Chapter 3 - The Woman Named RebeccaI found Rebecca the next morning.
It wasn't difficult.
Her name appeared in an old property document.
Rebecca Carter.
Address:
A small house outside Knoxville.
I drove there alone.
When she opened the door, I immediately knew.
She had Arthur's eyes.
Same gray-blue color.
Same slight crease above the left eyebrow.
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then her face went pale.
“You're Elena.”
I nodded.
“How do you know me?”
“Arthur showed me photographs.”
My heart tightened.
“You knew about me?”
“I knew everything.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't you contact us?”
She looked away.
“Because your mother asked me not to.”
“My mother?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She said you deserved a normal life.”
I almost laughed.
“Normal?”
Rebecca stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Her house was modest.
There were photographs everywhere.
Arthur appeared in many of them.
Birthdays.
Christmas.
Graduations.
He had been there.
He hadn't abandoned her either.
He had simply lived two separate lives.
Rebecca made coffee.
Then she sat across from me.
“What happened to Mama?”
“She died two days ago.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“I was afraid of that.”
“You knew she was sick?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Arthur told me.”
“Where is he?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“I don't know.”
My stomach dropped.
“You haven't seen him?”
“Not in six years.”
“Why?”
“He disappeared.”
I looked at her.
“Just like that?”
She nodded.
“After he left your mother, he came here once.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“What did he say?”
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“He told me to leave Tennessee.”
“Why?”
“He said people were looking for me.”
I remembered Mama's file.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Rebecca stood and walked toward a cabinet.
She pulled out a small box.
Inside was a photograph.
Arthur standing beside a man I didn't recognize.
Rebecca handed it to me.
“This man came to see him.”
“Who is he?”
“I don't know.”
On the back of the photograph was a symbol.
A black circle.
Inside it, a white triangle.
I had seen it before.
In Mama's documents.
“What's this?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“Arthur told me never to ask.”
Then she reached into the box again.
She pulled out an envelope.
“This came for you.”
My name was written across the front.
I stared at it.
“Why didn't you send it?”
“Because Arthur told me to wait.”
“For what?”
“For your mother to die.”
My heart stopped.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Elena,
If you're reading this, Margaret is gone.
I'm sorry.
She wanted to tell you everything. I begged her not to.
The money you found is only the beginning.
The real truth is hidden beneath the house.
I looked up.
“Beneath Mama's house?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Arthur said something was buried there.”
“What?”
“He never told me.”
I read the final sentence.
Trust no one. Especially Julian.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Did you know my brother?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did he want?”
Rebecca's eyes filled with fear.
“He wanted to know where Arthur was.”
“And?”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur asked me to protect you.”
I stared at her.
My brother had been searching for Arthur.
Arthur had been hiding.
Mama had been protecting both of us.
And somehow, the $18,940 in the flour tin was connected to all of it.
I stood.
“I need to go back.”
Rebecca grabbed my hand.
“Don't go alone.”
“Why?”
“Because if Julian is involved…”
May you like
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
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