Chapter 4: The Woman Upstairs
The floorboard creaked again.
Michael grabbed my sleeve.
“Dad.””
“I heard it.””
David was already moving toward the staircase.
“Don't,” I said.
He stopped.
“You said Sarah wasn't supposed to know we found the letter,” I whispered.
“I never said that.””
“You didn't have to.””
Another creak.
This time, from the second floor.
Someone was walking.
Slowly.
Michael stepped behind me.
David's face had gone gray.
“There's a back door,” he whispered.
I stared at him.
“You want to run?””
“No.””
“Then we're staying.””
He nodded.
I climbed the stairs first.
The house was silent except for rain tapping against the windows.
At the top, Michael's grandmother's bedroom door stood open.
It had been closed when we left it.
I pushed it wider.
Empty.
The bed was untouched.
The closet door was open.
I checked the bathroom.
Nothing.
Then I heard something from the hallway.
A soft metallic click.
I turned.
At the end of the hall stood Sarah.
She was holding a key.
Her hair was soaked from the rain.
Michael whispered, “How did you get here?””
Sarah looked at him.
“I came to talk to your father.””
“You followed us?””
“No.””
I stepped between them.
“You lied to me.””
She looked at me.
“I know.””
“About Emily.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
“About the accident.””
“Yes.””
“About the letter.””
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Michael's voice cracked.
“Why?””
Sarah looked at him.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Where is the envelope?””
Sarah's hand tightened around the key.
“I don't have it.””
“David says you do.””
David came into the hallway.
Sarah froze.
“David.””
He looked at her.
“You should have told him.””
“You don't get to judge me.””
“I've been judging myself for four years.””
Michael stared between them.
“You both knew.””
Sarah looked at him.
“I knew your mother was investigating the accounts.””
“And you chased her.””
“I didn't chase her.””
“You followed her.””
“Yes.””
“You hit her car.””
Sarah began crying.
“I didn't mean to.””
“But you did.””
She nodded.
“I did.””
The words seemed to crush her.
I looked at David.
“What happened after the crash?””
He answered.
“Emily was alive.””
Michael gasped.
I turned toward him.
“What?””
David swallowed.
“She was conscious.””
“You told police she died instantly.””
“I know.””
“You told me she never spoke.””
“I lied.””
I grabbed his jacket.
“You let me believe that for four years?””
David didn't fight me.
“I was scared.””
I shoved him away.
“What did Emily say?””
He looked at Sarah.
“She said she had proof.””
“Proof of what?””
“Everything.””
Sarah wiped her face.
“She said she'd already sent copies.””
“To whom?””
“I don't know.””
I stared at Sarah.
“You knew.””
“I knew she had something.””
“What?””
She looked at Michael.
Then she said quietly, “A recording.””
The room seemed to shrink.
“A recording of what?””
Sarah didn't answer.
David did.
“Sarah talking to someone.””
“Who?””
He shook his head.
“She never told me.””
Sarah whispered, “She wasn't recording me.””
I looked at her.
“Then who?””
Sarah's eyes moved toward Michael.
And suddenly I understood.
“You weren't trying to silence Emily.””
Sarah said nothing.
“You were trying to silence someone else.””
Her face collapsed.
Michael stepped forward.
“Who?””
Sarah looked at him.
“You.””
Michael's lips parted.
“Me?””
Sarah nodded.
“Your mother found out someone had been contacting you.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“Then why were you afraid?””
Sarah's voice broke.
“Because I thought they were going to take you.””
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?””
She reached into her purse.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“I received this three weeks before Emily died.””
She handed it to me.
The paper was old.
Yellowed.
There was no signature.
Only one sentence.
*Tell Emily to stop digging, or the boy pays for it.*
Michael read over my shoulder.
His face went white.
“Someone threatened me?””
Sarah nodded.
“And you never told me?””
“I thought I could handle it.””
“You handled it by hiding everything?””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“You were trying to protect yourself.””
She looked at me.
“I know.””
David stepped closer.
“There was more.””
Sarah shook her head.
“Don't.””
“There was another letter.””
“David.””
“Marcus deserves to know.””
“What letter?”” I asked.
David reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a torn piece of paper.
I recognized Emily's handwriting immediately.
*If anything happens to me, look inside the blue—*
The rest was missing.
I looked at David.
“Where did you get this?””
“Emily gave it to me.””
“When?””
“Minutes before the crash.””
My heart pounded.
“What did she say?””
David looked toward Sarah.
“She said, ‘He doesn't know yet.’”
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“What did she mean?””
“I don't know.””
Michael suddenly spoke.
“Dad.””
I turned.
He was looking at the key in Sarah's hand.
“What's that for?””
Sarah went still.
The key was small.
Brass.
An old-fashioned number was stamped into it.
*17.*
I stared at it.
“Where did you get that?””
Sarah closed her fist.
“It doesn't matter.””
“Sarah.””
She looked at me.
“It belongs to a storage unit.””
“Whose?””
“Emily's.””
My chest tightened.
“You said everything of hers was in the box.””
“I lied.””
Michael whispered, “What's inside?””
Sarah looked at him.
“The things your mother never wanted your father to find.””
Before I could ask what that meant, headlights swept across the hallway window.
A car had stopped outside.
Sarah looked toward the stairs.
David stepped back.
“Someone followed me.””
I looked through the window.
A dark sedan sat at the curb.
The driver's door opened.
A woman stepped out.
She was carrying a folder.
Sarah's face changed instantly.
“No.””
I turned.
“Who is she?””
May you like
Sarah whispered:
“Emily's attorney.””
