Chapter 4 - THE CHRISTMAS LIE
Nathan returned to the hallway and called Deputy Mercer.
“There is a barn on the Kane property.”
“We saw one behind the house.”
“There may be a concealed room underneath it.”
Mercer ordered the search team back to the property.
Nathan remained at the hospital.
He replayed Lily’s words until they became unbearable.
Mommy said you came every Christmas.
He had sent gifts during the first two years after Sarah left.
Every package was returned.
Marcus told him Sarah refused to accept anything connected to the Pierce family.
After that, Nathan stopped trying.
What if Marcus had not returned the packages?
What if Sarah had been told Nathan visited and refused to enter?
The cruelty of it was precise.
Marcus had given each sibling just enough evidence to believe the other had chosen rejection.
Rosa sat beside Nathan in the waiting room.
“She never stopped speaking about you,” Rosa said.
Nathan looked at her.
“You knew Sarah?”
“Before she married Marcus.”
Rosa folded her hands.
“She came to the estate several times while you were at medical school.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“She loved this house.”
“She said the mountains made her feel protected.”
Nathan looked toward Lily’s room.
“Then why did she stay away?”
“Because you told her not to return.”
He felt the old words again.
If you marry him, do not come back here.
Nathan had meant them as a threat.
Sarah had heard them as a sentence.
“I was trying to scare her away from Marcus.”
“You scared her away from you.”
Nathan did not defend himself.
Mercer called at dawn.
The search team found the hidden room.
It was accessible through a trapdoor beneath a stack of animal feed.
Inside were filing cabinets, surveillance equipment, and hundreds of photographs.
Marcus had tracked Nathan’s movements for years.
He recorded hospital schedules.
Business meetings.
Charity appearances.
Visitors to the estate.
He also kept every letter Sarah had written.
None had been mailed.
Mercer read the opening of the most recent one.
Nathan,
Lily asks why her uncle hates her.
I tell her you do not know she exists because that truth hurts less than believing you know and do not care.
Nathan lowered his head.
“She thought I knew about Lily?”
“There are forged replies from you,” Mercer said.
“They tell Sarah to stop contacting you.”
“What else is in the room?”
“Medical files.”
“Whose?”
“Sarah’s.”
Mercer paused.
“They describe psychiatric treatments she may never have received.”
“May never have?”
“The doctor who signed them lost his license six years ago.”
“Where is Sarah now?”
“We found blood in the barn and tire tracks leading north.”
“Toward what?”
“An abandoned hydroelectric station.”
Nathan stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She is my sister.”
“And Marcus is armed.”
May you like
Nathan looked through the glass at Lily and the twins.
“I have already spent seven years staying away.”
