Chapter 9 - Gideon Shaw
Detective Chen's officers moved before I did.
The motel corridor erupted with shouted commands.
"Police!
Hands where we can see them!"
A crash.
Running footsteps.
Mom grabbed my arm.
"Stay inside."
I opened the door anyway.
The corridor was empty except for two officers racing toward the stairwell.
At the far end, a gray-haired man disappeared through an emergency exit.
I saw his face for less than a second.
It was enough.
Gideon Shaw looked like Bianca.
Not exactly.
But unmistakably.
Same narrow eyes.
Same sharp line of the jaw.
Same expression when frightened.
Mom pulled me back.
"Now he knows."
"He already knew you were here."
"No.
He knows I'm with you."
Police searched the area for hours.
Gideon vanished.
Of course he did.
Men like him seemed to build entire lives around disappearing.
When Detective Chen returned, anger replaced professionalism.
"You were told to stay in the room."
"I did until police started chasing a seventy-year-old criminal down the hall."
"That seventy-year-old criminal has evaded multiple federal investigations."
"Then maybe stop underestimating him."
She glared.
"That is exactly what I'm trying not to do."
Mom sat quietly.
Chen looked toward her.
"Mrs. Mercer—"
"Elena Hart."
My mother had returned to her maiden name.
A small detail.
A huge statement.
"Ms. Hart, you'll need to come with us."
"I assumed so."
"Protective custody."
Mom almost smiled.
"There is no such thing."
Chen's jaw tightened.
"There is tonight."
Before we left, Mom handed me a key.
Small.
Modern.
A bank safe-deposit key.
"What's this?"
"Insurance."
"Where?"
"Boston Federal Trust.
Box 4417."
"What's inside?"
"If I don't make it through tonight, open it."
I hated the calm way she said it.
"No.
Tell me now."
"Not here."
"Mom."
"Daniel, twenty-two years taught me one useful lesson.
Never keep every truth in the same room."
At the police station, Bianca was brought into another secured interview room.
When she saw Mom through the glass, she stopped walking.
Nothing could have prepared either of them.
Bianca had spent most of her life believing our mother was dead.
Mom had spent decades imagining the daughter she left behind.
They stood ten feet apart.
Neither moved.
Then Bianca whispered, "Mom?"
Elena crossed the space between them.
Bianca collapsed into her arms.
I turned away.
Not because I did not want to watch.
Because their reunion belonged to them.
It lasted less than a minute before twenty-two years of hurt took over.
Bianca pulled back.
"You left me."
"I had to."
"Everyone had to do everything."
Mom flinched.
"You sound like Daniel."
"Maybe because you abandoned both of us."
"I was trying to protect you."
Bianca laughed bitterly.
"Apparently protection in this family means locking people away or pretending you're dead."
Mom looked confused.
Then I realized Bianca did not yet know what Mom had told me.
About Gideon.
About her father.
I stepped in.
"There's something else."
Mom's eyes warned me.
Bianca saw it.
"What?"
"Daniel."
"No more secrets."
Mom closed her eyes.
Bianca looked between us.
"What?"
So I told her.
Not elegantly.
There was no elegant way.
"Gideon Shaw is your biological father."
Bianca stared.
Then laughed.
A short disbelieving sound.
"No."
Mom stepped closer.
"Bianca—"
"No."
"I am so sorry."
"No."
"Thomas knew."
"Stop."
Bianca backed away.
"You don't get to walk into my life after twenty-two years and tell me Dad wasn't my father."
"He raised you."
"He was horrible.
But he was still my father."
"I know."
"And now you're saying another criminal is?"
Mom cried silently.
"Yes."
Bianca looked at me.
"You believe her?"
"I believe the evidence needs checking."
"That's not what I asked."
"No.
I don't know what I believe anymore."
That answer seemed to hurt her less than a lie would have.
Detective Chen arranged DNA testing.
Results would take time.
But our lives did not slow down.
An officer entered.
"Detective, we have a situation at the hospital."
My blood went cold.
"Evelyn?"
Chen grabbed her jacket.
"What happened?"
"Fire alarm on the seventh floor.
Security footage shows someone entering Ms. Hart's room during evacuation."
I was moving before he finished.
At the hospital, Evelyn was gone.
Her bed was empty.
The IV had been pulled free.
A nurse was crying.
Security footage showed a man in medical scrubs wheeling Evelyn into a service elevator.
His face hidden behind a mask.
They found the wheelchair in a loading bay.
No Evelyn.
On the seat was one thing.
A strip of white lace.
From her wedding veil.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message.
BRING THE LEDGER TO BLACKWOOD.
MIDNIGHT.
May you like
COME WITH BIANCA.
OR THE BRIDE GOES BACK UNDERGROUND FOR GOOD.
