Aunt Rebecca lived alone in the same brick house where she had raised her children, although most of the family had not visited her in years.
I had not spoken to her in almost three.
When I called, she answered on the fourth ring.
"Claire?"
Her voice sounded exactly as I remembered.
I swallowed.
"We need to talk about Michael."
There was a pause.
Then she said, "I was wondering when you would come."
The words made my skin prickle.
Harris heard them on speaker.
He immediately raised his hand, signaling me to continue.
"Why were you wondering?"
Rebecca sighed.
"Because the past never stays buried."
I looked at Noah.
He had gone completely still.
"Did you know Michael was alive after he disappeared?"
Another silence.
Then Rebecca said, "Yes."
Noah closed his eyes.
I felt something inside me collapse.
"How long did you know?"
"Long enough."
"Why did you tell us he was dead?"
Her breathing changed.
"I didn't."
"You told Mom."
"I told your mother what she needed to believe."
I stared at the phone.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
Harris motioned for me to put the call on speaker.
Rebecca continued.
"Michael came to me before he disappeared."
"When?"
"The night before."
I gripped the edge of the table.
"Why?"
"He knew he was being watched."
"So did Elena."
Rebecca said nothing.
"Did you know about Elena?"
"Yes."
"Did you know about Noah?"
"Yes."
Noah stepped closer to the phone.
"Did you know me?"
Rebecca's voice softened.
"I knew you before you knew me."
He looked confused.
"Where?"
"Your father brought you to my house once."
Noah's face changed.
"When?"
"You were three."
He looked at me.
I had never known.
Rebecca continued.
"Michael was terrified. He told me there was someone inside the company who was willing to hurt you."
"Why didn't you help him?"
"I tried."
"Then why did you tell everyone he was dead?"
Rebecca's voice broke.
"Because they were listening."
The room went silent.
Harris leaned closer to the phone.
"Who?"
"I never learned the whole network."
"But you knew Daniel Mercer."
"Yes."
"And Richard Vale."
Another pause.
"Yes."
Harris exchanged a look with me.
"Who else?"
Rebecca didn't answer.
"Rebecca," I said, "you told us Michael was dead before the police had finished searching."
"I was told to."
"By whom?"
She whispered a name.
"Thomas."
I frowned.
"Thomas who?"
"My husband."
I froze.
Rebecca's husband had been dead for fifteen years.
He had never been mentioned in Michael's investigation.
Harris wrote the name down.
"Thomas worked with Mercer?"
"No."
"Then how did he know about Michael?"
"He didn't work with Mercer."
Rebecca's voice dropped.
"He worked for Richard Vale."
Noah stepped back.
The room seemed to shrink around us.
Rebecca explained that Thomas had handled legal and financial matters for Vale's companies.
He had known about the missing funds.
He had also known about Michael's evidence.
When Michael came to Rebecca, he believed she was the only family member he could trust.
But Thomas had already been monitoring the situation.
"He knew where Michael was going," Rebecca said.
"He knew where Elena was going."
"And he knew about Noah."
"Yes."
"Did he hurt them?"
"I don't know."
"Did he have them followed?"
"I believe so."
Harris asked whether Thomas had ever kept records.
Rebecca hesitated.
"Yes."
"Where?"
She gave us an address.
An old office building that had been closed for years.
Then she said something that changed the direction of the investigation.
"Claire, Michael didn't come to me because he wanted to disappear."
"Why did he come?"
"He wanted me to take Noah."
I looked at Noah.
"Why?"
"Because he knew Elena was going to be taken."
Noah stared at the floor.
Rebecca explained that Michael believed Elena had been captured by someone inside the network.
He had one night to get Noah somewhere safe.
He brought the child to Rebecca.
But before he could return, Thomas arrived.
"Did he know Noah was there?"
"No."
"Then how did he know?"
Rebecca's voice trembled.
"Because someone followed Michael."
I closed my eyes.
Michael had not abandoned his son.
He had left him with the person he trusted most.
And then someone had made sure that person believed the story that Michael was dead.
Harris asked Rebecca whether she had ever seen Michael again.
"Once."
"When?"
"Several years later."
"Where?"
"He came to my house after midnight."
"Why?"
"He wanted to know whether Noah was safe."
Noah looked up.
"What did you tell him?"
Rebecca began crying.
"I told him you were safe."
"Did he ask about me?"
"Every time."
"Did he ever see me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because he believed someone was watching my house."
Noah sat down.
The pain on his face was difficult to watch.
He had spent years believing his father had chosen not to see him.
Instead, his father had apparently been watching from a distance.
Rebecca gave Harris the location of Thomas's old office.
Before we left, she said one final thing.
"Claire."
I stopped.
"What?"
"Don't trust anyone who says Michael died."
I stared at the phone.
"Why?"
"Because I never saw his body."
Neither had I.
Neither had anyone.
The call ended.
We drove directly to the old office.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Dust covered the lobby.
A broken directory hung beside the elevator.
Thomas's name had been removed.
But the records room remained locked.
Harris obtained authorization.
Inside, we found boxes.
Most contained ordinary business documents.
Then Noah found a metal cabinet.
Inside was a folder marked with a date.
The date Michael disappeared.
The folder contained photographs.
Michael.
Elena.
Noah.
Me.
My mother's house.
Rebecca's house.
Even our old family car.
Someone had been documenting us.
For years.
At the bottom of the folder was a handwritten list.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
And beside my name was one word.
Useful.
I felt sick.
Harris turned the final page.
There was another name.
A name none of us had expected.
Tyler.
The date beside it was only three months old.
Noah looked at me.
"Why would they be watching him?"
I had no answer.
Then Harris found a second note.
It contained an address.
The farmhouse we had searched.
And beneath it:
If Michael returns, use the son.
I looked at Noah.
He understood immediately.
The people hunting his father had never stopped.
They had simply waited.
And now that Noah had found the truth, they had a reason to come after him.
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: The File Marked “Useful” Revealed That Tyler Had Been Watched Too, and Someone Had Already Predicted Noah Would Find the Truth
The Boy My Son Brought Home Was Wearing Something I Had Buried With a Family Secret Twenty-One Years Ago
Part 13 of 20
