Her face was pale.
She was crying.
“Margaret,” Daniel said through the door. “I know you’re scared.”
I said nothing.
“There’s something I need to explain.”
My fingers gripped the phone.
Emily whispered, “Is he alone?”
“No.”
“Who’s with him?”
“I don’t know.”
The woman beside Daniel lifted her face.
And something inside me stopped.
I had seen her before.
Not recently.
Decades ago.
A college reunion photograph Michael had kept tucked inside an old book.
A woman standing beside him.
Young.
Beautiful.
Silver-blond even then.
Rebecca.
“You brought your mother,” I said.
Daniel looked directly at the peephole as if he could somehow see me.
“Yes.”
Behind me, Emily inhaled.
“Mom, don’t let them in.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Margaret?”
Her voice trembled.
“Please.”
My anger returned instantly.
“Why should I?”
“Because Michael asked me to find you if something happened.”
I almost laughed.
“Something happened six years ago. He died.”
