Chapter 4 - Dela’s Side of the Door
Knox wanted to go straight to the house.
Dela stopped him at the bottom of the lodging house stairs.
“Your mother wakes up scared.”
Knox turned.
“What?”
“She doesn't know where she is. Hospitals make it worse.”
“Toby can stay with her.”
“Is Toby her son?”
The question irritated him because it was impossible to answer without losing the argument.
Knox looked toward the SUV.
Silas could disappear.
Documents could disappear with him.
Evidence could burn.
Every instinct Knox had developed in the last decade told him to move quickly.
But another image entered his mind.
Ruth in the hospital.
My boy doesn't come home.
Knox looked at Toby.
“Send Noah and Vincent to the house.”
Toby nodded.
“Tell them not to enter.”
“They'll watch?”
“Every door.”
Toby walked away to make the call.
Dela studied Knox.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're looking at me.”
“I didn't think you'd listen.”
“I usually don't.”
“Maybe that's been part of the problem.”
Knox almost smiled.
Almost.
They returned to the hospital.
Ruth was awake.
She had become agitated while they were gone.
A nurse explained that she had attempted to remove her IV and insisted she needed to catch a bus.
Dela entered first.
“Ruth?”
The elderly woman looked toward her.
Relief immediately crossed her face.
“There you are.”
“I'm here.”
“You were gone.”
“Just for a little while.”
Ruth's eyes filled.
“They said I couldn't leave.”
“No one's keeping you prisoner.”
Ruth whispered, “That's what they said there.”
Knox stood in the doorway.
Dela sat beside the bed.
“Where?”
Ruth looked frightened.
“The place.”
“Lake Briar?”
Ruth's expression changed.
Knox noticed.
“Mom?”
Her eyes darted toward him.
“Who is he?”
Dela answered gently.
“His name is Knox.”
Ruth stared.
The confusion did not lift.
Then Bear entered.
Everything softened.
“Bear.”
The dog approached.
Ruth touched his forehead.
Knox realized Bear existed in a part of her memory more stable than he did.
It hurt.
But he also understood why.
Bear had never chosen to stay away.
Dr. Park entered after several minutes.
She asked Knox to step outside.
“Her stress level is too high.”
“Because of me?”
“Not specifically.”
“That means yes.”
“It means unfamiliarity makes confusion worse. Mrs. Hartley associates Ms. Dela and the dog with safety.”
Knox looked through the glass.
His mother was holding Dela's hand.
“I'm her son.”
“I know.”
“She doesn't.”
Dr. Park paused.
“Then don't demand that she remember. Give her reasons to trust you now.”
The advice sounded simple.
For Knox, it was not.
His entire life had been built on reputation.
People trusted him because they feared consequences.
Ruth could not be frightened into remembering love.
He had to start over.
That afternoon, Knox sat three feet from her bed.
He did not call her Mom.
He did not touch her without permission.
He simply said, “Would you like some tea?”
Ruth looked at him suspiciously.
“What kind?”
Knox had no idea.
Dela answered from the window.
“Chamomile.”
Knox nodded.
“Chamomile.”
Ruth accepted.
Twenty minutes later, he brought another blanket.
An hour after that, he adjusted the television volume when she complained it was too loud.
Tiny things.
Humiliatingly ordinary things.
He had once negotiated a fifteen-million-dollar property deal in twelve minutes.
Now he spent ten minutes trying to open a packet of crackers without scattering crumbs across the floor.
Emma watched.
“You're bad at that.”
Knox looked at her.
“At crackers?”
She nodded seriously.
“Mom opens them from the side.”
Dela tried not to laugh.
Knox handed Emma the packet.
“Show me.”
She did.
Ruth watched them.
For one brief moment, she smiled.
Knox saw it.
That smile was worth more to him than any casino he owned.
Late in the afternoon, Ruth fell asleep.
Dela took Emma to get food.
Toby entered carrying a tablet.
“We have an update.”
Knox stepped into the hallway.
“Silas?”
“He left the house forty-three minutes ago.”
“You followed?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he go?”
“Downtown parking garage. Switched cars. We're still tracking.”
“What did he take?”
“Noah saw one briefcase.”
Knox's expression tightened.
“Anything else?”
“We pulled archived records from Lake Briar.”
“And?”
“A former nurse filed an internal complaint about Ruth.”
“What kind?”
“She claimed Ruth's legal representative was interfering with treatment.”
“Silas.”
“Probably.”
“Name?”
“Claire Mendez.”
“Find her.”
“Already did.”
Knox waited.
Toby frowned.
“She disappeared from normal employment records ten months ago.”
“Disappeared?”
“Stopped working as a nurse. No new license activity. No listed address.”
“Why?”
“No idea.”
Knox looked toward Ruth.
“When did she file the complaint?”
“Twelve months ago.”
One month before Ruth ended up on the street.
Knox understood.
“Silas got rid of her.”
Toby shrugged.
“Or she quit.”
Knox gave him a look.
“Find out.”
Toby nodded.
Before leaving, he added, “There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“The photographs.”
“What about them?”
“Remember how Silas recycled old pictures?”
“Yes.”
“I ran facial analysis and environmental comparisons.”
Knox waited.
“One image is different.”
Toby turned the tablet.
It showed Ruth sitting at her kitchen table.
A cup of coffee in front of her.
Silas stood in the background.
The photograph was dated three years earlier.
“Why is that important?”
“Look at the window.”
Knox zoomed.
In the reflection, another person stood behind the camera.
A woman.
Only part of her face was visible.
Knox didn't recognize her.
“Who is she?”
“We don't know.”
“Find out.”
Toby left.
Knox returned to Ruth's room.
She was awake again.
This time she looked at him longer.
“You have his eyes.”
Knox stopped.
“Whose?”
Ruth's expression became troubled.
“Don't.”
“Mom—”
Her breathing quickened.
Dela had returned and immediately came closer.
“Knox, stop.”
He did.
Ruth closed her eyes.
A few minutes passed.
Then she whispered something.
Knox leaned forward.
“What?”
“Walter.”
Knox's stomach tightened.
His father's name.
Walter Hartley.
The man nobody discussed.
Ruth opened her eyes.
“Walter said the same thing.”
“What thing?”
“That money would fix it.”
Knox stared at her.
“What happened with Dad?”
Ruth suddenly looked terrified.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
“Please.”
She pulled the blanket toward her chest.
“Don't let Silas have the box.”
Knox froze.
“What box?”
Ruth's eyes moved toward him.
For the first time since he found her, recognition appeared clearly.
“Knox?”
His heart stopped.
“Yes.”
Her hand trembled.
He reached toward her but stopped before touching.
Ruth moved first.
Her fingers closed weakly around his wrist.
“You came home.”
The words nearly broke him.
“Yes.”
Tears filled her eyes.
Then fear returned.
“He'll come back.”
“Who?”
“Silas.”
“What does he want?”
Ruth looked toward the door.
“The kitchen.”
Knox leaned closer.
“What about the kitchen?”
Her fingers tightened.
“Under the floor.”
Then her eyes clouded again.
She released him.
“Where's Dela?”
Knox sat frozen.
The recognition had lasted less than thirty seconds.
But it had been enough.
He stepped into the hallway and called Toby.
“Turn your men around.”
“Why?”
“Silas went to the house for something hidden under the kitchen floor.”
A pause.
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
Knox looked through the glass at Ruth.
“But my mother does.”
May you like
And if Silas had spent eight years stealing from Ruth, perhaps what lay beneath that kitchen floor explained why he had been willing to risk everything to keep her silent.
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