Chapter 6 - THE SHADOW OF THE PAST
The truth felt like a physical weight,
crushing the air out of my lungs.
My mother wasn't a victim.
She was a partner.
She had taken the money to keep the letters secret.
To keep the logs hidden.
And Gary had come to collect.
He wasn't here for her.
He was here to make sure the evidence stayed buried.
And to make sure the one witness—the nine-year-old boy with a photographic memory—didn't start talking.
I heard the shed door creak.
I turned,
clutching the envelope to my chest.
It was Gary.
He was standing in the doorway,
the light silhouetteing his massive frame.
“I wondered when you’d find that,”
he said,
his voice devoid of any emotion.
“You killed him,”
I whispered.
“It was a business decision,”
he replied,
stepping into the shed.
“Your father was going to cost the company millions.”
“And Sarah...
well,
she was always more practical than him.”
“She took the money because she knew she couldn't win.”
“And you?
Why are you here?”
“Because the company is being audited,”
he said,
closing the shed door.
“The state is reopening the case.”
“They’re looking for the original logs.”
“The ones your father was keeping.”
“And I think Ethan knows where they are.”
I backed away,
hitting the old workbench.
“He’s just a kid.
He doesn't know anything.”
“Ethan remembers everything,”
Gary said,
reaching into his pocket.
He pulled out a small,
silver pocket knife.
“He remembers the numbers.
He remembers the truck.”
“And he remembers where his father hid the red book.”
I thought about Ethan’s "blue trains."
“Blue trains come home.”
The red book.
My father’s work log.
It wasn't in the trunk.
It was somewhere else.
Somewhere Ethan had seen it.
“Give me the envelope,
Brooke,”
Gary said,
extending his hand.
“And maybe I’ll let you and your mother walk away.”
“Where is Ethan?”
I asked,
my voice trembling.
“He’s in the house.
With Sarah.”
“She knows what has to be done.”
I felt a surge of adrenaline.
I wasn't going to let him win.
I wasn't going to let him have the book.
And I sure as hell wasn't going to let him touch Ethan.
I grabbed a heavy iron wrench from the workbench and swung it with all my strength.
It caught him on the shoulder,
sending him staggering back.
I didn't wait to see if he was down.
May you like
I bolted out of the shed and toward the house.
The race was on.
