Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Wasn't ThereFor seventeen years, I had believed my mother was dead. Thomas Bell had just told me that might be a lie.
We escaped through the rear ventilation corridor.
The storage facility was chaos.
Alarms screamed.
People ran between units.
Thomas knew the building like someone who had studied every exit.
We reached his car.
I grabbed his arm.
“My mother.”
He looked at me.
“You're going to tell me everything.”
“Not here.”
“You said she may be alive.”
“I said you may not know the whole story.”
“That's not the same thing.”
Thomas opened the driver's door.
“Get in.”
I didn't move.
“Thomas.”
He sighed.
“Your mother was connected to Edward Voss.”
“How?”
“She worked as a secretary at Kane Automotive.”
“That doesn't mean anything.”
“She was the person who discovered the first transfers.”
I froze.
“She found the shell companies?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because Richard threatened you.”
I stared.
Thomas continued.
“You were seventeen. Your mother knew Richard would hurt you if she spoke.”
“What did she do?”
“She vanished.”
“My father said she died.”
“Your father lied.”
I sat down.
For seventeen years, I had believed the story.
A highway accident.
Rain.
A guardrail.
No survivors.
A funeral.
A grave.
All of it.
Thomas drove us to a motel outside town.
Room 214.
He unlocked the door.
Inside was an old woman sitting beside the window.
She turned.
My breath stopped.
She had my mother's eyes.
But she was older.
Much older.
Her hair was white.
She stood slowly.
“Evan.”
The world disappeared.
I couldn't speak.
She walked toward me.
“I know.”
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because your mother chose you.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I whispered:
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
“Because Richard was watching you.”
“And now?”
“Now he's desperate.”
She reached into a drawer.
Inside was a cassette tape.
Old.
Damaged.
“Your mother recorded this twelve years ago.”
I stared at it.
“What's on it?”
“The truth about Derek.”
I looked at Thomas.
He nodded.
We played it.
Static.
Then my mother's voice.
“If Evan ever hears this, I need him to understand something.”
Her voice trembled.
“Richard Kane doesn't control Derek because Derek is his son.”
Pause.
“Richard controls him because Derek knows what his father did.”
My heart tightened.
The recording continued.
“Derek saw Edward Voss beaten the night he disappeared.”
I stared at Thomas.
My mother continued.
“He was eight years old.”
Another pause.
“And Richard made him promise never to speak.”
The tape clicked.
Then my mother said one final sentence.
“If Derek ever tries to help you, believe him.”
The tape stopped.
I looked at Thomas.
“Where is Derek now?”
Thomas didn't answer.
My phone rang.
Derek.
I answered.
“Evan.”
“Where are you?”
“Not where you're looking.”
“What did your father do?”
Silence.
Then Derek whispered:
“My father didn't kill Edward.”
Thomas's expression changed.
I frowned.
“Then who did?”
“Someone much closer to you.”
The line went dead.
My mother stood.
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
She looked directly at me.
“Who killed your father.”
I stared.
“My father?”
“He didn't die in the accident either.”
The room became completely silent.
I felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath me.
“My father is dead.”
“No.”
She reached into the drawer again.
This time she removed a photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Standing outside a Kane Automotive dealership.
The date on the photo was two years after his supposed death.
I couldn't breathe.
Then I noticed the person standing beside him.
Richard Kane.
And behind them was a woman.
My mother.
She was holding a baby.
Derek.
Thomas whispered:
“Evan…”
A knock came at the motel door.
Three slow knocks.
My mother's face went white.
She whispered:
“They found us.”
The door burst open.
A man in black stepped inside.
My mother screamed.
Thomas fired.
The lights shattered.
In the darkness, someone grabbed me from behind and whispered into my ear:
“Your father is alive.”
May you like
Then a cloth covered my mouth.
Everything went black.
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