He opened the door. Standing on the porch was a man in his 60s with gray hair and kind eyes. He was tall like Nathan, but his shoulders were a little bent, like he carried heavy things for too long.
“Nathan,”
the man said. Then his eyes moved to Evelyn and his mouth fell open.
“Evelyn? Is that is that really you?”
“Hello, Mr. Cole,”
Evelyn said quietly. Nathan’s father, Richard Cole, stepped inside like he’d seen a ghost.
“But you’re we thought you were dead.”
“I know,”
Evelyn finished. Richard looked at Nathan.
“Son, what’s going on?”
“That’s what we need to talk about,”
Nathan said.
“Dad, sit down. This is going to take a while.”
They all sat in the small living room, Nathan and Evelyn on the couch, Richard in the old armchair. And Nathan told his father everything. He told him about finding Evelyn alive, about Lucas, about confronting his mother and hearing her confession, about the threats she made to Evelyn 8 years ago, about the staged death. Richard listened to everything without interrupting. His face got paler and paler as the story went on. When Nathan finished, Richard sat in silence for a long moment. Then he said.
“I knew she was capable of many things. But this I never imagined.”
“Did you know?”
Nathan asked.
“Did you know Evelyn was alive?”
“No,”
Richard said firmly.
“I swear to you, son. I had no idea. When Patricia told me about the accident, I believed her. I mourned for Evelyn. I thought she was really gone.”
He looked at Evelyn with sad eyes.
“I’m so sorry for what she did to you. For not knowing. For not protecting you.”
“It’s not your fault,”
Evelyn said softly.
“Did Mom ever say anything?”
Nathan asked.
“Anything that might have been a clue?”
Richard thought hard.
“Not about Evelyn specifically. But there were things. Strange things.”
“Like what?”
Nathan leaned forward.
“About a month after Evelyn’s supposed death, I noticed large amounts of money being withdrawn from our joint account,”
Richard said.
“When I asked Patricia about it, she said she’d made some investments. I didn’t question it at the time.”
“How much money?”
Nathan asked.
“$50,000,”
Richard said.
“Then another $20,000 a few weeks later.”
Nathan and Evelyn looked at each other.
“That could be the payments,”
Nathan said.
“To the men she hired to cover up what she did.”
“Do you still have access to those records?”
Evelyn asked Richard. Richard shook his head.
“After the divorce, most of our accounts were separated. But.”
He paused.
“But I kept copies of everything. Every bank statement, every transaction. Just in case.”
“In case of what?”
Nathan asked.
“In case she tried to hide assets during the divorce,”
Richard explained.
“I didn’t trust her, so I documented everything.”
Hope flared in Nathan’s chest.
“Dad, do you still have those documents?”
“Yes,”
Richard said.
“In a storage unit across town. I kept them locked up in case I ever needed them.”
“We need them,”
Nathan said urgently.
“We need them now. If we can prove Mom made those payments, we can prove she was involved in faking Evelyn’s death.”
“There’s something else,”
Richard said slowly.
“Something I found during the divorce that I never understood until now.”
“What?”
Evelyn asked.
“Patricia owned a warehouse,”
Richard said.
“An old, abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. She bought it about a year before Evelyn disappeared. I always thought it was strange. Why would she buy something like that? It wasn’t an investment property. It was just sitting there, empty.”
Evelyn’s face went white.
“That’s where she took me. The warehouse where the men held me before they took me to the car.”
“She owned it?”
Nathan asked his father. Richard nodded.
“Yes. And she sold it about 6 months after Evelyn’s disappearance for much less than she paid for it. Like she was trying to get rid of evidence.”
Nathan stood up, energy coursing through him.
“We can prove this. We can prove everything. The warehouse, the money transfers, all of it.”
“But will it be enough?”
Evelyn asked, fear in her voice.
“Your mother is smart. She’ll have explanations for everything. She’ll say the warehouse was a bad investment. She’ll say the money was for something else.”
“Maybe,”
Nathan said.
“But it’s a start. And if we can raise enough doubt, enough questions, we can at least protect you and Lucas from her.”
Richard stood up too.
“I’ll go get those documents right now. It’ll take me about an hour to get to the storage unit and back.”
“Thank you, Dad,”
Nathan said. Richard put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.
“You’re my son. And Evelyn was like a daughter to me before before all this happened. If Patricia did what you say she did, then she needs to face the consequences.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you 8 years ago. But I’m here now.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you.”
Richard left, promising to return as quickly as possible. Nathan and Evelyn sat back down, the weight of everything pressing down on them.
“Do you think this will work?”
Evelyn asked quietly.
“I don’t know,”
Nathan admitted.
“But we have to try.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Then Evelyn said.
“Nathan, if this goes wrong, if your mother finds a way to get me arrested or take Lucas away, I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
Nathan asked.
“Promise me you’ll take care of him,”
Evelyn said, tears streaming down her face.
“Promise me you won’t let him end up in foster care or with strangers. Promise me you’ll be his father even if I can’t be his mother.”
Nathan took her hand.
“Nothing is going to happen to you. We’re going to fight this together.”
“But if it does.”
“I promise,”
Nathan said firmly.
“I promise I’ll take care of him. I’ll be the father he deserves. The father I should have been from the beginning.”
Evelyn squeezed his hand.
“Thank you.”
Before Nathan could respond, they heard sirens outside. Police sirens getting closer. Evelyn’s face went white with terror.
“No, no, no, no.”
Nathan ran to the window and looked out. Two police cars were pulling up in front of the house. His mother hadn’t waited. She’d already called them. The storm had arrived.
“Evelyn, take Lucas and go upstairs,”
Nathan said quickly.
“Right now.”
“Evelyn started.”
“Please,”
Nathan said.
“I’ll handle this. Just keep Lucas calm and quiet.”
Evelyn ran to the stairs.
“Lucas! Lucas, come here baby!”
Lucas came out of his room, confused.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“We need to stay in your room for a little while,”
Evelyn said, trying to keep her voice steady even though she was shaking.
“Come on.”
She pulled him into his room and closed the door just as there was a loud knock on the front door. Bang, bang, bang.
“Police! Open up!”
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