Chapter One — The Paper
Mom, if Mrs. Delmore gave you this, please don’t tell Dad until you’ve finished reading.
The words blurred in front of me.
I gripped the edge of Mrs. Delmore’s desk as if the floor had tilted.
I kept reading.
I know everyone thinks I disappeared. I’m sorry. I know you’re scared. I know you probably haven’t slept. But I didn’t run away because I hate you. I left because I was afraid if I stayed one more day, Dad would finally find out what I know.
My breath caught.
Daniel.
My husband.
The man who had stood beside me at the police station, holding my hand. The man who had printed flyers. The man who had driven through the rain shouting Noah’s name out the truck window until his voice cracked.
Mrs. Delmore stood silently by the door, one hand over her mouth.
I read faster.
You always tell me truth matters even when it hurts. So I’m telling you. Dad has another phone. It’s in the locked toolbox in the garage, under the old fishing reels. I found it three weeks ago when I was looking for the bike pump. There were messages. Money transfers. Photos of documents. Your documents. Grandma’s house papers. Insurance papers. Stuff with your signature that didn’t look like your handwriting.
My stomach turned cold.
My mother’s house.
She had left it to me before she died. Daniel had been pushing me to sell it for months.
I had said no.
