Chapter 2 - SIX DAYS MISSING
Helena made Anna follow her to a coffee shop across the street.
She chose a booth in the back.
Lucy sat beside her mother drinking hot chocolate while Helena stared at Anna as if looking away might make her disappear too.
“Start talking.”
Anna folded her hands.
“My mother called herself Evelyn Mercer most of my life. She never talked much about where she came from.”
“Mercer?”
“My grandmother’s maiden name.”
Helena stiffened.
Rose Mercer.
Their mother.
Anna continued.
“Mom told me her family was dead.”
Helena laughed once.
It came out bitter.
“I’m sitting right here.”
“I know.”
“Did she know I was alive?”
“Yes.”
That hurt more than Helena expected.
She looked away.
Nineteen years.
Birthdays.
Christmases.
Their mother’s funeral.
Their father’s funeral.
All those years Evelyn had been somewhere breathing.
“Why didn’t she call?”
“I asked her that a thousand times.”
“And?”
“She always said coming back would destroy people.”
Helena slammed her palm against the table.
“My mother died waiting for her!”
Lucy jumped.
Helena immediately lowered her voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Anna looked down.
“My mother cried every time she talked about Rose.”
Helena stared at her.
“She knew Mom was dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Helena’s anger sharpened.
“Then what happened six days ago?”
Anna reached into her purse.
“She got a letter about two weeks ago. No return address. She read it, burned it, packed a bag and drove here.”
“From where?”
“Vermont.”
Helena almost laughed at the absurdity.
Evelyn had been living three states away.
Anna continued.
“She checked into the Pinecrest Motel under her real name.”
Helena frowned.
“Why?”
“I think she wanted somebody to know she was back.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Anna placed a photograph on the table.
Helena looked down.
Her chest tightened.
Evelyn.
Older.
Silver in her dark hair.
Lines around her mouth.
But unmistakably Evelyn.
Her sister.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken six months earlier.
Helena touched the edge with one trembling finger.
“She looks like Mom.”
Anna nodded.
“She left her motel room Thursday night. Her phone stopped working twenty minutes later.”
“Police?”
“I called them.”
“And?”
“They said an adult has the right to disappear.”
Helena gave her a cold smile.
“I’ve heard that before.”
Anna pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“She left this inside her suitcase.”
Helena opened it.
The handwriting hit her like a fist.
Evelyn’s handwriting.
Helena,
If Anna finds you, it means I failed.
Dad lied to both of us.
He lied to Mom.
He lied about Daniel.
And he was never the person we thought he was.
Do not trust anyone connected to Sheriff Bell.
I should have told you nineteen years ago.
I was scared.
I’m sorry.
— Evie
Helena read it twice.
Then a third time.
Daniel.
She hadn’t heard that name in years.
Daniel Hart had been Evelyn’s boyfriend.
Her father had told Helena that Daniel died shortly after Evelyn vanished.
“Anna.”
“What?”
“My father said Daniel Hart was dead.”
Anna’s face went pale.
“He isn’t.”
Helena stared at her.
“How do you know?”
Anna reached into her pocket and placed a small brass key on the table.
“My mother had this taped underneath the motel dresser.”
“What does it open?”
“I was hoping you knew.”
Helena turned the key over.
Stamped into the metal were two numbers.
And beneath it—
Crawford Lake.
Helena’s blood ran cold.
Her father had owned a cabin there.
May you like
A cabin that had been locked since his death.
And according to his will, nobody was ever supposed to enter it again.
