Chapter 12 - GRANDMOTHER’S LAST REQUEST
“No.”
I didn’t hesitate.
Evelyn would not get near my daughter.
Taylor agreed.
Detective Park didn’t pressure us.
“She can cooperate without seeing Lily.”
“Then tell her that.”
Evelyn’s attorney returned thirty minutes later.
“She says Lily has information Richard needs.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Richard is in jail.”
“Information about the land.”
“What information?”
Evelyn refused to explain unless she saw us.
Not Lily.
Us.
Taylor and I entered her hospital room.
Evelyn looked smaller.
Older.
But not harmless.
“Where’s Lily?”
“Safe from you,” I said.
She closed her eyes.
“I deserve that.”
“Yes.”
Taylor stood at the foot of the bed.
“Why, Mom?”
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
“Because I was losing everything.”
“So you chose my child?”
“I never meant for her to die.”
“You put her in a freezer!”
“I was supposed to leave the lid loose.”
Taylor’s voice broke.
“She could have died.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
For once, Evelyn had no response.
Then she looked at me.
“Your father left a second document.”
“What document?”
“A restriction on the land.”
I frowned.
“He suspected Richard.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because Richard thinks Lily knows.”
My heart tightened.
“Why?”
“Your father used to take her to the property.”
That was true.
Lily had been four when Dad died.
She barely remembered him.
Evelyn continued.
“He told her something.”
“What?”
“I heard her repeat it once.”
Taylor leaned forward.
“What did she say?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Grandpa said the tree keeps the promise.”
I stared at her.
A tree.
There was one enormous oak tree on the property.
My father loved it.
He had built a small bench beneath it.
The next morning, Detective Park accompanied us to the land.
Lily stayed safely with a child advocate.
We reached the oak tree around noon.
The bench was still there.
Weathered.
Cracked.
I ran my hands beneath it.
Nothing.
Taylor examined the tree.
“Mark.”
“What?”
She pointed toward a small metal plate embedded in the trunk.
My father’s initials.
MC.
I pressed it.
Click.
A narrow compartment opened inside the bench.
Inside was a sealed metal tube.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Documents.
A handwritten letter.
And a flash drive.
The letter was addressed to me.
MARK, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, SOMEONE HAS TRIED TO TAKE LILY’S FUTURE.
My throat tightened.
I kept reading.
RICHARD COLE CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
Taylor covered her mouth.
The final sentence changed everything.
THE LAND DOES NOT BELONG TO LILY ALONE.
I looked at Taylor.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Then Park unfolded the final document.
And we discovered my father had hidden a secret even Richard never knew.
