Chapter 6: The Secret Behind Anna
Anna didn't move.
Neither did I.
Luke stood.
“I'll get it.””
“No.””
Anna grabbed his arm.
“Don't.””
He looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because if it's Richard, he shouldn't know you're here.””
A fourth knock shook the door.
Then a man's voice came through.
“Anna, I know you're inside.””
Luke looked at me.
“Is that him?””
Anna nodded.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
The same man Patrick had written about.
The man who had helped erase my daughter from my life.
The man who had somehow resurfaced six months after Patrick's death.
Luke whispered, “What do we do?””
Anna pointed toward the hallway.
“Stay here.””
She walked to the door.
“Who is it?””
“Richard.””
“What do you want?””
“To talk.””
“I don't want to talk.””
“I think you do.””
Anna looked at me.
Then at Luke.
She opened the door but kept the chain locked.
A man's face appeared through the gap.
He was older now.
Gray hair.
Deep lines around his eyes.
But the same face from Patrick's photograph.
Richard Cole.
“Anna,” he said.
She stared at him.
“You shouldn't have come.””
“I know.””
“Then leave.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
Richard looked past her.
His eyes landed on me.
He stopped breathing.
“Elizabeth?””
I stepped closer.
His face lost its color.
“You know me,” I said.
“Yes.””
“Then you know what you did.””
He closed his eyes.
“I've carried it for forty years.””
“That isn't an apology.””
“I know.””
Luke stepped forward.
“You helped take my sister.””
Richard looked at him.
“Luke.””
“How do you know my name?””
“I knew your father.””
“Answer me.””
Richard lowered his head.
“Yes.””
Luke's jaw tightened.
“You lied.””
“Yes.””
“You told a court my mother abandoned her daughter.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Richard looked at Anna.
“Because your grandfather paid me.””
Silence.
Luke's hands curled into fists.
“How much?””
“Ten thousand dollars.””
Luke laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed a family for ten thousand dollars?””
Richard's eyes filled.
“I was young.””
“That doesn't excuse it.””
“No.””
“Why come back now?””
Richard looked at me.
“Because Patrick made me promise.””
My breath caught.
“When?””
“Three weeks before he died.””
I stared at him.
“What did he promise?””
“Nothing.””
Richard shook his head.
“He made me promise.””
“What?””
“That if he died before he found Anna, I would find her for him.””
Anna opened the door wider.
“Why didn't you do it sooner?””
Richard looked at her.
“Because I was afraid.””
“You were always afraid.””
“Yes.””
“Afraid of Grandpa?””
“Afraid of what he had done.””
Richard reached inside his coat.
Luke stepped forward.
“Don't.””
Richard slowly pulled out an envelope.
“I brought this.””
Anna stared.
“What is it?””
“A copy of the original custody agreement.””
She took it.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then she looked up.
“This isn't possible.””
“What?””
She turned toward me.
“Mom.””
“What?””
“This says I wasn't placed with my aunt and uncle permanently.””
I frowned.
“What does it say?””
Anna handed me the document.
I read the first page.
My hands began to shake.
There it was.
A temporary guardianship agreement.
Not adoption.
Not permanent custody.
Temporary.
For ninety days.
I looked at Richard.
“Why?””
“Because your father intended to take you back.””
I shook my head.
“Then why didn't he?””
Richard's voice broke.
“Your father was injured.””
Luke looked at me.
“What happened?””
Richard answered.
“Patrick was hit by a car.””
I covered my mouth.
“When?””
“Two weeks after Anna was taken.””
I remembered that accident.
Patrick had come home bruised and limping.
He told me he'd fallen at work.
I had believed him.
Richard continued.
“Your grandfather threatened him again.””
“What did he threaten?””
“To send Patrick to prison.””
“For what?””
Richard hesitated.
“Fraud.””
I stared at him.
“What fraud?””
“The house.””
Luke frowned.
“The house?””
Richard nodded.
“Your grandfather wanted the property.””
I felt cold.
“Why?””
“Because the land was worth far more than anyone knew.””
Anna looked at Luke.
“This is what I meant.””
Richard continued.
“Patrick's father had discovered a development company wanted to buy the entire neighborhood.””
Luke stared.
“Why?””
“Because there was a new highway project planned nearby.””
Anna opened another document.
“This land became valuable.””
I shook my head.
“But Patrick built this house.””
“Yes,” Richard said.
“And your grandfather wanted it.””
“Yes.””
“Why would he need Anna?””
Richard looked at me.
“Because Patrick had already transferred part of the property into a trust.””
Luke looked confused.
“For whom?””
Richard didn't answer.
Anna did.
“For me.””
The room went silent.
I looked at her.
“You?””
She nodded.
“Dad put the property into a trust for me before I was taken.””
Luke stared.
“So the house was never supposed to belong to Grandpa?””
“No.””
“Or Dad?””
“No.””
“Then why did Mom own it?””
Anna smiled sadly.
“Because Dad changed the trust after I disappeared.””
My head spun.
“Patrick never told me.””
“He was afraid.””
Richard nodded.
“He believed your father-in-law would find the documents.””
“What documents?””
Anna opened the folder.
“The original trust papers.””
Luke looked at me.
“Where are they?””
I thought about the leather folder.
The old dresser.
The papers Patrick had kept.
Then I remembered something.
“There's another compartment.””
Anna looked at me.
“In the folder?””
“Yes.””
Luke stood.
“What compartment?””
I suddenly remembered Patrick's words from years ago.
Never throw this folder away, Lizzie. There's something inside that belongs to the future.
I had always thought he meant the deed.
I reached for the folder.
The leather felt different beneath my fingers.
I pressed along the spine.
A small section clicked.
Luke stared.
“You knew about that?””
“No.””
I pulled a thin envelope from inside.
It had been hidden behind the leather lining.
Anna stood.
“What's written on it?””
I turned it over.
My heart stopped.
The handwriting was Patrick's.
But the words were addressed to Luke.
*For my son, when he is old enough to understand what I couldn't tell him.*
Luke took the envelope.
His hands shook.
“Mom…”
“Open it.””
He tore it carefully.
Inside was a single sheet.
He read the first line.
Then stopped.
“What?””
I asked.
Luke looked at me.
“He says he didn't leave everything to you.””
Anna stepped closer.
“What did he leave?””
Luke's eyes moved down the page.
Then he whispered:
“Dad says the house was never the inheritance.””
Anna went completely still.
“What does that mean?””
Luke kept reading.
His face became pale.
Then he looked at me.
“Mom…”
“What?””
“The trust isn't for Anna.””
Anna frowned.
“Then who?””
Luke turned the paper around.
At the bottom was Patrick's signature.
And beneath it was a sentence none of us had expected.
*The true beneficiary is the person who can prove why Anna was taken.*
Richard stepped backward.
His face had gone white.
Anna looked at him.
“You knew.””
Richard didn't answer.
“You knew what the trust said.””
Still nothing.
Luke moved toward him.
“Tell us.””
Richard's lips trembled.
“I didn't know who the beneficiary was.””
“Then why are you scared?””
Richard looked at me.
“Because I know who ordered the trust.””
I stared at him.
“Who?””
He opened his mouth.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His entire body stiffened.
Anna whispered, “Who is calling?””
Richard looked at the three of us.
Then he answered.
A man's voice came through faintly.
Richard said only two words.
“She's here.””
He listened.
His face collapsed.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Elizabeth, you need to leave this house.””
“Why?””
“Because the person who has been watching you for the last six months just found out you sold the property.””
Luke stepped toward him.
“Who?””
Richard ended the call.
He looked at Luke.
Then at Anna.
Finally, he looked at me.
“Your father-in-law wasn't the only person involved.””
The front window suddenly shattered.
Glass exploded across the living room.
Anna screamed.
Luke pulled me to the floor.
Richard dropped beside the wall.
And outside, a car engine roared away into the rain.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Luke looked toward the broken window.
On the floor beside the glass lay a small white envelope.
My name was written across it.
In Patrick's handwriting.
But Patrick had been dead for two years.
May you like
And underneath my name were five words that made my blood run cold:
*You should never have sold it.*
