Chapter 6: The Investigation
Malik stared at the officer.
“My bride?””
The officer nodded.
“Yes.””
Tiana stepped backward.
“No.””
The officer looked at her.
“Ms. Brooks, I need you to stay where you are.””
“I haven't done anything.””
“I didn't say you did.””
“Then why are you here?””
The officer glanced at the folder.
“Because someone reopened a case.””
Malik looked at Evelyn.
“Which case?””
The officer answered before Evelyn could.
“Your father's disappearance.””
A murmur swept through the guests.
Malik's father had been gone for years.
The family had always called it abandonment.
At least, that was what Malik had been told.
He looked at Evelyn.
“You said he left us.””
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“I said what I thought would protect you.””
“Protect me from what?””
“From knowing.””
Malik shook his head.
“I’m done being protected.””
The officer opened the folder.
“Your father was investigated for financial fraud, but the investigation ended when he disappeared.””
Darius stepped forward.
“That isn't what happened.””
The officer looked at him.
“You're Darius Coleman?””
“Yes.””
“You're listed in the original file.””
Malik looked at him.
“Your name is in the case?””
Darius nodded.
“My father's too.””
Tiana whispered, “This is enough.””
Malik turned.
“No. It isn't.””
She looked at him.
“Malik, please.””
“You've been lying to me all day.””
“I was trying to save you.””
“From the truth?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Tiana's face crumpled.
“Because your father wasn't the only person involved.””
The officer stopped turning pages.
“That's what we're trying to determine.””
Malik looked at her.
“What does Tiana have to do with it?””
The officer pulled out an old document.
“This.””
Malik took it.
At the bottom was a signature.
*Tiana Brooks.*
His eyes widened.
“Tiana, you signed this?””
She nodded.
“I was seventeen.””
“What is it?””
“A statement.””
“About what?””
She looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered, “Tell him.””
Tiana began crying.
“I saw your father that night.””
Malik's breath caught.
“You saw my father?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The night he disappeared.””
Malik stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I was scared.””
“Of my father?””
“No.””
She looked at Darius.
“Of what I saw.””
Darius's face tightened.
“You never told me that.””
“I couldn't.””
The officer stepped closer.
“What did you see?””
Tiana wiped her cheeks.
“I saw Malik's father arguing with Darius's father.””
“And then?””
“They went inside.””
“Who else was there?””
Tiana hesitated.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Malik noticed.
“Mom?””
Tiana whispered one word.
“Evelyn.””
The guests gasped.
Malik looked at his mother.
“You were there?””
Evelyn couldn't speak.
Darius stared at her.
“You told us you left before they arrived.””
“I lied.””
Malik's face went blank.
His mother stepped toward him.
“Son…”
He backed away.
“Don't.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“You keep saying that.””
“I loved your father.””
“And you lied about him.””
“Yes.””
“You lied about Darius.””
“Yes.””
“You let Tiana marry me while she was already married.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“I tried to stop it.””
“By doing what?””
“By finding the certificate.””
Malik looked at her.
“You found it.””
“Yes.””
“Why was it in Tiana's car?””
Evelyn glanced at Tiana.
“She put it there.””
Tiana suddenly shouted.
“No!””
Malik froze.
Evelyn continued.
“She wanted me to find it.””
The room erupted.
Tiana covered her mouth.
Malik stared at her.
“You wanted my mother to find it?””
Tiana nodded through tears.
“I needed her to stop the wedding.””
“Why?””
“Because I knew I couldn't tell you.””
“Tell me what?””
Tiana looked at Darius.
Darius slowly lowered his head.
Malik's eyes narrowed.
“What is it?””
Tiana took a trembling breath.
“I didn't marry Darius because I loved him.””
Malik waited.
“I married him because I was trying to get close to your father’s old records.””
The officer's expression changed.
“What records?””
Tiana looked at Malik.
“The records that prove what happened the night your father disappeared.””
Malik's heart pounded.
“Where are they?””
Tiana's eyes moved toward Evelyn's clutch.
Evelyn instinctively pulled it against her chest.
Malik noticed.
“What are you carrying?””
Evelyn said nothing.
The officer stepped closer.
“Mrs. Brooks, open the clutch.””
Evelyn looked at Malik.
Then at Tiana.
Finally, she slowly opened it.
Inside was the marriage certificate.
The photograph.
The letter.
And one small black key.
Malik stared at it.
“What does that open?””
Evelyn's face went pale.
Tiana whispered, “The room where your father was last seen.””
Darius looked toward the church doors.
Then his expression changed.
“Wait.””
Malik turned.
“What?””
Darius pointed at the key.
“That isn't your father's key.””
He swallowed.
“It belonged to my father.””
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And before anyone could speak, Evelyn's phone began ringing.
The screen showed a name she hadn't seen in twenty-five years.
