Chapter 4
THE BOOK MY DAUGHTER HAD CARRIED FOR FIVE YEARSI had never driven so fast in my life.
Rachel stayed on the phone while I raced back toward Austin.
“Jason, listen carefully. Do not go straight to Maya if you believe someone is following you.”
I checked the mirror.
No dark SUV.
At least not yet.
“Mrs. Ortega has her.”
“Call her.”
I did.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
My heartbeat became painful.
Sarah sat beside me.
Evelyn was in the back seat.
I had not wanted either of them with me.
But leaving Sarah behind when Bell knew her address seemed worse.
On the third attempt, Mrs. Ortega answered.
“Jason?”
“Is Maya with you?”
“Yes.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Where are you?”
“At my sister’s house.”
“Why?”
“A man came to the school asking for Maya.”
My hands tightened.
“What man?”
“He said he was from the court.”
Bell.
“What did you do?”
“I told the office Maya was absent.”
I closed my eyes.
“Thank you.”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“He had documentation.”
“What kind?”
“An order saying Evelyn had custody.”
I glanced at my mother in the mirror.
Her face went pale.
Mrs. Ortega continued.
“The principal almost released Maya’s information.”
“Almost?”
“I showed them your emergency filing from Ms. Sloan.”
Thank God for Rachel.
“Do not tell anyone where you are.”
“I won’t.”
“We’re coming.”
Sarah whispered, “Don’t.”
I covered the phone.
“What?”
“If Bell watches Jason, he’ll lead Bell to Maya.”
She was right.
I hated that she was right.
Rachel said the same thing when I told her.
“Meet me at my office instead.”
Forty minutes later, we sat in Rachel’s conference room.
Sarah’s presence changed everything.
Rachel stared at her for a long time.
“You understand,” she finally said, “that legally speaking, your existence creates significant complications.”
Sarah gave a humorless smile.
“That seems to be the theme.”
Rachel looked at Evelyn.
“And you helped falsify a d/e/@/th record?”
My mother said nothing.
“That is not a small matter.”
“I know.”
“No, Mrs. Vance. I’m not sure you do.”
Evelyn looked suddenly older.
Rachel turned to Sarah.
“You said there is evidence inside a children’s book?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“A micro SD card.”
I stared at her.
“Inside the book?”
“The spine has a hollow section.”
“What’s on it?”
“Copies of client ledgers, emails, wire instructions, and audio files.”
Rachel leaned back.
“This sounds like material for federal investigators.”
Sarah nodded.
“It was.”
“What happened?”
“The investigator who first took my statement disappeared from the case.”
Sensitive wording ran through my mind, but the meaning was clear.
“Transferred?” Rachel asked.
Sarah hesitated.
“Officially.”
No one said more.
I thought about Maya.
“The book.”
Sarah nodded.
“Does she still have it?”
“I don’t know.”
I called Mrs. Ortega.
“Maya has a blue book with a silver moon. Is it with her?”
There was rustling.
Then Maya came on.
“Dad?”
“Sweetheart, do you still have Mom’s moon book?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
I looked at Sarah.
Her eyes filled.
“Where?”
“In my backpack.”
Of course.
The backpack my mother searched.
The one item Maya never left behind.
“Do not take it out.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Is Grandma in trouble?”
I looked at Evelyn.
“Yes.”
My mother shut her eyes.
Maya whispered, “Good.”
The word landed harder than any accusation.
We arranged for Rachel’s investigator, a former detective named Marcus Hale, to collect Maya and bring her through the parking garage.
An hour later, Maya entered Rachel’s office.
She stopped immediately.
Sarah was standing near the window.
For one heartbeat, nobody moved.
Maya stared.
Her backpack slid from her shoulder.
Sarah’s lips trembled.
“Maya.”
My daughter stepped backward.
“No.”
Sarah began crying.
“Maya, honey—”
“No.”
She turned to me.
“Dad?”
I stood.
Maya looked terrified.
“Is that her?”
I nodded.
She looked back at Sarah.
Then her face twisted.
“You’re alive?”
“Yes.”
Maya made a sound I had never heard before.
Not a scream.
Not crying.
Something deeper.
Five years of grief collapsing all at once.
She ran.
Not toward Sarah.
Toward me.
I caught her.
She buried her face against my chest.
“You said she was d/e/@/d.”
“I thought she was.”
“You said you saw her.”
“I thought I did.”
“You lied.”
“No.”
Sarah whispered, “He didn’t.”
Maya spun around.
“You don’t talk.”
Sarah froze.
“You don’t get to talk.”
Her voice shook.
“You left.”
“Maya—”
“You left me with her.”
She pointed at Evelyn.
My mother looked away.
Sarah covered her mouth.
“I thought you would be safe.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Maya grabbed her backpack.
“She told me Dad didn’t want me.”
Sarah cried harder.
“She told me you d/i/e/d because I stressed you out.”
I turned slowly toward Evelyn.
My mother’s face went white.
“You said what?”
Evelyn whispered, “I never—”
“You did,” Maya snapped.
Silence filled the room.
Maya’s shoulders shook.
“When I got bad grades in sixth grade, you said Mom’s c/@/ncer got worse because I caused stress.”
Sarah crossed the room.
Evelyn stepped back.
“I was angry.”
“You blamed a child?”
Sarah’s voice was low and dangerous.
“I said things I regret.”
“You let her think she helped k/i/ll me.”
“Sarah—”
“No.”
For the first time, Sarah sounded like the woman I remembered.
Strong.
Sharp.
Protective.
“You do not explain that away.”
Maya opened her backpack.
I stopped her.
“The book.”
She pulled it out.
Blue cover.
Silver moon.
The corners were worn.
Sarah reached toward it and stopped herself.
Maya noticed.
“Is this why?”
Sarah nodded.
“Partly.”
Maya looked devastated.
“You left me because of a book?”
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
Sarah knelt several feet away.
“I left because I was terrified.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
Sarah bowed her head.
“You’re right.”
Rachel stepped in gently.
“Maya, we need the book because something hidden inside may help prove what happened.”
Maya stared at it.
Then at Evelyn.
“You searched for this.”
My mother said nothing.
Maya laughed bitterly.
“You always took my books away when I got grounded.”
Evelyn’s silence answered.
Maya handed the book to Rachel.
Marcus carefully examined the spine.
Five minutes later, he found the seam.
Inside was a tiny memory card wrapped in plastic.
Sarah exhaled as if she had been holding her breath for years.
Rachel inserted it into an offline laptop.
Folders appeared.
Invoices.
Bank records.
Scanned signatures.
Names.
Hundreds of files.
Then one folder caught my attention.
VANCE FAMILY.
My stomach tightened.
Rachel opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Our old apartment.
My office.
Maya’s elementary school.
Hospital parking lots.
Someone had been watching us.
Maya whispered, “That’s my old playground.”
Sarah looked sick.
Rachel opened an audio file.
A man’s voice filled the room.
Thomas Bell.
“If she talks, separate the husband from the daughter. The mother will cooperate.”
Another voice.
Linda Marsh.
“What if Jason asks questions?”
Bell replied, “He won’t. Grief makes people easy to manage.”
My skin turned cold.
Sarah covered her face.
Evelyn began crying.
Rachel paused the recording.
“Mrs. Vance.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I didn’t know about this.”
Sarah stared at her.
“You worked with them.”
“Not at first.”
“What does that mean?”
My mother’s hands trembled.
“They contacted me after Sarah disappeared.”
“You told me Bell helped us,” Sarah said.
“He did.”
“No. He orchestrated us.”
Evelyn broke down.
“I didn’t understand until later.”
“When?”
“After the guardianship.”
I stared at her.
“You forged my signature.”
“Bell’s office prepared everything.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Yes.”
One word.
Flat.
Awful.
“Yes, I allowed it.”
Maya looked at her grandmother.
“Why?”
Evelyn could barely speak.
“Because Bell said if Jason got custody, they would take you.”
Maya frowned.
“Who?”
“The people looking for Sarah’s evidence.”
Rachel said, “So you thought isolating Maya protected her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why steal money?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I told myself I deserved compensation.”
Sarah looked horrified.
“For raising your granddaughter?”
“For giving up my life.”
I laughed without humor.
“There it is again.”
Evelyn suddenly snapped.
“You were all allowed to have tragedies!”
The room fell silent.
“Sarah was sick. Jason was grieving. Maya lost her mother. Everyone had a reason to fall apart.”
Her voice broke.
“And me? I was expected to fix everything.”
“No one asked you to become a monster,” Sarah said.
Evelyn flinched.
Rachel reopened the files.
Then Marcus leaned over the screen.
“What’s this?”
A spreadsheet.
Payments.
Names.
Dates.
One recipient appeared repeatedly.
EVELYN VANCE.
My mother froze.
Sarah stared at her.
Rachel scrolled.
Payments from Bell’s firm.
Ten thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
Twenty-two thousand.
More.
I looked at Evelyn.
“You weren’t just taking my money.”
She said nothing.
“You were getting paid by Bell.”
“No.”
“It’s right there.”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
Her lips trembled.
“I was giving him updates.”
Maya stepped backward.
Sarah whispered, “Updates about what?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“About Jason.”
I felt the floor shift.
“What?”
“He wanted to know whether you suspected anything.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
“Years?”
“I never told him about the book.”
“That’s your defense?”
“I protected that.”
“You searched for it.”
“To destroy it before he found it.”
Rachel frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
Evelyn looked at Sarah.
“It does if Bell wasn’t the person I was afraid of.”
The room went still.
Sarah’s face changed.
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered a name.
“David Vance.”
My father.
A man who had supposedly abandoned us when I was nine.
A man I had not seen in twenty-eight years.
My mother looked at me.
“Your father is alive.”
May you like
I stared.
“He’s also the reason Bell was watching Sarah.”
