Miriam did not let us chase Mom blindly.<\/p>\n
She asked for the make, model, and license plate of Mom\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
Dad provided all three.<\/p>\n
Then she contacted the same county investigator who had been working the warehouse search.<\/p>\n
Within twenty minutes, Mom\u2019s vehicle had been flagged for location assistance.<\/p>\n
Dad paced Grandma\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n
Olivia sat at the table holding Mom\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
I stood by the sink staring into the dark backyard.<\/p>\n
Please do not follow me.<\/p>\n
Nothing in our family history suggested Mom understood how impossible that request was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere would she go?\u201d Miriam asked.<\/p>\n
Dad stopped pacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were married to her for thirty-three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean I know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bitterness in his voice almost made Olivia laugh.<\/p>\n
She did not.<\/p>\n
Lawrence placed the old photograph of Mom, Charles, and Gerald Pike on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Pike?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam checked her notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gerald Pike listed as owner of the garage died in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen that\u2019s a dead end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She tapped another record.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a son.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSame name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGerald Pike Jr.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he work at the garage?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to employment records, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old would he have been when Rebecca died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou reacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad rubbed his jaw.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met him once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat paperwork?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInsurance forms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA mechanic delivered insurance paperwork to your house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad realized how it sounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said his father asked him to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had other things happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned from the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Mom know Gerald Jr.?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam started searching public records from her laptop.<\/p>\n
\u201cGerald Jr. owns property north of Stillwater.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned the screen.<\/p>\n
A rural address.<\/p>\n
Dad stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles had a hunting cabin near there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce. Years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles. Pike. A few company people.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the answer before she said it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may be where Ellen went.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county investigator called six minutes later.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s car had been seen on a traffic camera heading north.<\/p>\n
Toward Pike\u2019s address.<\/p>\n
We left immediately.<\/p>\n
This time Dad came.<\/p>\n
Miriam argued against it.<\/p>\n
I insisted.<\/p>\n
Not because I trusted him.<\/p>\n
Because too many decisions had already been made by leaving people outside the room.<\/p>\n
I wanted every lie confronted in the same place.<\/p>\n
The drive took forty-five minutes.<\/p>\n
By then, a light rain had started.<\/p>\n
The road narrowed as we left town.<\/p>\n
Trees crowded close to the pavement.<\/p>\n
Olivia sat beside me in the back, silent.<\/p>\n
Dad rode in front.<\/p>\n
No one spoke until Miriam turned onto a gravel lane.<\/p>\n
A weathered farmhouse appeared beyond a row of pines.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s car was parked outside.<\/p>\n
Another truck sat near a detached garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s here,\u201d Olivia whispered.<\/p>\n
Miriam called the investigator and gave him our exact location.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s twelve minutes out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad reached for the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this situation may involve someone connected to a suspicious death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sitting in a car while\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
The farmhouse door opened.<\/p>\n
Mom stepped onto the porch.<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
When she saw us, her shoulders dropped.<\/p>\n
Then a man appeared behind her.<\/p>\n
Late forties or early fifties.<\/p>\n
Heavyset.<\/p>\n
Gray beard.<\/p>\n
Gerald Pike Jr.<\/p>\n
I knew him only from a decades-old personnel photograph Miriam had shown us.<\/p>\n
He looked older.<\/p>\n
But it was him.<\/p>\n
Mom walked down the porch steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have come.\u201d<\/p>\n
I got out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wrote that in the note.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat stopped mattering a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
His face had hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom glanced back toward Pike.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince before Rebecca died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad laughed softly.<\/p>\n
The sound was awful.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to let Gerald explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike remained near the porch.<\/p>\n
He looked frightened.<\/p>\n
Not guilty exactly.<\/p>\n
Tired.<\/p>\n
Miriam approached him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Pike, I\u2019m Miriam Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That phrase again.<\/p>\n
Everyone seemed to know who Miriam was.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Ellen tell you we were coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked at Mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles called me this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the warehouse was searched.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I needed to remember what I owed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam\u2019s voice became very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you owe Charles Avery?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom whispered, \u201cGerald.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated those words.<\/p>\n
Every person connected to Rebecca seemed to begin with apology once the truth became unavoidable.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you work on her car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father did. I helped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere the brakes tampered with?\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad turned away.<\/p>\n
Olivia grabbed my hand without seeming to realize she had done it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho tampered with them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike\u2019s eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rain seemed suddenly louder.<\/p>\n
I could not speak.<\/p>\n
Mom said his name.<\/p>\n
Not as warning.<\/p>\n
As grief.<\/p>\n
Miriam stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike wiped his face with both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was twenty-four. My father was drowning in debt. The garage was close to failing. Charles Avery had been sending us business for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Charles ask you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was stupid enough to say yes to other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat other things?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChanging repair reports. Backdating inspections. Signing off on company vehicles that shouldn\u2019t have passed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam nodded once.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Rebecca\u2019s car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles told me he needed a delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA delay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said she was going to meet someone. He wanted the car to fail before she got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI damaged the brake line.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach clenched.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you intend to kill her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear to God. He said she would notice the brakes going soft. He said she\u2019d pull over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam said, \u201cYou deliberately interfered with a braking system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat can kill someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked older with every sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it would happen gradually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked toward Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone else worked on the car afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI damaged the line Monday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca died Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Miriam asked, \u201cWho accessed the car Tuesday?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe worked on it himself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. But he had the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel gave him one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every face turned toward Dad.<\/p>\n
He went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave him the spare at the company office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked confused.<\/p>\n
Then horrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave him keys to the house because he said he needed papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Rebecca\u2019s spare car key was on the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad sat down on the edge of the gravel driveway.<\/p>\n
He looked physically ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike\u2019s expression was almost pitying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Mom.<\/p>\n
She was crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI warned Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer startled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night before she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
Someone close to Dad had been feeding Charles information.<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were the one telling Charles where she went.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia whispered, \u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was trying to stop her from going to police about Daniel\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were spying on my wife for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were stealing from everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that made this acceptable?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Charles before Daniel and I were together. My company handled administrative work for one of his businesses. He was charming. Helpful. He made people feel important.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you involved with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
Mom looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer stunned even Pike.<\/p>\n
Dad stood slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had an affair with Charles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you and I were together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why the hotel in 1998?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
That answered enough.<\/p>\n
Dad laughed again, but this time there was pain in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sleeping with him while I was married to Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom whispered, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia covered her face.<\/p>\n
I felt oddly detached.<\/p>\n
The affair mattered emotionally.<\/p>\n
The timeline mattered more.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were close enough to Charles that he trusted you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked me to tell him if Rebecca met lawyers, Ruth, Thomas, anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know he planned to hurt her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know he had Pike damage her brakes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike said, \u201cShe didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ellen came to the garage Tuesday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had overheard Charles talking to Gerald\u2019s father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Rebecca\u2019s car had been handled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you went to the garage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI confronted Gerald.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked at the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told her what I had done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t you go to Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove to her apartment. She wasn\u2019t there. I called Ruth. No answer. I called Daniel\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were drunk.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI left a message.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam asked, \u201cWhat message?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said Rebecca\u2019s car wasn\u2019t safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou erased it the next morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked shattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was about the argument. I didn\u2019t know what you meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word left him almost soundless.<\/p>\n
I thought of every small failure stacked together.<\/p>\n
Pike damaging the line.<\/p>\n
Mom informing Charles.<\/p>\n
Dad handing over a key.<\/p>\n
Charles gaining access.<\/p>\n
A warning not understood.<\/p>\n
A message erased.<\/p>\n
Rebecca getting into her car.<\/p>\n
Death had not arrived from one villainous gesture.<\/p>\n
It had been built by a chain of people choosing secrecy, fear, money, and self-preservation.<\/p>\n
But one person had still made the final choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Charles make the damage worse?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Pike nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the car came back after the crash, the line had been cut almost through. That wasn\u2019t what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your father notice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me never to speak about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then Charles paid him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTen thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miriam folded her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the payment documented at the warehouse was hush money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you come forward later?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cCowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n
No excuses.<\/p>\n
The plainness of the word hurt more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward Mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe showed up tonight and said Ruth was dead, the warehouse had been searched, and if I stayed quiet again, Charles would bury all of us with the same lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom took a shaky breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came because Gerald had one thing Grandma never found.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike nodded.<\/p>\n
He walked toward the detached garage.<\/p>\n
Miriam stopped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA copy of the original repair notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
He opened a locked cabinet inside the garage and removed a plastic document sleeve.<\/p>\n
Inside were handwritten notes from 1999.<\/p>\n
The first described brake-line abrasion.<\/p>\n
The second, written after the crash, stated:<\/p>\n
Damage inconsistent with ordinary wear. Line appears deliberately cut after previous partial interference.<\/p>\n
Miriam read it twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is extremely significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike pointed toward the bottom.<\/p>\n
His father had signed it.<\/p>\n
Then crossed out the conclusion.<\/p>\n
A rewritten version attached behind it omitted the deliberate damage entirely.<\/p>\n
I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles had access to the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles had motive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles paid to bury the brake finding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike added, \u201cAnd Charles told me two days later that Rebecca had finally stopped being a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world narrowed.<\/p>\n
Miriam stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said those words?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone else hear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Charles ever confess to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face twisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears later, when Grandma started asking questions again, I told him Rebecca\u2019s death had ruined everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018It saved more people than it ruined.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
The county investigator arrived with two deputies.<\/p>\n
Miriam pulled him aside and began explaining.<\/p>\n
I stood beneath the garage light while rain struck the metal roof.<\/p>\n
Dad remained in the driveway.<\/p>\n
Olivia sat on the porch steps.<\/p>\n
Mom stood beside Pike.<\/p>\n
My whole family seemed scattered around the property like people thrown from the same wreck.<\/p>\n
For twenty-seven years, the question had been who killed Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Now we had an answer close enough to touch.<\/p>\n
Charles had the motive.<\/p>\n
Access.<\/p>\n
Opportunity.<\/p>\n
A mechanism already weakened by Pike.<\/p>\n
Evidence of deliberate further damage.<\/p>\n
Payments to suppress findings.<\/p>\n
And words spoken afterward that suggested he considered Rebecca\u2019s death a solution.<\/p>\n
But Miriam came back from speaking with the investigator with a look that told me there was still another problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She lowered her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles left his home two hours ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did he go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he running?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Olivia came toward us holding her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cEric just texted.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned the screen.<\/p>\n
The message was only one sentence.<\/p>\n
Charles knows where Ruth kept Thomas Avery\u2019s letters, and he\u2019s going to destroy them tonight.<\/p>\n
I looked at Miriam.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat letters?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared at the message.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned toward him.<\/p>\n
His face had gone pale again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas wrote to Rebecca after Amelia was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at Ruth\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the lake cabin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat lake cabin?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one Ruth never put in the will.\u201d<\/p>\n
And just like that, the case changed again.<\/p>\n
Because Grandma had hidden more than evidence.<\/p>\n
She had hidden an entire property.<\/p>\n
And Charles Avery was apparently already on his way there.<\/p>\n
Miriam did not let us chase Mom blindly. She asked for the make, model, and license plate of Mom\u2019s car. Dad provided all three. Then she contacted the same county … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1758,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions\/1758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}