Chapter 11 - THE UNCLE WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
Peter Lane had hugged me at the church.
He had given us a crystal serving bowl.
He had cried during the rehearsal dinner.
He had also apparently helped my father hide millions of dollars.
Police found him at O’Hare.
One-way ticket to Lisbon.
Cash.
Three passports.
A flash drive taped inside his belt.
By midnight, federal agents were involved.
I spent my wedding night in a borrowed sweatshirt at Rachel’s apartment.
My dress lay in a heap across a chair.
At 2:14 a.m., someone knocked.
Rachel grabbed a baseball bat.
It was my mother.
She held a grocery bag.
“I brought ice cream.”
Rachel lowered the bat.
“Acceptable.”
Diane sat beside me on the couch.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, “Did you love Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
She stared at the floor.
“I don’t know him anymore.”
“Did you ever love Richard?”
A long pause.
“I tried.”
That answer felt painfully human.
She touched my hair.
I pulled away.
Her hand dropped.
“Sorry.”
“I’m not ready.”
“I know.”
Another knock.
This time it was Ethan.
Rachel looked at me.
“No.”
He spoke through the door.
“I’m not here to see Sarah.”
My mother stood.
Ethan continued.
“Diane, Thomas is missing.”
We opened the door.
“What do you mean missing?”
“He left federal custody before they finished taking his statement.”
“How?”
“He wasn’t under arrest.”
I stood.
“Why would he leave?”
Ethan handed my mother a note.
Three words.
HE FOUND THE TAPE.
Diane went white.
“What tape?”
May you like
She looked at me.
“The one that proves who your father is.”
