Chapter 4: The Ticket
The photograph shook in Daniel Mercer's hand.
I couldn't stop staring at it.
There I was at seventeen, standing outside the Cedar Creek post office with my Navy enlistment papers tucked beneath my arm.
I remembered that afternoon.
I remembered the heat.
The smell of hot asphalt.
The way my hands had trembled because I'd just mailed my final paperwork.
But I didn't remember the man standing beside me.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and wearing a light-colored shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.
His face was turned slightly away from the camera.
I couldn't see his eyes.
But Dad had written something on the back.
*Rachel never knew who paid for her ticket.*
"What ticket?"" I asked.
Nobody answered.
I looked at Daniel.
"What ticket?""
He glanced at Arthur.
Arthur nodded.
"The bus ticket," Daniel said.
I frowned.
"I drove to basic training.""
"Not originally.""
My mouth went dry.
Daniel continued.
"Your father told me that the morning you left, Helen refused to drive you to the station.""
I looked at Mom.
She stared at the floor.
"I walked," I said.
Arthur shook his head.
"No. You didn't.""
I remembered the morning.
I had carried one duffel bag.
I remembered crying in my bedroom because Dad had already left for work.
Mom had stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed.
"You made your choice," she'd told me.
I had asked her for a ride.
She'd said no.
So I'd walked nearly two miles to the bus station.
At least, that was what I'd always believed.
Arthur looked at me.
"Your father followed you.""
My heart skipped.
"He followed me?""
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Because he was worried.""
I looked down at the photograph.
"Then why don't I remember him?""
"Because he didn't want you to see him.""
I looked up.
"That doesn't make sense.""
Arthur's eyes moved toward Helen.
"It will.""
Mom finally spoke.
"Arthur, stop.""
"No.""
Her voice cracked.
"You promised Robert.""
"I promised Robert I'd tell her the truth.""
"You don't know what that truth will do to her.""
I stepped toward my mother.
"You've had twelve years to worry about what the truth would do to me.""
She looked at me.
"Please.""
That word almost broke something inside me.
Not because I felt sorry for her.
Because I had spent twelve years begging her to say it.
Please come home.
Please call me.
Please believe me.
Please let me explain.
Now she was the one saying it.
Daniel handed me the photograph.
My fingers brushed the paper.
"Who is he?""
Daniel hesitated.
"His name is Thomas Reed.""
The name meant nothing.
Arthur's expression was grim.
"Thomas was a private investigator.""
My stomach tightened.
"Why would Dad hire a private investigator?""
Arthur looked at Helen.
"That's the question.""
Mom shook her head.
"Robert didn't hire him.""
Arthur turned sharply.
"You told him you did.""
"I didn't.""
"Then explain why Robert wrote his name seventeen times in that notebook.""
Mom said nothing.
Chloe stepped forward.
"Mom.""
Helen looked at her.
"Who is Thomas Reed?""
"I don't know.""
Arthur laughed bitterly.
"You've never been a convincing liar.""
Her eyes flashed.
"Don't you dare.""
Daniel interrupted.
"There was another photograph.""
He pulled out a second picture.
This one showed Dad standing beside Thomas.
Both men were outside a small diner.
On the back were three words.
*He knows everything.*
I stared at Dad's face.
He looked serious.
Not angry.
Not frightened.
Determined.
"How long before Dad died was this taken?""
Daniel answered.
"About three months.""
My chest tightened.
"Three months?""
"Yes.""
"Why didn't anyone tell me?""
Daniel glanced at Helen.
"Because your father asked us not to.""
I looked at Arthur.
"Why?""
"Because he was trying to protect you.""
"From what?""
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"From what he had discovered.""
He opened the notebook again.
"I think you should see this.""
He turned it around.
There was a page filled with dates.
The first was twelve years old.
The day I left Cedar Creek.
Next to it, Dad had written:
*Helen said Rachel left without saying goodbye. False.*
Below it:
*Helen said Rachel refused the money I offered. False.*
Then:
*Helen said Rachel asked me not to contact her. False.*
My breathing became shallow.
"She told you I didn't want to hear from you?""
Arthur nodded.
"Repeatedly.""
I looked at Mom.
"You told Dad I didn't want him?""
Her eyes filled.
"You were angry with him.""
"No.""
I stepped closer.
"I was seventeen.""
"I know.""
"You told him I didn't want him.""
"I thought—"
"What did you think?""
She couldn't answer.
Chloe whispered, "Mom, why?""
Helen turned toward her.
"Because I was afraid.""
The church fell silent again.
"Afraid of what?"" Chloe asked.
Helen's eyes moved to me.
"Of losing my family.""
I shook my head.
"You lost us by lying.""
"I thought the Navy would take you away.""
"It didn't.""
"You stopped being the girl I knew.""
"No.""
My voice cracked.
"You stopped letting me be your daughter.""
She looked down.
Daniel cleared his throat.
"There is one more thing.""
He pulled a folded document from the box.
"Colonel Lawson kept the original ticket receipt.""
He handed it to me.
The paper was brittle.
The ink had faded.
But I could still read the date.
Twelve years earlier.
The morning I left.
I stared at the passenger name.
Rachel Lawson.
Then I saw the purchaser.
*Thomas Reed.*
My pulse stopped.
"He bought my ticket?""
Arthur nodded.
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Your father asked him to.""
I looked at Dad's photograph.
"Why couldn't Dad buy it?""
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Because your mother was watching his finances.""
I looked at Helen.
She closed her eyes.
"Why?""
"Because she had started moving money.""
My stomach turned.
"Moving money where?""
Arthur looked at Chloe.
"That's where the bank records come in.""
Daniel placed several photocopies on the altar.
They showed withdrawals.
Transfers.
Checks.
All from an account Dad had shared with Mom.
I scanned the dates.
One transfer had been made two days before I left.
Another three days after.
Another a month later.
The amounts were large.
Not enormous.
But large enough to matter.
I recognized one of the account numbers.
"That's Dad's retirement account.""
Arthur nodded.
"Yes.""
I looked at Mom.
"What did you do?""
"I didn't steal anything.""
"Then where did the money go?""
She said nothing.
Daniel pointed to the records.
"Several payments went to a company called Lawson Family Holdings.""
I frowned.
"What's that?""
Arthur answered.
"We don't know.""
Chloe stepped closer.
"Mom?""
Helen's shoulders dropped.
"It was supposed to be temporary.""
"What was?""
"The house.""
My eyes widened.
"What about the house?""
She looked at me.
"Your father wanted to put it in your name.""
Silence.
I stared at her.
"He wanted to give me the house?""
"After you left.""
"Why?""
"Because he said you deserved something that was yours.""
My eyes burned.
"And you stopped him?""
"I needed security.""
"You had Dad.""
"He was sick.""
"He wasn't sick then.""
"No," she whispered.
"But I knew he would be.""
The words hung in the air.
Arthur looked at her sharply.
"What does that mean?""
Mom's face went pale.
She backed away.
"I don't want to talk about this here.""
I followed.
"Neither did I.""
She stopped.
"Rachel.""
"Where is Thomas Reed?""
Her expression changed.
"I don't know.""
Arthur said quietly, "Neither do we.""
Daniel looked down at the documents.
"But your father knew where he was.""
I turned.
"How?""
Daniel pulled out another piece of paper.
A note.
Dad's handwriting.
*If anything happens to me, find Thomas at the old Cumberland station.*
My blood ran cold.
"What Cumberland station?""
Arthur looked at Daniel.
"The abandoned rail station outside town.""
I knew it.
Everyone in Cedar Creek knew it.
It had been closed for decades.
No one went there.
Except teenagers looking for somewhere they weren't supposed to be.
"When was this written?"" I asked.
Daniel checked the date.
"Five days before Robert died.""
I stared at him.
"Five days?""
"Yes.""
Dad had known.
He'd known something was wrong.
He'd been trying to prepare me.
And then I remembered the phone call.
His final phone call.
The one I'd replayed in my head a hundred times.
I'd been in Germany.
He'd been home.
His breathing had sounded strange.
I'd asked, "Dad, are you okay?""
He'd said, "I'm fine.""
Then he'd whispered something.
I'd never understood it.
I had assumed the connection was bad.
Now I realized what he'd said.
"Don't trust the door.""
I looked at Arthur.
"My father said something to me before he died.""
"What?""
"Don't trust the door.""
Arthur's face changed.
Daniel looked at him.
"That was in the notebook.""
I froze.
"What?""
Arthur turned to the last page.
There it was.
*Rachel — don't trust the front door.*
Underneath it:
*Thomas knows why.*
I looked toward the church doors.
Then back at my mother.
She was crying now.
But I wasn't sure whether those tears were grief.
Or fear.
Arthur closed the notebook.
"We're going to the station.""
Mom grabbed his arm.
"No.""
Arthur looked at her hand.
"Why not?""
She whispered, "Because Thomas Reed is dead.""
Everyone froze.
Daniel's face went white.
"How do you know?""
Mom released Arthur.
"I know.""
I stared at her.
"How?""
She looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen in my mother's face.
May you like
Guilt.
"Because," she whispered, "I was there.""
