Anna stopped several feet behind me.
Evelyn froze beside the walkway.
Maya's eyes dropped to the gun.
"Laura?"
Voss did not look away from me.
"Go inside."
Maya didn't move.
"I said inside."
Her voice changed.
The gentle woman I had overheard in the car disappeared.
What remained was hard and practiced.
Maya stepped backward, but only one step.
I kept my hands visible.
"You don't need the gun."
Voss smiled without warmth.
"You have no idea what I need."
"I know Maya is frightened."
"Her name is Maya."
"Yes."
The answer surprised everyone, including her.
I swallowed.
"That's the name she uses."
Maya looked at me.
Something shifted in her expression.
Voss's grip on the weapon tightened.
"You're learning quickly."
"I'm not here to take her identity away."
"That's exactly what Carl wanted."
"No."
I looked directly at Maya.
"I came because you asked whether I was really your mother."
Voss moved the gun slightly.
"Don't."
Maya whispered, "Let her talk."
"No."
"Laura."
Voss finally glanced at her.
That was enough.
Anna moved.
Not toward Voss.
Sideways.
Fast.
Voss swung the gun toward her.
I lunged up the porch steps.
Maya screamed.
The gun fired.
The sound was enormous.
Wood splintered beside Anna.
She dropped behind a porch column.
Evelyn ran toward the side of the house.
I reached Voss before she could aim again.
I caught her wrist with both hands.
She was stronger than I expected.
We slammed against the doorframe.
The gun pointed toward the ceiling.
Maya grabbed Voss's other arm.
"Stop!"
Voss twisted violently.
"Get off me!"
The gun fired again.
Plaster exploded above us.
Anna came from the side and struck Voss's forearm.
The weapon fell.
It skidded across the porch.
Maya kicked it through the railing.
Voss shoved me backward.
I hit the wall.
Anna tackled her.
Both women crashed onto the porch boards.
Evelyn returned from around the house holding a heavy garden shovel.
"Don't move."
For one surreal second everyone stared at her.
Anna almost laughed.
"That works."
Voss stopped struggling.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
State police.
I turned to Maya.
She was pressed against the hallway wall.
Her face was white.
I wanted to touch her.
I didn't.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"You?"
"I'm okay."
She looked past me toward Voss.
"She said you were dangerous."
I glanced at the bullet hole in the porch.
"I think she had that backward."
Maya almost smiled.
Almost.
Three state police vehicles arrived.
Officers secured Voss and recovered the gun.
Lieutenant Harris came personally.
He was younger than I expected, perhaps forty-five, with closely cropped hair and the exhausted expression of someone who had received too much information too quickly.
"Kessler called."
"Where's my husband?"
"We have units heading to North Ridge."
"He's not my—"
I stopped.
Carl was technically still my husband.
We had separated but never completed the divorce.
Thirteen years of absence had made the legal detail meaningless until now.
Harris continued.
"We haven't heard from the team yet."
"What about Dad?"
"He and Kessler are staying back until officers clear the building."
My phone rang.
Dad.
I answered immediately.
"Are you okay?"
"We're fine. They found Carl's car."
"Is he there?"
"Not yet."
My chest tightened.
"What does that mean?"
"They're searching."
A voice behind Dad said something.
He lowered his voice.
"I'll call when I know more."
The connection ended.
I looked at Maya.
She had heard enough to understand.
"Carl's missing?"
"Yes."
Her expression changed.
"He tried to help me."
"I know."
"He apologized."
"For what?"
"For taking so long."
I didn't know how to answer.
Maya sat on the porch step.
I sat several feet away.
Close enough to speak.
Far enough not to crowd her.
Anna gave our statements to Harris.
Evelyn stood beside the police cruiser where Voss had been placed.
For the first time since the station, nobody was demanding anything from us.
Maya looked at the yellow house.
"This is where I grew up."
"I know."
"You've seen pictures?"
"Today."
She nodded.
"My mom planted those roses."
I looked toward the flowerbed.
Half a dozen rose bushes climbed beside the porch.
"They're beautiful."
"She was terrible at gardening."
A tiny smile appeared.
"She'd plant something, forget what it was, then get offended when Dad pulled it out thinking it was a weed."
I smiled too.
"Emily used to—"
I stopped.
Maya looked at me.
"It's okay."
"I don't know what to call you."
Her eyes dropped.
"Neither do I."
The honesty hurt less than pretending certainty.
"Maya is fine."
"Does that bother you?"
"Yes."
She looked up, surprised.
I continued.
"But that doesn't mean you should change it."
She studied my face.
"You really are different from what Laura said."
"What did she say?"
"That you were obsessed with replacing the daughter you lost."
I looked toward the police cruiser.
"She doesn't know me."
"She had pictures."
"I found them."
"Years of pictures."
"Yes."
Maya rubbed her palms over her jeans.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
A bitter little laugh.
"Nobody knows anything."
"I've noticed."
She looked at me again.
"Do I look like her?"
"Emily?"
She nodded.
I thought carefully.
"You look like the person Emily might have become."
Her eyes filled slightly.
"That's a careful answer."
"I've had a complicated morning."
That produced the smallest real laugh.
It sounded like Lily.
The resemblance hurt and healed at the same time.
Maya wiped beneath one eye.
"Carl showed me Lily's picture."
"She knows about you."
"Does she hate me?"
"No."
"She doesn't know me."
"Neither do I."
The words slipped out before I could soften them.
Maya looked wounded.
I immediately corrected myself.
"I mean I want to. I know who you were at five. I don't know who you became. And I don't want to pretend those thirteen years didn't happen."
She looked toward the house.
"Sarah was my mom."
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
The words came sharply.
I let them.
"You're right."
She seemed surprised again.
"I can't understand what she was to you. I never met her."
Maya's eyes filled.
"She loved me."
"I believe you."
"And Dad too."
"Thomas?"
"Yes."
"They sound like good parents."
"They were."
Her voice broke.
"They died before I could ask anything."
"I'm sorry."
She covered her face briefly.
I wanted to put my arm around her.
Every instinct told me to.
I stayed where I was.
After a moment she lowered her hands.
"Did you look for me?"
There it was.
The question Anna had warned me about.
"No."
She flinched.
I continued before fear could make me dishonest.
"I believed you were dead."
"Even after Carl started suspecting?"
"He didn't tell me."
"Why?"
"He thought keeping me ignorant protected Lily."
"And you?"
"I thought your father had abandoned us."
Her brow furrowed.
"Why didn't he tell you later?"
"I don't know if I'll ever fully understand that decision."
"Do you hate him?"
I looked toward the road.
"I did."
"And now?"
"I don't know what I feel."
Maya nodded slowly.
"Me neither."
A car door slammed.
Lieutenant Harris walked toward us.
His expression had changed.
I stood immediately.
"What happened?"
"They found Carl."
Maya stood too.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
My knees nearly weakened.
"Is he hurt?"
"He's unconscious. Paramedics are treating him."
"Where?"
"North Ridge."
"I'm going."
Harris raised one hand.
"In a moment. There's something else."
I hated that phrase now.
"What?"
"They found documents with him."
"The ledger?"
Harris nodded.
"Among other things."
Anna joined us.
"Is Reed there?"
"No."
"Then he moved."
Harris looked at her.
"We've issued an alert."
Maya asked quietly, "Who is Reed?"
Anna answered.
"The man who helped falsify the placements."
Maya went pale.
"Mine?"
"Yes."
Harris looked at me.
"We also recovered a recording from Carl's phone."
"What recording?"
"A conversation between Carl and Jonathan Reed."
"When?"
"This morning."
My heart accelerated.
"What does Reed say?"
Harris hesitated.
"Enough to suggest Dr. Voss wasn't simply trying to hide what happened thirteen years ago."
I glanced toward the police car.
"Then what was she doing?"
Harris looked at Maya.
"Protecting herself."
"For what?"
He took out a small digital recorder sealed in an evidence bag.
"According to Reed, Dr. Voss personally made the decision not to return Emily once the identity error was discovered."
Maya stopped breathing.
I stared at the cruiser.
"Why?"
Harris's jaw tightened.
"Because Emily had seen something."
Maya whispered, "Seen what?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Anna stepped closer.
"I think I know."
We looked at her.
She stared at Maya.
"The night of the hospital transfer, I wasn't unconscious."
Her voice became distant.
"I remember another little girl."
Maya's expression changed.
"You remember me?"
Anna nodded.
"Pieces."
"What happened?"
Anna looked at Evelyn.
Then at me.
"Dr. Voss was arguing with a man in the service corridor. A nurse was crying. Someone had brought paperwork that didn't match."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"And Emily was awake."
I felt sick.
"What did she see?"
"The man hit the nurse."
Evelyn went still.
Anna continued.
"She fell against the wall. There was blood."
"Who was the man?"
"Jonathan Reed."
Harris's expression hardened.
Anna swallowed.
"I think Emily saw him kill her."
Silence.
Maya took one step backward.
"No."
Anna looked at her.
"I don't know if the nurse died immediately. But after that, they panicked. Everything changed."
I thought of a frightened five-year-old being moved down a service corridor.
She had not merely been switched by mistake.
Once she witnessed something, returning her home would have meant returning a witness.
Maya's hand went to her mouth.
"I don't remember that."
"You were five."
"I remember pieces of the hospital."
Everyone turned toward her.
My heartbeat quickened.
"What pieces?"
She stared toward the roses as if the answer might be hidden there.
"A red door."
Anna's face changed.
"The service stairwell."
"A woman crying."
I barely breathed.
Maya continued.
"And somebody saying my name."
"Emily?"
She closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
"Don't force it."
She opened them.
"There was a man."
Anna asked, "Do you remember his face?"
"No."
Maya shook her head.
"But I remember what he said."
Harris took out a notebook.
"What?"
Maya's breathing became shallow.
"He said they couldn't take me back."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
She looked directly at me.
"Because I'd seen too much."
The police cruiser door suddenly opened.
An officer shouted.
Voss had twisted sideways in the back seat.
For a second I thought she was trying to escape.
Then I saw what she held.
A small object.
A phone.
Somehow she had another one.
Harris ran toward her.
"Take it!"
The officer grabbed the device.
Voss laughed.
Not loudly.
Almost with relief.
Harris looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What did she do?"
He didn't answer.
"Harris."
He turned the phone toward us.
A message had been sent.
Only three words.
SHE REMEMBERS REED.
Anna went pale.
"To who?"
Harris checked.
"No contact name."
"Can you trace it?"
"We will."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person on the porch stopped.
I answered.
"Hello?"
A man spoke.
Smooth voice.
Older.
"Rebecca Carter."
I knew before he introduced himself.
Jonathan Reed.
"Where are you?"
He ignored the question.
"Your family has caused an extraordinary amount of trouble."
I looked at Harris.
He motioned for me to keep talking.
"You stole my daughter."
"That version is emotionally satisfying, but incomplete."
"Then give me your version."
A quiet laugh.
"Not over the phone."
"Are you afraid?"
"No."
"Then why have you spent thirteen years hiding?"
His silence was brief.
"Because people misunderstand necessary decisions."
Maya stepped closer.
I held out one hand to keep her quiet.
"What decision?"
"Emily could not go home."
I felt Maya stiffen.
"Because she saw you kill a nurse."
Reed went silent.
That silence was confirmation enough.
Then his voice changed.
"You've spoken to Anna."
"She's here."
Another pause.
"Interesting."
Harris was signaling to an officer, likely trying to trace the call.
I kept Reed talking.
"Carl has your ledger."
"I know."
"The police have it now."
"I know that too."
My skin chilled.
He already had information from North Ridge.
Someone was still feeding him details.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing from you."
"Then why call?"
"Because you deserve to understand one thing before this becomes uglier."
"What?"
"Maya was never the real danger."
I looked at her.
"Who was?"
Reed answered quietly.
"Lily."
My entire body went cold.
"What does Lily have to do with this?"
"More than anyone told you."
The call ended.
I immediately dialed my sister.
Rachel answered after four rings.
"Rebecca?"
"Where's Lily?"
A pause.
My heart stopped.
"Rachel."
"She left."
The porch seemed to tilt.
"What do you mean she left?"
"About twenty minutes ago. She got a message from Carl."
"No."
My voice came out as a whisper.
"Carl was unconscious."
Rachel stopped breathing.
"What?"
"Where did Lily go?"
"She said he needed her to bring something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
I pressed the phone against my ear so hard it hurt.
"Where did she go?"
"Rebecca, she wouldn't tell me."
Maya stared at me.
She already understood.
Rachel continued, panic rising.
"She took her backpack and left through the side door before I could stop her."
"What message did she get?"
"She showed me part of it."
"Read it."
"I don't have it."
"Then tell me what it said."
Rachel's voice shook.
"It said, 'Lily, your sister isn't the only one they lied about.'"
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: Lily Followed a Message Sent From Carl’s Number, and the Object She Carried Explained Why Reed Feared Her More Than Maya
Thirteen Years After We Buried Emily, My Father Put a Photograph on the Table That Should Not Have Existed
Part 8 of 44
