Chapter 12 - My Mother’s Exit
Mother had left her attorney’s office through a private parking garage fourteen minutes before police arrived.
Her driver claimed he dropped her at St. Matthew’s Church.
The church cameras showed she never entered.
By noon, state police had her plate number.
By one, the car was found at the airport.
By two, we learned the ticket purchased in her name was a decoy.
She had planned this.
Maybe for days.
Maybe for years.
Back at the house, forensic teams searched the hidden compartment beneath the floor. They found fibers, water bottles, adhesive residue, and a small battery lantern.
They also found something none of us expected.
A child’s drawing.
Noah recognized it immediately.
“I made that for Grandma.”
It showed four stick figures: Dad, Mom, Noah, Grandma.
The date in the corner was six months old.
Amelia stared at it.
“That was in the compartment?”
Brooks nodded.
I felt sick.
The hidden room wasn’t improvised.
Mother had used it before.
“For what?” I asked.
No one answered.
Mei stood near the doorway, pale and silent.
Then she said, “Mr. Reed.”
I turned.
“There is something I should have told you.”
My pulse jumped.
“What?”
“Two months ago, Mrs. Reed asked me not to clean this room on Thursdays.”
“Why?”
“She said restoration workers were treating the floor.”
“There were no workers.”
“I know that now.”
Brooks stepped closer. “Did you ever see anyone?”
Mei hesitated.
“Once. A man came through the service entrance.”
“Michael?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know his name. Tall. Gray coat. Scar near his chin.”
Amelia made a sound behind me.
I turned.
She was staring at Mei.
“You saw him?”
Mei nodded.
Amelia gripped the edge of the table.
“That’s the driver.”
“The one who took you?” Brooks asked.
“Yes.”
Brooks pulled up a mugshot database on her tablet and began showing Amelia faces.
On the seventh image, Amelia stopped breathing.
“That’s him.”
Brooks read the name.
“Gavin Price.”
I knew the name.
May you like
He had worked private security for my father.
Until Dad fired him three weeks before he died.
