Chapter 2
Marcus demanded the truth before anyone could move.
"Nia, tell me who forced my brother to leave."
His voice shook so badly that I barely recognized it.
I looked toward Evelyn.
She was standing beside the birthday table, one hand pressed against her chest.
Her gold headwrap had slipped slightly.
For the first time since I'd known her, she looked old.
Not elegant.
Not commanding.
Just frightened.
"Mom," Marcus said.
"Look at me."
Evelyn raised her eyes.
He held out Daniel's pendant.
"Did you know he gave this to Nia?"
She nodded.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
Marcus stumbled backward.
"You knew?"
"Marcus, please."
"YOU KNEW?"
Several relatives moved away from the tables.
An aunt began ushering children toward the house.
The celebration was over.
But nobody wanted to leave.
Not when a ten-year-old mystery was finally unraveling in front of them.
Maya approached me.
"Nia, what happened to Daniel?"
I looked at her.
She'd only been twelve when her brother disappeared.
For years, she'd kept his photograph beside her bed.
Even after everyone else stopped speaking his name.
I swallowed.
"I don't know everything."
Marcus stared at me.
"But you know something."
"Yes."
"Then tell me."
I reached into my handbag.
Inside was a small envelope I'd brought to the party.
I hadn't planned to use it.
I'd been carrying it for weeks, waiting for the courage to tell Marcus what I'd recently discovered.
I removed a photograph.
Then handed it to him.
He stared.
It showed Daniel standing beside an old blue car.
His arm was wrapped around my shoulders.
We were smiling.
The photograph had been taken the evening before he disappeared.
Marcus looked at the date printed in the corner.
"August seventeenth."
I nodded.
"Yes."
He swallowed.
"Mom said Daniel left on August sixteenth."
I looked toward Evelyn.
She closed her eyes.
Marcus's face hardened.
"Why did you lie about the date?"
Evelyn whispered, "I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
She didn't answer.
I remembered the night clearly.
Daniel had arrived at my grandmother's house after sunset.
His lip was bleeding.
There were bruises along his jaw.
He carried a backpack.
And he kept checking the street.
My grandmother, Ruth, had brought him inside.
She cleaned his injuries.
Then called someone from her church who knew how to help young adults find safe temporary housing.
Daniel refused to tell us where he intended to go.
But before leaving, he gave me the pendant.
And a warning.
"If Marcus asks about me, don't tell him until I say it's safe."
I was eighteen.
Scared.
And completely unprepared for the responsibility he'd placed in my hands.
I told Marcus all of this.
He listened without interrupting.
Then he asked, "Did he contact you afterward?"
My throat tightened.
"Once."
"When?"
"Two weeks later."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"What did he say?"
"He said he was safe."
I paused.
"He asked me not to tell anyone where he was."
Marcus stared at me.
"And you listened?"
Tears filled my eyes.
"Yes."
His face twisted.
"Ten years, Nia."
"I know."
"Ten years I thought my brother might be dead!"
My voice broke.
"I didn't know where he was after that."
He looked away.
"But you knew he was alive."
"At least two weeks after he left."
Marcus pressed both hands against his head.
I wanted to touch him.
But he stepped backward.
"Don't."
The word hurt.
I lowered my hand.
Evelyn suddenly moved toward us.
"Marcus, this isn't Nia's fault."
He turned sharply.
"Then whose fault is it?"
She froze.
He stepped closer.
"Whose?"
Evelyn began crying.
I looked at her.
"Tell him."
She shook her head.
"Nia, you don't understand."
My stomach tightened.
"Then explain."
Her eyes moved toward the guests.
"Not here."
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"Now you're worried about appearances?"
Maya stepped beside him.
"Mom, please."
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
Then at Marcus.
For a moment, I thought she would finally speak.
Instead, she whispered, "Your father made a terrible mistake."
Marcus went still.
"Our father?"
Evelyn covered her mouth.
His eyes widened.
"Dad died four years ago."
She nodded.
"I know."
"What did he do?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"I can't."
Marcus stared at her.
Then he turned toward the house.
"I'm getting Dad's old files."
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"No!"
He stopped.
I watched her fingers tighten around his sleeve.
"Mom?"
Her expression was pure panic.
"Leave those papers alone."
Marcus looked at her hand.
Then slowly pulled away.
"Now I know where to start."
He walked toward the house.
Maya followed.
I stood beside Evelyn.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she turned toward me.
Her eyes were filled with fury.
"You promised."
I swallowed.
"I promised Daniel I wouldn't reveal where he was."
Her lips trembled.
"And you promised me you'd protect this family."
I looked at her.
"I thought I was."
She shook her head.
"You have no idea what you've done."
Something inside me hardened.
"For three years, you've watched Marcus mourn his brother."
Evelyn looked away.
"You watched Maya blame herself."
I continued.
"And you knew there was more to the story."
She whispered, "I had no choice."
I stepped closer.
"There's always a choice."
Her expression changed.
For one moment, the elegant woman I'd admired disappeared.
I saw someone who had spent years living with fear.
Then she whispered something that made my stomach drop.
"Daniel wasn't supposed to survive that night."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She immediately looked frightened.
"Nia, forget I said that."
But I couldn't.
Because until that moment, I'd believed Daniel had been threatened into leaving.
Now I wondered whether someone had tried to kill him.
I looked toward the house.
Marcus was searching his father's study.
Maya was beside him.
And somewhere inside those old drawers might be the reason Daniel vanished.
I turned back to Evelyn.
"What happened that night?"
She started crying.
Then whispered, "Your husband is looking for the wrong documents."
My heart pounded.
"What documents should he be looking for?"
Evelyn looked toward the garden gate.
Then said a name I'd never heard before.
May you like
"Ask about the Riverbend property."
And before I could question her, she walked away.
