Chapter 4 - My Wife Had Been Studying My Paralysis Before She Disappeared—And Lily Knew Where Audrey Was Supposed to Be BuriedI could barely breathe.
“Audrey is alive?”
Lily nodded.
“How?”
“She left.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean you don't know?”
“She said if you ever found out, you would go looking.”
I stared at her.
“That is exactly what I'm going to do.”
Maria looked terrified.
“Mr. Marino, please.”
“No.”
“Your wife left to protect you.”
“From what?”
“The people who hurt you.”
I looked at the medical files.
“Who?”
Maria whispered a name.
“Rafael Marino.”
My brother.
I had buried him twelve years earlier.
Dead in a boating accident.
Apparently dead.
Again.
Another dead relative who wasn't necessarily dead.
I laughed bitterly.
“Is anyone in my family actually dead?”
Maria looked away.
That told me everything.
I searched Rafael's records.
The death certificate was real.
The body identification wasn't.
His estate had been liquidated.
Money disappeared.
Then reappeared in offshore accounts.
Accounts connected to the same security firm that handled Audrey's supposed death.
My world was collapsing.
The Harbor King had spent eight years believing his wife died.
Now every piece of evidence said she'd been erased.
I asked Lily:
“Where would Audrey go?”
She thought.
“Somewhere with water.”
“Why?”
“She liked the ocean.”
There were dozens of places.
Then she said:
“Where the red lighthouse is.”
I froze.
There was one.
A private coastal property my family had owned.
Abandoned after Audrey died.
We went that night.
The house was empty.
Except for a single lamp.
And a woman standing at the window.
I knew her silhouette.
I knew that posture.
I knew the way she held her shoulders.
“Audrey.”
She turned.
For eight years, I had dreamed of seeing my wife again.
I had imagined anger.
Love.
Shock.
But nothing prepared me for the truth.
She was alive.
Older.
Thinner.
Tired.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Caleb.”
I couldn't move.
Lily stepped past me.
“Hi, Aunt Audrey.”
Audrey looked at her.
Then smiled.
“You found him.”
I stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
She walked toward me.
“Because the people who caused your accident wanted you dead.”
“Who?”
She glanced toward Maria.
Then Lily.
“People inside your family.”
My heart tightened.
“Rafael?”
Audrey nodded.
“He wasn't trying to kill you.”
I laughed.
“He paralyzed me.”
“He wanted you controllable.”
“What does that mean?”
“He used a treatment on you.”
I stared.
“A treatment?”
“The doctors who told you your paralysis was permanent were paid.”
My stomach dropped.
“Ninety-nine doctors?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep you from walking.”
Audrey reached for my hand.
“And Lily was the one person your enemies never considered important enough to control.”
I looked at the little girl.
May you like
She smiled.
“I told you your leg wasn't asleep.”
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