Chapter 13 - The Man Who Signed Twice
Rachel went outside to breathe. Behind the diner, the parking lot smelled of wet asphalt and spoiled cooking oil.
Bear followed but kept his distance.
"You can hate Thomas and still need his testimony," he said.
"I don't hate him because he left me. I hate that he let strangers use our kids."
"Then make him tell the truth under oath."
Rachel called Thomas again. He answered in a whisper from what sounded like a moving car.
"I know about the school forms," she said.
"I didn't sign those."
"You signed the contracts that made them possible."
"Yes. And I kept copies."
Rachel shut her eyes. "Where?"
"In a safety-deposit box under my mother's maiden name. I was going to tell you."
Owen asked whether Thomas would go to jail. Rachel did not know. 'Adults are responsible for what they choose,' she said. 'A court has to decide what the evidence proves.' Owen nodded as though that answer had weight. Later he told Lily that being angry with Dad didn't mean she had to stop remembering good days with him. Rachel heard the sentence from the hallway and had to sit down.
"When? After they renamed Owen?"
He made a choking sound. "I thought I could get out before anybody noticed."
"People noticed, Thomas. Their children went missing."
For the first time, he didn't argue.
"Sloane wants the memory card. Cole wants your family because Lily saw the handoff. They plan to say you're unstable. They'll show the court old records from when you took leave after your father's death."
Rachel felt a familiar rage. The paperwork she had trusted to protect her family was being sharpened into a weapon.
"Come to a federal agent," she said. "Bring the copies."
"I can't get away from them."
"Then give me the box number."
He read it out. Before she could write the final digits, tires screeched near his phone. Thomas shouted something, and the call cut off.
May you like
A second later, Rachel received a photograph of Thomas tied to a chair.
The message beneath read: MOTHER FOR FATHER. BRING THE CARD ALONE.
