Chapter 13 - The Lie Between Us

Nora backed away from Adrian. "You told me you didn't know where she was."

"I didn't know where she went," he said. "I knew she had been here."

"That's not an answer."

"No. It's not."

He stopped trying to sound like an attorney and finally told the truth. He had found the farmhouse eleven months earlier while investigating Meridian. Evelyn had refused to meet Nora until she could clear Daniel's name. She'd made Adrian promise not to reveal her location because Grant's men were still watching.

"I thought honoring her promise meant protecting you," Adrian said.

Nora laughed once, without humor. "You both decided what I could handle. You didn't protect me. You took my choice."

He lowered his eyes. "You're right."

Outside, police reported a suspicious vehicle leaving a nearby service road. Inside, Ruth remembered a name Evelyn had mentioned before she disappeared: Seabrook Station.

"Could be the train station," Lena said.

"Or the old radio station," Claire replied. "Eleanor Ashcroft bought that building for the scholarship program years ago."

Nora closed the box. "I go there. But Adrian doesn't speak for me anymore."

He stepped aside. "Understood."

At Seabrook Station, they found a boarded-up building covered with faded concert posters. An alarm chirped when Lena opened the door. In a back room, file cabinets stood beside broadcasting equipment wrapped in plastic.

Nora found a desk drawer labeled EV. Inside lay stacks of letters never mailed to her. On the first envelope, Evelyn had written: FOR NORA, WHEN SHE'S READY TO HATE ME.

Nora sat down and read until the words blurred. Evelyn described fear, guilt, the years lost, and an agreement she'd made to protect Nora from a forged criminal charge. She had stayed hidden because Grant could still make Nora the target.

The last letter was dated three days earlier. At the bottom, Evelyn had written: MEET ME AFTER THE TRUST HEARING. I'LL BE IN THE FRONT ROW.

May you like

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

The Bride Threw His 80-Year-Old Mother’s Jacket on the Floor at Their We...

She threw his 80-year-old mother’s jacket on the floor… and smiled like she had just won.In front of two hundred wedding guests, t...

Nora looked up, tears shining. "She's coming back."

The station's old speaker crackled to life. A recorded male voice said, "Then we'd better make sure there is no hearing."