Chapter 10 - Rowan Comes Home
Detective Chen found Rebecca before midnight.
Again.
This time in her car behind a grocery store.
Alive.
Terrified.
Someone had followed her from work.
No assault.
No proof who.
But fear was now part of every room.
Then Noah's genealogy account received another message.
EW_18:
I WANT TO MEET.
My hands went cold.
I typed:
ROWAN?
Three dots.
Then:
YES.
My vision blurred.
I sat.
Noah whispered:
"Mom."
I typed:
WHERE ARE YOU?
Response:
SAFE ENOUGH.
Nathan stood behind me.
I looked at him.
Then typed:
I NEVER GAVE YOU AWAY.
Long pause.
Then:
THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TOLD.
My chest broke open.
I typed:
WHO TOLD YOU?
GRANDMA.
Diane was not in the house.
Good.
I did not know what I would have done.
Rowan sent a location.
Public park.
No police visible.
No surprise.
Chen hated the plan.
We compromised.
Plainclothes officers far away.
Nathan asked:
"Do you want me there?"
I stared.
I did not know.
Then Noah said:
"He should."
Liam nodded.
"If Rowan thinks Dad knew, he deserves to ask."
Fair.
We went.
I saw him before he saw us.
Bench near the pond.
Gray hoodie.
Hands in pockets.
Same face as the photograph.
Real.
Moving.
Breathing.
My son.
My knees weakened.
Nathan caught my elbow.
This time I let him.
Rowan looked up.
His eyes found Noah.
Then Liam.
He stood.
The three of them stared.
Same eyes.
Different lives.
Liam laughed once from shock.
"Okay."
Rowan almost smiled.
Noah walked closer.
"I'm Noah."
"I know."
"Liam."
"I know."
They looked at me.
I could not move.
Rowan did.
Three steps.
Stopped.
"Emily?"
Not Mom.
Of course.
I nodded.
"Yes."
His jaw tightened.
He looked at Nathan.
"Dad?"
Nathan whispered:
"Yes."
Rowan stared at him.
Then at me.
"You look like the pictures."
"What pictures?"
"Robert kept some."
My chest tightened.
The Wards had pictures of us.
Where from?
He continued:
"Grandma brought them."
Of course.
I wanted to touch him.
I did not.
He noticed.
Maybe respected it.
I said:
"I never gave you away."
He looked down.
"That's what Robert said near the end."
"What did he say exactly?"
"That they were told you signed."
"I didn't."
"I know now."
Nathan spoke.
"My signature was copied too."
Rowan looked at him.
Long.
Then:
"You came to the house."
Nathan went white.
So Rowan knew.
"I saw you."
My stomach tightened.
Nathan whispered:
"I didn't know."
"You stared at me for almost an hour."
"I thought you looked like Noah."
"You left."
Nathan's face collapsed.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I asked Diane."
"And believed her."
"Yes."
Rowan laughed without humor.
"Everybody believed Grandma."
I whispered:
"Not anymore."
He looked at me.
Then reached into his backpack.
Phone.
"I need you to hear something."
He pressed play.
Diane's voice.
Eighteen years younger.
"If Emily knows he survived, she'll take him back."
Vale:
"Then she cannot know."
Diane:
"She'll never forgive me."
Vale:
"She doesn't have to know enough to forgive you."
My hands curled.
Then Robert's voice:
"We were told she consented."
Diane:
"She can't make this decision."
Robert:
"She's his mother."
Silence.
Then Diane:
"She has two healthy boys who need her."
My breath stopped.
Rowan paused the recording.
"I listened to that fifty times."
His voice shook.
"I thought maybe she was right."
"No."
The word came fast.
He looked at me.
"No."
I stepped closer.
"You were not the expendable one."
His face changed.
I continued:
"There was no child I would have chosen to lose."
His eyes filled.
I stopped one step away.
"Can I hug you?"
He looked at Noah.
Then Liam.
Then me.
He nodded.
I wrapped my arms around him.
Eighteen years.
No baby smell.
No tiny body.
A grown young man.
He stood stiff for one second.
Then held me back.
My knees nearly gave.
Nathan turned away crying.
Noah wiped his face.
Liam said:
"This is weird."
Rowan laughed against my shoulder.
First laugh.
I pulled back.
He looked at Nathan.
Nathan did not approach.
Good.
Rowan said:
"I have more."
"What?"
"Robert said Vale arranged other placements."
Chen, listening remotely through my phone, would care.
I did too.
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"He had files?"
"Some."
"Where?"
"Storage unit."
"Same as locker?"
"No."
"Then why the bus locker?"
"Robert wanted me to find you first."
My chest tightened.
Rowan continued:
"He said the big file could get me killed."
"Where is it?"
He hesitated.
Then my home alarm app exploded with notifications.
BASEMENT WINDOW.
MOTION.
OFFICE.
I stared.
Again.
Someone was inside our house.
Chen's voice came through my earpiece.
"Do not go home."
Rowan looked at me.
"What?"
I showed him.
His face went white.
"That's what I meant."
Then Rebecca's message arrived.
HE KNOWS I TALKED TO YOU.
Thirty seconds later, her status went offline.
Rowan whispered:
"Vale is cleaning up."
Then he opened the backpack again.
One more envelope.
"I didn't send everything in the box."
"What is that?"
"Robert's letter to me."
He handed it over.
The first page explained why Robert had waited until death.
He feared losing Rowan.
He feared criminal charges.
He feared Helen's role.
But the final paragraph was underlined.
If you find Emily, understand this: she was never given the chance to refuse you.
My eyes blurred.
Rowan watched.
"I read that before I sent the box."
"Why didn't you come yourself?"
"Because I didn't know if Robert was lying too."
Fair.
He continued:
"Then I saw Vale's car twice."
"The black sedan."
"Yes."
"I changed motels. Changed phones."
Noah nodded with approval.
"Good."
Rowan almost smiled.
Then Liam said:
"So what now?"
For one second, the three brothers looked at each other like a team formed without permission.
I said:
"We preserve everything."
Nathan added:
"And we do not chase Vale."
Rowan looked at him.
"You're not in charge of me."
Nathan swallowed.
"You're right."
Good answer.
Then Detective Chen entered the park from the path.
She held up her phone.
"Your house is clear now."
I started to exhale.
Then:
"But Rebecca just sent another message."
She showed us.
HE KNOWS I TALKED TO YOU.
Below:
I'M SORRY.
Thirty seconds later Rebecca's phone had gone offline.
Rowan whispered:
May you like
"Vale is cleaning up."
CUT.
