He was about to climb into his Sebring when he caught sight of a square of yellow paper on the windshield of his mother’s Beetle, which was parked in a visitor’s spot. A shiver crawled across his shoulders as he scanned the parking lot for any sign of who might have put it there. Nothing seemed out of place; all the people walking to their cars belonged to the complex, and he couldn’t spot anyone observing him from a car. Even so, he walked around the cars, looking into them as he passed. He was sure the note hadn’t been there when he’d arrived earlier, since it was in plain sight, so that meant someone had come while he’d been inside getting ready.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he circled back around to the Beetle and retrieved the note. Again, the yellow paper was lined and was torn a bit unevenly from a notepad. A sick feeling twisted in his gut as he read the words.
He’d have to talk to his mother about what to do—today. Obviously this wasn’t going away.
It seemed to take forever to get to his parents’ place, and when he arrived, his sisters and their husbands were already there. They were in the kitchen at the counter, and everyone was trying to get baby Caulin to leave his mother, even Eli, which for some reason surprised Harrison. Eli wasn’t exactly the cuddling type. A pan of rising rolls sat on the counter near the double ovens alongside a glass platter of sliced vegetables.
His sisters chorused hello, his brothers-in-law nodded, and his mother, wearing an apron, gave him a hug before turning to place the rolls in the oven. Eli shook his hand. “Harrison.”
“How are you?” Harrison had quit calling him
Dad
in his teen years, but he had to say something.
“Good. How’s your job?” His words sounded stiff.
“Great. I’m loving it there. I’m designing new communication panels for airport control towers. It’s interesting.” Harrison could have kicked himself. Why did he always feel he had to tell Eli something important about his work? It felt as though he was still justifying the fact that he’d refused to go into business with Eli.
Eli nodded and didn’t reply, but Chad said, “Man, wish you could take a look at the interior of our new air conditioning unit. The repairmen say they can’t figure them out. We’re having to send them for training.”
Harrison laughed. He probably could figure it out—he was pretty much able to decipher anything electronic—but doing so for Eli would only open old wounds. No way would he get sucked into that again. College had given him a way out, and building and designing electronics gave him a satisfaction he knew he could never find selling or repairing air conditioners and heating units.
“I doubt I’d be any better,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll get the hang of it. There’s always a learning curve with new technology.” Chad laughed while Eli’s jaw clenched. Maybe coming back to Arizona hadn’t been the best idea.
Except then he wouldn’t have met Makay or get to know his nephew and Tianna’s new baby.
“So when’s she coming?” Tianna stood and arched into a stretch, sending her long blond hair cascading down her back. “I’m starving.”
Chad laughed and stepped up behind her, encircling her with his big arms. “My wife will grow as large as I am at this rate.”
“Nonsense,” said Harrison’s mother. “You’re more than three or four of her.”
“I guess you’re right,” Chad said. “Still it’s funny such a little thing can change so much.”
“Babies do change everything.” Harrison’s mother held out her hands to Caulin. “Come to Grandma.” When the baby shook his head and buried his face in Rhonda’s chest, she added to Tianna, “When you have this baby, you need to let me watch him more. I want him to get used to me right from the start.”
“Okay. I guess.” Tianna shrugged out of Chad’s arms and crossed the kitchen to retrieve a carrot from the vegetable platter.
Rhonda sighed and shifted her baby’s head to her shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll happen soon with Caulin. I’ll bring him over more.”
The conversation moved on, but Harrison was distracted. The yellow note seemed to burn a hole in his pocket.
His mother took off her apron. “That’s it. As soon as the rolls are finished baking, we’ll take the chicken and fettuccini to the table.” She frowned at Harrison. “It’s almost six. You should have picked her up.”
“She’s a big girl, Mom. She can find her way.”
“In my day,” Eli said, folding his arms across his dress shirt and tie, “a man picked up his date.”
There he goes again with the not-so-subtle criticism.
Trying not to bristle, Harrison made his voice matter-of-fact. “I offered, but she had a few things to do first.” He was already beginning to worry about Makay. She’d been pretty sick last night and could have had a relapse. She could also have decided not to come.
“That’s unfortunate,” Eli said.
“What’s with women these days anyway?” Graham, Rhonda’s husband, spoke for the first time. “Give them the vote and they suddenly figure out ways not to let a guy be a gentleman.”
Eli smiled and Chad laughed, but Rhonda glared at him. “Graham.”
“Just kidding.” Graham winked at Harrison, and Harrison knew his brother-in-law didn’t find his own comments humorous. He worked for a software company and was both conservative and intelligent. He understood Eli, and while his comments often seemed to condone Eli’s attitude and behavior, they actually subtly mocked him. Graham’s delivery was such, however, that only Harrison and Rhonda realized it.
Harrison nodded in appreciation before his eyes went to his mother. “Can I talk to you a moment?”
Her eyes flitted to her husband and back again. “Well, we’re all together now. Maybe it can wait?”
“I don’t think so. Please.”
She gave a short nod. “Okay.” Her voice sounded hard—and worried. Harrison hated to do this to her, now or ever, but they had to talk. “Rhonda, keep an eye on the rolls,” she said. “Take them out if I’m not back in time.” With another glance at Eli, she followed Harrison from the kitchen. He didn’t stop in the entryway or go to the sitting room but continued out the front door. The upscale neighborhood was peaceful and silent, with not a person or animal in sight.
His mother waited until the door was firmly closed behind them before asking, “Is this about the note?” The words were scarcely a whisper.
“It’s about the new note someone left today after we talked on the phone.” Harrison turned to face her, as if they were just chatting on the porch before he left to go home.
“Oh, dear Lord,” she murmured. “What did it say?”
Harrison pulled it from his pocket, unfolding it slowly. His mother looked around a bit wildly, as if expecting Eli or one of the neighbors to come out and rip it from his hands. He handed it to her, his mind running over the words he’d already memorized.
Who am I and what do I want, you ask? You should know who I am already. What I want is fifty thousand dollars—unless you’d like your husband and other children to know about me. If you want proof, I can show you. Or not. Whatever. It doesn’t really matter. Because I’ll tell your husband if you don’t pay—and we both know you don’t want that.
It was signed
The child you gave up.
His mother let out a little sob. Her eyes were still riveted to the paper, but her hand was shaking so badly that it would be impossible to reread. Harrison grabbed her hands and pried them open, freeing the sheet from her tightened grasp. Belatedly, he thought of fingerprints, but immediately dismissed the idea. They already knew who it was.
Or did they?
“It’s her.” His mother wilted, a shadow of her former self.
“Maybe. It could just be someone who found out.”
“How? And how would they know I didn’t tell Eli?” She paled abruptly, moving forward to grip the front of his shirt. “You don’t think . . . oh! She must have talked to Eli. She must have talked to all of you to see if you knew.” The idea was apparently too much and a tear escaped her right eye.
Now it was Harrison whose eyes scanned the neighborhood, wondering if anyone was observing them, and if they questioned why his mother clutched at him so desperately.
“No one asked me,” Harrison said. “At least not that I can remember.” Though now that he thought about it, the subject could have come up in a what-if conversation at work or with friends. Had someone pumped him for information without his knowledge? “Anyway, it doesn’t have to be her. It could be anyone who knew you at that time.”
She shook her head. “It couldn’t be. Most didn’t even know. I didn’t announce the pregnancy, and I hid it as much as I could.”
“Things change. Some people knew, and maybe they need money now.”
“No. It’s her. I know it!”
Harrison felt a curious flicker of joy. “Then let’s tell her we want to meet. Let’s welcome her back.”
“No!” His mother gasped. “I can’t. You know Eli. Even if he could get over the fact of her existence, he would never forgive me for lying to him all these years.”
“You think he’ll divorce you?” He couldn’t say it out loud, but maybe that would be a good thing, if she was that frightened of him.
Her face contorted. “No, but he’ll make me pay. Every day, he’ll make me pay.” The tears were running faster now. “You know how it was, Harrison. He did the same thing to you and none of it was your fault. You don’t know how much it hurt to see you trying to please him. It took years before I felt like he respected me, that he forgave me for having you and accepted you as his own. I can’t go through that again.” Her eyes begged him to understand. “Things are better now. Good, even. I love Eli, and I love our life. I don’t want to go back.” She hesitated before adding, “What kind of person is she that she’d approach me this way? It’s like she’s purposely being hateful.”
He had to admit it seemed strange. He would have expected a long letter detailing her life and asking for a chance to be a part of their family. Instead, they had this abrasive, mocking note that clearly told them they meant nothing to her, that she was interested only in their money.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “There’s no way we can pay that much, not without Eli knowing. Unless I got a loan or something.”
“I have some money saved.” Her voice lowered. “Eli doesn’t know about it.”
He stared at her.
She hid money from Eli?
It seemed too incredible to believe.
“Don’t look at me like that. All women have a stash, at least those who don’t work outside the home. Even if it’s just a few bucks in a jar. You can’t always have someone looking over your shoulder at everything you do. I might be able to get enough for this.”
“What if she comes back for more? What then?”
Again her fingers clutched at his shirt. “You tell her it’s all we have. You can make her understand, right?”
The whole thing was ludicrous. Real people weren’t blackmailed. People he knew shouldn’t have secrets that others could use for blackmail.
“I have some jewelry I never wear anymore,” his mother added through heavy breaths. “I can offer her that if I need to, or I can hock it.”
“Hock it? What are you saying? It might not even be her. We can’t forget that.” His mind ran over the possibilities. “Have you recently run into someone you used to know?” Maybe they had followed her home and, after seeing where she lived, decided she was a good target. “Or talked to anyone on the phone?”
“No. No one. It’s her, I tell you. She hates me for what I did.”
“For what you did? That’s crazy.” Harrison put an arm around her. “Mom, you gave her life. You put her with a good family. You did all you felt you could do at the time. She should be grateful. Placing a baby for adoption is a sacrifice.”
“Then why is she doing this?” His mother’s tears had stopped, but her face was anguished. “I lived that hell. She has no right to drag me back there again.” She took a deep breath and continued more calmly. “But I want to give her the money. If she needs it, I want her to have it. I just don’t want her to ruin everything I’ve built.”
Harrison was torn. He understood what she was saying, and knowing the kind of man Eli was made it all the more true, but how could his mother turn her back on her own blood? Did she hate the girl’s father so much that simply meeting their child would be too painful? Or maybe just surviving the pregnancy and birth without support had scarred her for life.
No, it’s Eli.
Everything seemed to end and begin with his stepfather and his mother’s fear and worship of the man.
At the same time, the idea of paying off the woman, if she was his sister, seemed wrong when maybe all she really wanted—and needed—was love.
Did this sister-stranger like baseball games and popcorn? Harrison couldn’t help wondering. Did she swim well like Rhonda, or was she more like Tianna, who only went into the water to jet ski with a life jacket on? Did she have a boyfriend or had she married young and already have children of her own like his other sisters?
“Aren’t you curious about her life?” Harrison asked.
“I can’t afford to be. And don’t think we’d be doing her a favor inviting her into our lives. Eli would never accept her.” His mother pushed him toward the door. “Go inside first. Make sure no one is there so I can go up the front stairs. I need to fix my face before anyone sees me. It’s after six, and your friend will be here soon.”
“What about the money?”
“I’ll get it. You arrange the rest.” She pushed harder at him and this time he went inside. No one was in the entryway, and he motioned for his mother to go past him and up the stairs. He watched her go, feeling he’d somehow failed her.
This emotion only solidified his determination. Whatever happened, whoever was behind this plan was not going to walk away without getting burned, even if it was his sister.
Chapter Twelve
M
akay awoke from her nap with a start, her heart pounding. She’d been dreaming about the park again. This time she was hiding in the bushes waiting for two men in hoodies to complete their transaction. Money and a small bag of white powder exchanged hands practically above her head. They both wore guns, and she knew her life depended on staying silent. Even a rustle of her sleeping bag could be the end. Not really a dream but a memory.