Chapter 2
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
My brother's name hung between us like smoke.
Daniel.
My older brother.
The man Noah called Uncle Danny.
The man who had eaten dinner at our house three nights earlier.
The man who had a spare key to my garage because I trusted him that much.
"What did you find?"
Nia shook her head.
"Not outside."
I looked at the taxi.
Then at Noah.
"Driver can leave."
Nia immediately grabbed the door.
"No."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why?"
"Because I may still need it."
That answer chilled me.
I turned to the driver.
"Give us five minutes."
He hesitated, then nodded and returned to the front seat.
I picked Noah up.
"Inside."
Nia didn't move.
"Nia."
"If Daniel is watching the house—"
"Then standing in the driveway isn't helping."
She followed me.
I locked the front door behind us.
Then I locked the deadbolt.
Nia flinched at the sound.
Noah noticed.
So did I.
I carried him into the living room and sat him on the couch.
"Buddy, I need to talk to Mom for a minute."
"No."
His arms wrapped around my neck.
"Don't go."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Nia's face twisted with guilt.
I pulled Noah onto my lap instead.
"Talk."
Nia stayed near the window.
She carefully moved the curtain aside and looked toward the street.
"What did you find at Daniel's house?"
She let the curtain fall.
"Two nights ago, he called me."
"Why?"
"He said you had left one of Noah's school folders there after the cookout."
I frowned.
"I didn't."
"I know that now."
She folded her arms tightly across her body.
"I went over because you were working late."
I remembered.
A broken water line at one of our construction sites had kept me away until nearly midnight.
"Daniel wasn't home when you got there?"
"He was."
"Then what?"
"He said the folder was upstairs."
My stomach tightened.
"Why would my son's folder be upstairs?"
"Exactly."
Nia looked at Noah, then stopped herself.
"There was no folder."
"What was there?"
Her voice became quieter.
"Documents."
"What kind?"
She shook her head.
"Marcus, I didn't understand all of it."
"Tell me what you did understand."
She took a shaky breath.
"Your name was on them."
My anger turned to confusion.
"My name?"
"And Noah's."
I stood so quickly Noah grabbed me.
I immediately sat again.
"What documents?"
"Bank statements. Insurance paperwork. Copies of your signature."
My skin went cold.
"What?"
"There was also a file with custody documents."
I stared at her.
"Custody documents for who?"
"For Noah."
The room seemed to shrink.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know."
"My brother has nothing to do with custody of my son."
"I know."
"What did they say?"
"I only saw a few pages."
She pressed her palms against her eyes.
"I heard Daniel downstairs on the phone. He was angry. I took pictures with my phone."
I remembered all the times I had accused her of hiding that phone from me.
A sick feeling rose in my throat.
"What did you hear?"
Nia hesitated.
"Nia."
She looked at me.
"He said the timeline had changed."
"What timeline?"
"I don't know."
"What else?"
She started crying.
"He said, 'Once Marcus is out of the way, the boy goes where we planned.'"
Noah moved against me.
I covered his ear gently.
"Enough."
Nia nodded, wiping her face.
"That's why I was leaving."
I stared at her.
"You thought my brother was planning something against me, so your answer was to secretly take our child?"
"I panicked."
"You should have told me."
"I tried."
"When?"
"Last night."
I almost laughed.
"You barely spoke to me last night."
"Because Daniel came over."
My memory shifted.
Daniel had arrived unexpectedly around seven.
He brought pizza.
He stayed for almost three hours.
At the time I thought he was trying to help because Nia and I had been fighting.
Now I remembered the way she kept looking at him.
Not with irritation.
With fear.
"Why didn't you tell me after he left?"
"Because he sent me a message."
She pulled her phone from her jacket.
My jaw tightened automatically.
"Show me."
Her thumb hovered over the screen.
Then she unlocked it.
The message came from an unknown number.
I read it twice.
I KNOW WHAT YOU TOOK.
Underneath it was another.
DON'T INVOLVE MARCUS.
My stomach dropped.
"When did these come?"
"Eleven forty-three last night."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
She laughed bitterly through her tears.
"Because for the last six months, you've assumed every secret I kept meant I was cheating."
I couldn't answer.
Because she was right.
"And I thought if I told you it involved Daniel, you'd confront him."
"I would have."
"Exactly."
She stepped closer.
"You punch first when somebody threatens family."
"I protect my family."
"And that's what I was trying to do!"
Her voice cracked through the room.
Noah flinched.
We both stopped.
Nia crouched in front of him.
"I'm sorry, baby."
He watched her carefully.
"Are bad people coming?"
"No."
She answered too quickly.
I saw it.
Noah saw it too.
I pulled him closer.
"No one's coming through that door."
Then someone knocked.
Three hard knocks.
Nia's face drained of color.
Noah screamed.
I stood and moved him behind me.
Another knock.
"Marcus?"
My blood froze.
Daniel.
"Open up."
Nia grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
Daniel knocked again.
"I saw Nia's taxi outside."
I looked toward the window.
Of course.
The yellow cab was still at the curb.
"Marcus."
Daniel's voice sounded almost amused.
"Brother, open the door."
Nia whispered, "He knows."
I pointed toward the hallway.
"Take Noah upstairs."
"No."
"Do it."
She lifted him.
Noah reached toward me.
"Daddy."
"I'll be right here."
Nia carried him toward the stairs.
Daniel knocked again.
Harder.
"Marcus, I know you're home."
I moved toward the door.
Nia stopped on the first stair.
"Do not tell him what I found."
I looked at her.
Then at the locked door.
"Why?"
"Because I only photographed part of it."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the rest is still inside his house."
Another knock shook the door.
May you like
Daniel's voice became colder.
"And I think what I saw was only the beginning."
