Chapter 3 - Samuel ReedSamuel Reed closed the door.
He didn't sit.
Neither did I.
I simply stared at him.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
His eyebrows pulled together.
“Dead?”
“I mean disappeared.”
He looked at Carolyn.
“She told you that?”
“My mother did.”
Samuel exhaled slowly.
“I wondered when she would finally tell you.”
My stomach tightened.
“You knew Mama?”
“For thirty years.”
“And Wayne?”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Samuel looked at me as though choosing between several dangerous answers.
“Your accident wasn't an accident.”
The room became silent.
I shook my head.
“A delivery truck hit my car.”
“Yes.”
“That's not an accident?”
“The truck driver said your brakes failed.”
“My brakes?”
“Yes.”
I remembered the old story.
Wayne had told me the mechanic had examined my car after the crash.
He had told me the brakes were faulty.
I looked at Samuel.
“Were they?”
“No.”
My fingers curled around the chair.
“What happened?”
Samuel finally sat.
“The brake lines had been damaged.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You represented me.”
“I represented your legal claim.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You were seventeen.”
“Where was Mama?”
“Trying to keep you alive.”
His answer cut through me.
Samuel leaned forward.
“Your mother believed Wayne caused the accident.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“She was right.”
The room tilted.
I sat.
“Why?”
Samuel rubbed his forehead.
“Your mother found financial records. Wayne had taken out loans using your name.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You were seventeen. He had access to your identification.”
“He was my stepfather.”
“Yes.”
“And Mama knew?”
“She discovered it after the accident.”
I remembered Mama visiting me in the hospital.
The fear in her eyes.
The way she kept asking nurses whether I was awake.
The way she never left me alone with Wayne.
I had thought she was simply frightened.
Samuel continued.
“The settlement was supposed to compensate you for permanent injuries.”
“How much?”
He looked at me.
“More than three hundred thousand dollars.”
My heart stopped.
“Three hundred...”
“Yes.”
“I was told there was nothing left.”
“There was more than enough.”
“Then what happened?”
Samuel opened his briefcase.
He removed a photocopied document.
“This.”
It was a settlement agreement.
The amount was printed clearly.
$318,940.00
I covered my mouth.
Wayne had told me the hospital bills had swallowed everything.
Samuel continued.
“Your mother discovered the truth before Wayne could access all of it.”
“So she took the remaining money?”
“She moved what she could.”
“How much?”
“$18,940.”
I looked toward the flour tin.
“That money.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did the bank statement show $18,940?”
Samuel nodded.
“Your mother opened an account under a trust.”
“What trust?”
“For your benefit.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because Wayne was watching.”
I stared at him.
“Watching me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Samuel’s eyes narrowed.
“Because the money was only part of it.”
My pulse accelerated.
“What else was there?”
He looked at Carolyn.
Carolyn locked the office door.
Samuel opened a second file.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed a young woman.
She looked about twenty.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
I stared.
“I don't know her.”
Samuel didn't speak.
I looked again.
Something about her eyes felt familiar.
“Who is she?”
Samuel answered quietly.
“Her name was Emily Carter.”
I froze.
Carter.
My last name.
“Wayne’s daughter?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Your daughter.”
I laughed.
It was a strange, broken sound.
“No.”
“You were told the baby died.”
My mouth opened.
May you like
Samuel's next words destroyed whatever was left of my certainty.
“Your daughter never died.”
