Chapter 12 - Emily’s Grave
Rain fell across the cemetery.
Police lights reflected against rows of wet headstones.
Lucas lay beside Emily’s grave with blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
He was conscious.
“She hit me with a shovel.”
“Where did she go?”
Lucas pointed toward the maintenance road.
“She took the box.”
Detective Cole sent officers toward every exit.
Mark knelt beside Emily’s headstone.
A rectangular section had been removed from the granite base.
Inside was an empty metal compartment.
Laura arrived carrying Emily’s old phone.
“I found another file.”
“Play it.”
“It may not be something you want to hear here.”
“This is exactly where I need to hear it.”
Laura pressed the screen.
Emily’s voice began.
“Diane, leave my house.”
Diane answered from somewhere near the kitchen.
“You are confused.”
“I saw the transfers.”
“You saw paperwork you do not understand.”
“I understand Richard forged my signature.”
“He kept the company alive.”
“He stole from Rosie.”
“Rosie would have nothing without this family.”
“She has Mark.”
Diane laughed.
“Mark cannot manage himself.”
“He certainly cannot manage a trust.”
Emily’s voice became sharper.
“You have been trying to make him believe he is unstable since he was a child.”
“You provoke him.”
“Then you punish him for reacting.”
Mark looked down.
Memories returned with brutal clarity.
Richard breaking his toys.
Diane telling him he was dangerous for crying.
Bethany starting fights and watching him receive the punishment.
The pattern had never changed.
Emily continued.
“You will stay away from my daughter.”
Diane’s voice lowered.
“You do not get to remove Rosie from us.”
“She is not yours.”
“Richard will take the documents.”
“If he comes near me, I will call the police.”
“You should have done that before telling me where the folder was.”
The recording stopped.
Laura opened another file.
This one began twelve minutes later.
A door burst open.
Richard shouted.
Emily ordered him out.
Furniture scraped across the floor.
Emily cried out.
Richard’s breathing grew heavy.
Then Diane’s voice came through a phone speaker.
“Did you get it?”
Richard answered.
“She fell.”
“You pushed her?”
“She hit the table.”
“Is she breathing?”
A long silence followed.
Richard spoke again.
“Yes.”
“Then take the folder and leave.”
“Someone will find her.”
“Mark will.”
The recording continued for nearly four minutes.
Richard walked through the house.
A drawer opened.
Paper rustled.
The front door closed.
Emily remained alone.
Her breathing became weaker.
She managed to reach her phone twelve minutes later and call Mark.
Mark stood beside her grave in the rain.
His father had left Emily on the floor.
His mother had told him to do it.
They had allowed Mark to believe he simply arrived too late.
Detective Cole ended the recording.
“This is enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“Felony charges related to her death.”
Mark looked toward the road where Diane had disappeared.
“She still has the original.”
“We have Emily’s copy.”
“Then why is Diane running?”
Laura looked at the compartment.
“Because the box contained more than a recording.”
Lucas sat up as a paramedic bandaged his head.
“I saw what was inside.”
Mark turned.
“What?”
“Passports.”
“Cash.”
“And legal documents with Rosie’s photograph.”
Detective Cole’s face tightened.
“What kind of documents?”
Lucas swallowed.
“A birth certificate under another name.”
Mark’s phone rang.
It was Caroline Wells.
He answered immediately.
“Is Rosie awake?”
Caroline’s voice was panicked.
“Mark, Diane came to the hospital.”
His heart stopped.
“What?”
“She used a county identification card.”
“She entered through the service corridor.”
May you like
“Where is Rosie?”
“We cannot find her.”
