Chapter 4 - THE SECOND SECRET
Carol sat down slowly.
“I didn't come here only because of Emily.”
Richard smiled without humor.
“There it is.”
Cole remained beside his wife.
Carol looked at Emily.
“Three months ago, I received a letter.”
“From who?”
“A lawyer.”
Richard's expression changed.
Carol continued.
“The lawyer represented my father.”
Emily frowned.
“Your father?”
“My parents eventually regretted what happened.”
Carol's voice softened.
“My mother died years ago.”
“My father died in April.”
“He left me part of his estate.”
Richard scoffed.
“This has always been about money.”
Carol ignored him.
“The lawyer found something while reviewing old family documents.”
She reached into the pocket of her robe.
This time she removed a small plastic sleeve.
Inside was a photograph.
Emily took it.
A young Carol stood outside a hospital.
She was holding a newborn.
On the back, someone had written a date.
March 20, 1997.
Two days after Emily was born.
Emily's hands shook.
“He told you I died before this picture?”
Carol nodded.
“He told me you died that night.”
Cole understood immediately.
“So somebody helped him.”
Carol nodded.
“A nurse.”
Richard's eyes flashed.
Carol looked toward Ruiz.
“Her name was Patricia Hale.”
Emily stared at her father.
“Hale?”
“Richard's older sister.”
Emily stepped backward.
“Aunt Patricia?”
Richard said nothing.
The woman Emily had called Aunt Patricia her entire childhood.
Christmas dinners.
Birthdays.
Graduation.
Family vacations.
She had been there for everything.
And she had known.
Emily looked sick.
Cole put a hand at the small of her back.
Carol continued.
“Patricia falsified part of the hospital paperwork.”
Richard finally spoke.
“You can't prove that.”
Carol looked directly at him.
“Yes, I can.”
She reached for the envelope again.
Richard suddenly lunged forward.
Cole moved faster.
He caught Richard's wrist before he reached Carol.
“Don't.”
Richard struggled once.
Cole didn't tighten his grip.
He didn't need to.
Ruiz stepped forward.
“Mr. Hale, back away.”
Richard stared at Cole.
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Then Cole released him.
Carol pulled out another document.
It was a photocopy of a handwritten nursing log.
Emily read the first line.
Then the second.
Her face changed.
“What does it say?”
Cole asked.
Emily couldn't answer.
She handed it to him.
Cole read silently.
INFANT FEMALE TRANSFERRED AT REQUEST OF R.H.
MATERNAL NOTIFICATION COMPLETED BY P.H.
NO FURTHER CONTACT.
Cole looked at Richard.
“R.H.”
Richard remained silent.
“Richard Hale.”
Still nothing.
Cole looked at the next initials.
“P.H.”
Emily whispered.
“Patricia Hale.”
Carol nodded.
Emily turned toward her father.
“You planned it.”
Richard's eyes hardened.
“No.”
“You planned to take me before I was even born.”
“No.”
“Then explain this.”
Richard finally lost control.
“Because Diane was dying inside.”
Emily recoiled.
Richard continued.
“She wanted a child.”
“So you stole one?”
“She raised you.”
Emily stared at him.
“And you destroyed another woman's life to give her that chance.”
Richard pointed toward Carol.
“She wasn't capable of raising you.”
Carol stood.
“You never gave me the chance.”
Richard shouted.
“You were nineteen.”
“And you were thirty-four.”
The words hit the room like glass breaking.
Cole looked from one to the other.
Something about that age difference bothered him.
Then Carol said quietly.
“He was my boss.”
Emily froze.
Carol looked at her daughter.
“I worked for your father.”
“And when I became pregnant, he promised he'd take care of us.”
Richard shook his head.
“Don't.”
Carol continued.
“But when Diane found out, Richard made a different decision.”
Emily's voice became barely audible.
“You weren't just some woman he knew.”
Carol shook her head.
“No.”
Emily looked at Richard.
“You cheated on Mom.”
Richard said nothing.
“And I was the evidence.”
Silence.
Emily finally understood.
May you like
Richard hadn't taken her because he loved her.
He had taken her because keeping her close was the easiest way to bury what he'd done.
