, your mother managed to give me an envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was standing near the stretcher. Your father was talking to a paramedic. She pushed it into my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Dad saw?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered my thirteenth birthday.<\/p>\n
The empty chair.<\/p>\n
The cake that never came.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wait until I was thirteen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stayed in my life for years after all this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father needed help caring for you. And he needed me close enough to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence was so terrible I almost dismissed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re saying he kept you employed after you witnessed my mother injured?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father understood something about me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would tolerate almost anything if leaving meant abandoning you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became very still.<\/p>\n
Anna looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself staying gave me a chance to protect you. Maybe that was courage. Maybe it was cowardice. I still don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou practically raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe trusted you enough for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d She met my eyes. \u201cHe trusted what he could threaten me with.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought back to thirteen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were getting older. Asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you decided to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe present downstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething your mother wanted you to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought the box. What\u2019s inside belonged to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to go downstairs and tear open the wrapping.<\/p>\n
Instead I asked, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you come that night?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s hands began shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your father discovered what I planned to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tired of sneaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded painfully like her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him you were old enough to know your mother had not been the helpless, fragile woman he described. I said I was going to give you the first letter and answer whatever you asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was calm at first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s gaze unfocused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether I had the letter with me. I lied and said no.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed me documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBank statements with my name on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Dad\u2019s empty envelope the morning after my birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe framed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor stealing a few hundred dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the story he gave you. The documents were about much more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to send me to prison if people believed they were real.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe moved stolen money into an account in your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if I spoke to you, the police would receive everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not call his bluff?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there was one other threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Anna looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me that if I forced him to choose between keeping you and silencing me, I might not like what happened to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt something inside me go quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said children have accidents.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words entered the room like a draft.<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI left because I believed staying might make him hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll those letters I sent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever reached me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe canceled the account.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBelonged to one of his business associates. I had forty-eight hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you never came back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried twice. Someone followed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dark sedan outside returned to my mind.<\/p>\n
I crossed to the window.<\/p>\n
From the second floor I had a better view of the street.<\/p>\n
The car remained parked beneath a tree.<\/p>\n
A person sat behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
I could see only a silhouette.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
She came beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the same kind of car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The driver lifted something.<\/p>\n
A phone, perhaps.<\/p>\n
A faint light illuminated a hand.<\/p>\n
Then the sedan pulled away.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke until the taillights disappeared.<\/p>\n
Anna moved toward the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said there were documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother hid some. Your father destroyed others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the rest?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna reached into the inner pocket of her coat.<\/p>\n
She removed a photograph of a man I recognized immediately.<\/p>\n
Older now in the image. Thinner. Oxygen tubing beneath his nose.<\/p>\n
Martin.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s lawyer.<\/p>\n
The man who had stood beside me at Dad\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s alive,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything your father paid him to forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
An address had been written on the back.<\/p>\n
A storage facility near the industrial edge of town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies of records your father told him to destroy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInsurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin is dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked again at the address.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you speak to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if I wanted to understand what happened to your mother, I should take you to Unit 317 before someone else emptied it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t say who.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at the window.<\/p>\n
The street was empty now.<\/p>\n
I returned to my mother\u2019s letter, searching the last paragraphs.<\/p>\n
One sentence had been underlined.<\/p>\n
The truth about what your father did with the money matters, but George must understand that the money was never the most dangerous secret.<\/p>\n
I read it aloud.<\/p>\n
Anna went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve never seen that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat secret was more dangerous?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
I turned the page.<\/p>\n
Nothing else.<\/p>\n
Only my mother\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n
I looked at the jewelry box.<\/p>\n
The ring.<\/p>\n
The bracelet.<\/p>\n
The broken necklace.<\/p>\n
All things belonging to a woman Dad had taught me to treat like a beautiful ghost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat aren\u2019t you telling me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stared at my mother\u2019s initials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is one part I never understood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father told everyone your mother died the night she was taken to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve known my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw a body.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the floor shift beneath me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying your father refused to let me near the hospital after that night. He told me she died. Martin told me she died. There was a death notice. A funeral I wasn\u2019t allowed to attend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there must be records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed to the address on Martin\u2019s photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I spoke to him last week, I asked him one question. I asked whether your mother really died when your father said she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hair along my arms rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to find Unit 317.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sound came from downstairs.<\/p>\n
Not loud.<\/p>\n
A click.<\/p>\n
Anna froze.<\/p>\n
I heard it too.<\/p>\n
The unmistakable movement of the front doorknob.<\/p>\n
Someone was trying the lock.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s bedroom smelled exactly as it had the morning after his funeral: cedar, dust, and the faint medicinal scent of the aftershave he had used for as long as I … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32225,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185\/revisions\/32225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}