Chapter 5: The Woman in the Video
Dad didn’t answer the phone.
He just stared at the screen.
The name kept flashing.
Over and over.
A name I didn’t recognize.
But everyone else did.
Amanda stepped backward.
Her face was completely white.
“Daniel.””
Dad looked at her.
“Why are you scared?””
She didn’t answer.
“Who is it?””
Still nothing.
The phone stopped ringing.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then it rang again.
Dad picked it up.
“Hello?””
No one spoke.
Only breathing.
A quiet, shaky breath.
Then a woman whispered:
“Daniel.””
Dad stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
I had never seen him look that afraid.
“Who is this?””
A pause.
Then:
“You know.””
His hand covered his mouth.
“No.””
The woman started crying.
“Please don’t hang up.””
Dad looked at me.
Then at Amanda.
Then back at the phone.
“Where are you?””
Amanda grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.””
Dad pulled away.
“Where are you?””
The woman answered.
“Close.””
Dad’s voice broke.
“That’s impossible.””
I looked between them.
“Dad?””
He didn’t hear me.
The woman continued.
“I tried to come back.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“You’re dead.””
My heart stopped.
The room became silent.
The woman on the phone whispered:
“I know what you were told.””
Amanda suddenly moved.
She grabbed the phone.
“No.””
Dad stopped her.
“How did you get this number?””
The woman laughed sadly.
“Because I never lost it.””
Then the call ended.
Dad stood there.
Frozen.
I had never seen him like that.
Not when he was tired.
Not when he was angry.
Not even when he found out Amanda had taken my letter.
This was different.
This was someone seeing a ghost.
“Dad,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
His eyes were wet.
“Buddy.””
“Was that Mom?””
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I looked at Amanda.
She was crying now.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just tears running down her face.
And somehow that scared me more.
Because Amanda never cried.
Not when I was hungry.
Not when Lily cried.
Not when Dad was upset.
“What happened?”” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Dad walked upstairs.
I followed him.
“Dad.””
He stopped.
Slowly turned.
“I’m sorry.””
I didn’t understand.
“For what?””
“For letting you grow up around secrets.””
I looked down.
“I just wanted everyone to tell the truth.””
Dad sat on the stairs.
“Your mother’s name was Claire.””
I sat beside him.
“I remember pictures.””
He nodded.
“She loved taking pictures of you.””
“Why don’t we have more?””
Dad looked away.
“Because after she disappeared, Amanda helped me pack everything away.””
My stomach tightened.
“Why?””
“I thought I was protecting you.””
I looked at him.
“Was I not supposed to know she was alive?””
Dad didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
A sound came from downstairs.
A drawer closing.
Dad stood.
“Amanda.””
We went back down.
She was standing in the living room.
Holding something.
The envelope.
My envelope.
Dad stopped.
“Where did you find that?””
She looked at him.
“I didn’t.””
“Then why do you have it?””
Her hands shook.
“I was going to destroy it.””
Dad’s face changed.
“Why?””
Amanda looked at me.
Then back at him.
“Because it would ruin everything.””
I stepped closer.
“What would it ruin?””
Amanda closed her eyes.
Then she said something I never expected.
“It would prove I wasn’t the person who took your mother away.””
Nobody spoke.
Dad stared.
“What?””
Amanda looked at him.
“You heard me.””
Dad’s voice became cold.
“Explain.””
She looked at the envelope.
“I made mistakes.””
“You’re avoiding the question.””
“I was trying to protect my daughter.””
“From what?””
Amanda looked at me.
And her next words changed everything.
“From your mother.””
I felt the air leave my body.
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
Amanda opened the envelope.
Dad stepped forward.
“Don’t.””
But it was too late.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
She read the first line.
Then she looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen in her eyes.
Regret.
“She wrote this for Ethan.””
Dad grabbed the paper.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he stopped.
His face changed.
“What?””
I looked at him.
“What does it say?””
He didn’t answer.
He folded the paper slowly.
Too slowly.
“Dad?””
He looked at me.
And whispered:
“Your mother knew she might never come back.””
My throat tightened.
“Why?””
Dad looked at Amanda.
Then at the letter.
Then at me.
“Because she discovered someone was trying to make her disappear.””
A cold feeling moved through my body.
Someone.
Not something.
Someone.
Dad turned the paper over.
There was a second message written on the back.
A message nobody had seen.
His eyes widened.
“What?””
I stepped closer.
“What does it say?””
Dad looked like he didn’t want to tell me.
But he did.
Because he promised me the truth.
“It says…”
May you like
He swallowed.
“It says Amanda wasn’t working alone.””
