PART 7 — THE LAST SECRET MRS. RHODE LEFT BEHIND
The darkness swallowed the room.
I could hear my own breathing.
My father's hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Stay behind me.”
Then a light appeared.
A flashlight.
Marcus stepped into the vault.
He was older than I expected.
Maybe seventy.
His hair was completely gray.
But his eyes were cold.
The same eyes I had seen in old photographs.
He smiled.
“James.”
I stared at him.
“You killed my mother.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You destroyed my father's life.”
“No.”
“You made everyone believe my parents abandoned me.”
He sighed.
“Your parents made that decision themselves.”
My father stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.”
Marcus laughed.
“Thomas, you still haven't told your son the whole truth.”
I looked at my father.
“What is he talking about?”
My father went silent.
My heart sank.
“Dad?”
Marcus smiled.
“Ask him who gave me your mother's location.”
I looked at my father.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Dad…”
Finally, he whispered:
“I did.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What?”
“I didn't know what Marcus would do.”
“You gave him my mother's location?”
“I thought he only wanted the evidence.”
Marcus laughed.
“He knew exactly what I wanted.”
I stepped away from my father.
“You betrayed her.”
“I was trying to protect you!”
“You gave him the location!”
My father's voice broke.
“I was threatened.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Your father wasn't the only one who betrayed you.”
I turned.
“What do you mean?”
He pointed toward the folder.
“Open the final page.”
I did.
There was a photograph.
Mrs. Rhode.
My mother.
And another woman.
I recognized her immediately.
Sarah.
My mother's supposed best friend.
My stomach dropped.
“She worked for me,” Marcus said.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He explained that Sarah had been the one who gave him information about my mother's movements.
She had been the reason Marcus found her.
She had also been the person who later convinced Mrs. Rhode to hide me in the foster system.
Everything was connected.
But then Marcus made an unexpected confession.
“Your mother didn't die that night.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She escaped.”
My father looked shocked.
Marcus continued.
“She disappeared before we could find her.”
“Then where is she?”
Marcus smiled.
“That's the question I've spent twenty years trying to answer.”
I couldn't believe him.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
Then he pointed toward the final document.
“Mrs. Rhode found her.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She found your mother six years ago.”
I turned toward my father.
He looked devastated.
“She was alive?”
My father nodded slowly.
“She contacted your aunt.”
I whispered:
“Mrs. Rhode knew where my mother was?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
My father pulled out another envelope.
“Because your mother asked her not to.”
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
My mother's handwriting.
“James, if you ever read this, know that I loved you every day of my life.”
I couldn't stop the tears.
She explained that she had stayed hidden because Marcus was still searching for her.
She wanted to come back.
But she feared that if she did, Marcus would find me.
So she waited.
She watched from a distance.
She knew where I lived.
She knew when I was struggling.
She knew about Mrs. Rhode.
Then came the final sentence.
“When Mrs. Rhode dies, follow the truth. It will lead you to me.”
I looked at the date.
The letter had been written only eight months earlier.
My mother might still be alive.
I looked at Marcus.
“Where is she?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then my father's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“The lawyer is dead.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who killed him?”
“We don't know.”
Then another message arrived on my phone.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
An elderly woman sitting beside a window.
My mother.
Alive.
And beneath the photograph were seven words:
“Come alone if you want her alive.”
My hands trembled.
My father grabbed my arm.
“It's a trap.”
I looked at the photograph again.
For twenty years, I had believed I had no family.
For twenty years, I believed everyone had abandoned me.
But now I knew the truth.
My father had sacrificed his freedom.
My mother had sacrificed her life.
Mrs. Rhode had sacrificed her inheritance.
All of them had done it for me.
And now someone had my mother.
I folded the photograph and put it in my pocket.
My father shook his head.
“James, don't go.”
I looked at him.
“I spent my whole life believing nobody would come for me.”
I picked up the metal box.
“Now someone is asking me to come for her.”
I walked toward the vault door.
Behind me, Marcus said:
“If you go, you may never come back.”
I stopped.
Then I turned.
“Maybe.”
I looked at the photograph one last time.
“But I'm done running.”
Outside, thunder rolled across the night sky.
And for the first time in twenty years…
I knew exactly where I was going.
I was going to find my mother.
