Chapter 2
I thought the woman was lying.
That was my first thought.
My second was worse.
If she was telling the truth, Valerie had lied to me my entire life.
“Prove it.”
My voice shook.
The woman on the phone went quiet.
Then she said, “Your father called you Birdie when you were little because you used to flap your hands when you got excited.”
My stomach dropped.
Nobody knew that.
Not my teachers.
Not my friends.
Only Dad.
And me.
I hadn’t heard the nickname since his funeral.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was there when he started calling you that.”
I looked at Hank.
He was watching carefully.
Rosa stood beside him.
Police lights appeared in the distance.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I understand.”
“If you’re my mother, why did you leave?”
The woman made a sound like I had hit her.
“I didn’t.”
“Valerie said—”
“I know what Valerie said.”
Her voice changed.
Anger.
Pain.
“She told everyone I abandoned you.”
My legs felt weak.
Hank guided me toward a motorcycle parked farther from traffic and helped me sit on the seat.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“Your father and I separated when you were two.”
I tried to remember.
Nothing.
“I was supposed to share custody.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
There was a long silence.
“Because your father was told I was dangerous.”
I frowned.
“Were you?”
“No.”
“Then why would he believe that?”
“Because someone created evidence.”
The police cruiser stopped.
A female deputy approached.
Hank lifted one hand, signaling that I was on the phone.
“Who?”
I already knew the answer before Claire said it.
“Valerie.”
My chest tightened.
“But Dad wasn’t married to Valerie then.”
“No.”
“She was his legal assistant.”
That surprised me.
Valerie had always told me she met Dad years after my mother disappeared.
Claire continued.
“She wanted your father.”
I wrapped Hank’s jacket tighter around myself.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
“Dad wouldn’t just let someone take me away from my mom.”
“He didn’t know.”
“What did she do?”
Claire inhaled.
“She forged messages.”
I said nothing.
“She made it look like I was threatening you. She reported me for things I never did. She told your father I was drinking heavily.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
“Didn’t anyone investigate?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“They found no evidence against me.”
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
Her breathing became uneven.
“Because before the custody hearing, I was hit by a car.”
I went completely still.
“What?”
“I survived.”
“But—”
“I was in rehabilitation for almost a year.”
The deputy was close enough now to hear part of the conversation.
Her expression changed.
Claire continued.
“When I recovered, your father had married Valerie.”
My eyes filled.
“You could have called me.”
“I did.”
“No.”
“Hundreds of times.”
I stood.
“No.”
“Emery—”
“No!”
Hank moved closer but didn’t touch me.
“Dad would have told me.”
Claire started crying again.
“Your father never received the calls.”
I covered my ears with one hand even though the phone was still against the other.
“Stop.”
“Valerie changed your number. She blocked my email. She returned every letter.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
The deputy crouched beside me.
“My name is Deputy Morales.”
I barely looked at her.
“Emery, can you ask the woman where she is?”
I swallowed.
“Where are you?”
Claire hesitated.
“Grand Junction.”
Less than two hours away.
“You’re that close?”
“I moved back three months ago.”
“Why?”
“To find you.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why now?”
“Because your father died.”
Everything went silent in my head.
Dad had died eight months earlier.
A heart attack.
At least that was what Valerie told me.
Claire whispered, “Your father contacted me before he died.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“What?”
“He found something.”
“What did he find?”
“He discovered that Valerie had been intercepting communication between us.”
I couldn’t speak.
“He apologized.”
My eyes flooded.
“He was going to bring you to me.”
I looked down at Charlotte’s Web.
Dad had given me the book three days before he died.
Inside the cover, he had written:
For my Birdie. Some truths take time to find their way home.
I had thought it was just one of Dad’s strange sentences.
Now my hands shook.
“Why didn’t he?”
Claire was silent.
Because he died.
Deputy Morales looked at Hank.
Something passed between them.
“What did Dad find?” I asked.
Claire answered carefully.
“Financial records.”
I frowned.
“What kind?”
“Your father created a trust for you after your grandmother died.”
I didn’t understand.
“A trust?”
“Money that belongs to you.”
“How much?”
Claire hesitated.
“A lot.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Almost four million dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
Hank’s eyebrows rose.
Deputy Morales became very still.
“That can’t be right.”
“It is.”
“Why would Dad never tell me?”
“He planned to when you were older.”
I looked toward the highway.
Rain blurred the lights.
“What does this have to do with Valerie?”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Your father discovered withdrawals.”
“From my money?”
“Yes.”
“By Valerie?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Nearly nine hundred thousand dollars.”
I felt sick.
“And the night before he died, he told me he was going to the police.”
I whispered, “No.”
Claire continued.
“He also told me he was changing his will.”
The deputy leaned closer.
“Claire, I need your full name and address.”
Claire gave them.
Then Deputy Morales asked, “Do you have documentation?”
“Yes.”
“I need you to preserve everything.”
“I already have copies with an attorney.”
That sounded too organized to be a prank.
My phone buzzed.
Another message from Valerie.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Then:
ANSWER ME NOW.
Then:
EMERY, YOUR FATHER WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU.
That one hurt.
My eyes filled.
Claire heard me breathe differently.
“What happened?”
“She mentioned Dad.”
“Don’t listen to her.”
“You don’t know her.”
“I know her better than you think.”
Before I could answer, headlights approached fast.
A red SUV.
My stomach dropped.
Valerie.
She pulled behind the police cruiser and jumped out.
“Oh my God!”
She ran toward me.
“Emery!”
I instinctively stepped behind Hank.
Valerie stopped.
Her expression changed when she saw the motorcycles.
Then the deputy.
Then the phone in my hand.
“Sweetheart, come here.”
I didn’t move.
She smiled too quickly.
“She ran away.”
Hank’s face hardened.
Deputy Morales said, “Ms. Cross, we need to speak.”
Valerie looked at me.
“Emery, tell them.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Tell them what?”
“That you jumped out while I was getting gas.”
I stared at her.
Even at nine, I knew fear when I saw it.
“Why are you lying?”
Her face changed.
“Excuse me?”
“You left me.”
“No.”
“You told me to get out.”
“Emery, you’re confused.”
“I’m not.”
Then Claire’s voice came through the phone.
Loud enough for Valerie to hear.
“Hello, Valerie.”
All the color disappeared from my stepmother’s face.
She looked at the phone.
Then at me.
May you like
And whispered one word.
“No.”
