Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Knew My Mother’s Secret
Rebecca Shaw lived forty minutes away in a small house with yellow shutters.
Detective Park did not want Olivia and me going there.
So naturally, Aunt Meredith drove.
Rebecca opened the door and stared at us.
She was in her late fifties.
Short dark hair.
Tired eyes.
When she saw Meredith, all the color disappeared from her face.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Meredith folded her arms.
“We should have been here four years ago.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“You're Grace.”
It wasn't a question.
“How do you know me?”
“I knew your mother.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
Pain crossed her face.
“Come inside.”
Her living room smelled like coffee and cinnamon.
Family photographs covered one wall.
None included Mom.
Rebecca remained standing.
“I wondered when Daniel's secrets would finally catch him.”
“Why was he paying you?”
She closed her eyes.
“He wasn't paying me.”
“His records say otherwise.”
“He was paying back money he stole.”
“From you?”
“From Catherine.”
I waited.
Rebecca explained.
She and Mom worked together years earlier.
Mom had quietly created an emergency fund during the marriage.
Not hidden money for selfish reasons.
Escape money.
By the time Mom became sick, she had saved almost $40,000.
She gave part of it to Rebecca for safekeeping after discovering Dad’s financial fraud.
“She was planning to leave him,” Rebecca said.
“Meredith told me.”
“She wanted to take you girls.”
“Why didn't she?”
“She got sick.”
The words settled painfully.
Cancer had trapped Mom inside a marriage she had planned to leave.
“What happened to the money?”
“Daniel found out.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“He stole it?”
“Most of it.”
“Then why repay you?”
“Because I threatened to go to police.”
“Why didn't you?”
Rebecca looked ashamed.
“Catherine begged me not to.”
“Why?”
“She was worried what would happen to you girls if Daniel went to prison while she was dying.”
Of course she was.
Even dying, Mom was trying to build a softer landing for everyone else.
“What did you know about the trust?”
“Only that it existed.”
“Did you know Dad was stealing from it?”
“Not until later.”
“And you still didn't tell us?”
Rebecca looked at Meredith.
Then at me.
“You deserved adults who were braver.”
That was the first apology I had heard that didn't contain an excuse.
I sat back.
“What happened the night Mom decided to leave?”
Rebecca stared at her hands.
“She came here.”
“When?”
“About nine months before she died.”
“What did she say?”
“She had discovered Daniel had used your identity.”
My chest tightened.
“She was terrified he'd eventually use Olivia's too.”
Olivia, sitting beside me, went still.
“Did he?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“I don't know.”
Park checked later.
He had.
A savings account opened under Olivia’s identity when she was thirteen.
Closed six months later.
Dad had withdrawn $7,800.
When Olivia learned, she didn't cry.
She walked outside and sat on Rebecca's porch.
I followed.
“He stole from me too.”
“Yes.”
“I thought he loved me more.”
The sentence caught me off guard.
“What?”
“At the accident.”
She looked ashamed.
“I thought maybe he saved me first because I was his favorite.”
I understood exactly why she felt guilty.
“Liv.”
“I hated myself for thinking it.”
“You were hurt and scared.”
“He kissed my hand while you were trapped.”
“I know.”
“What kind of person feels special because her sister was treated worse?”
“A seventeen-year-old trying to understand something impossible.”
She leaned against me.
“I don't want to be his favorite anymore.”
I wrapped my arm around her.
“You never were.”
She looked at me.
“Neither was I.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dad didn't choose you because you mattered more.”
I swallowed.
“He chose whoever was easiest to control in that moment.”
Her eyes filled.
“And you had stopped being easy.”
That was the truth.
I had mistaken favoritism for love.
Olivia had mistaken attention for safety.
Dad had needed different things from each of us.
From me, money and responsibility.
From Olivia, loyalty and admiration.
When those roles shifted, so did his affection.
Back inside, Rebecca gave us something.
A copy of an email Mom sent her.
Subject: GRACE.
My greatest fear is not that Daniel will lose the money. Money can be rebuilt. My greatest fear is that he will teach Grace her value comes from what she carries for other people.
I couldn't breathe for several seconds.
Mom had seen me.
Even while dying.
She had seen the future I was walking toward.
Rebecca handed over a second page.
“There's something else.”
It was a property document.
A lake cabin owned by my grandfather.
Transferred to Mom.
Then supposedly transferred to Dad after Mom died.
Except the signature looked wrong.
“Another forgery?”
Rebecca nodded.
“The cabin was supposed to go to you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How much did he take?”
“It's worth around $280,000 now.”
Olivia whispered, “Oh my God.”
Rebecca continued.
“Daniel tried to sell it last month.”
“Why?”
“I think he needed money quickly.”
For me.
My departure.
The accounts.
The debt.
Everything was closing in.
Then Meredith’s phone rang.
Detective Park.
She listened.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She handed the phone to me.
Park spoke carefully.
“We searched Raymond Cole's garage again.”
“And?”
“We found a security camera system Ray said wasn't working.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“It was.”
“Yes.”
“What does it show?”
“Your father arriving before the accident.”
“We know that.”
“Grace…”
She paused.
“He didn't stay inside the office.”
“What did he do?”
“He walked directly to the Lincoln.”
I closed my eyes.
“How long?”
“Eleven minutes.”
“What was he doing?”
“We're enhancing the footage.”
“Can you see Ray?”
“No.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“Ray wasn't near the car.”
The room became silent.
“But his fingerprints were on the fuel line.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We think he worked on it earlier.”
“And Dad?”
May you like
Park's voice became quieter.
“The video appears to show your father reaching underneath the vehicle himself.”
