Chapter 6: The Call From the Dead Man
Sarah locked her arms around Maya as the child stumbled away from the window.
Outside, Damon sat cuffed in the patrol car, his face illuminated by the dashboard. He no longer looked amused. He looked like a man who had just discovered that a secret he'd buried years ago had begun crawling out of the ground.
Maya's hands shook.
Daddy is coming.
Sarah signed back carefully.
“Did you see your father?””
Maya shook her head.
No. Damon said it.
“Did your mother tell you your father was alive?””
Maya nodded.
Then she signed something that made Sarah's stomach twist.
Mommy said if he came back, I must hide.
Officer Lena had returned to the diner with the envelope. She placed it on the counter, keeping the papers in their original order.
“Sarah, can you ask Maya whether her mother told her anything else about Daniel?””
Sarah turned toward the child.
Maya hesitated.
Then she pulled the cracked photograph from her pocket again.
She rubbed her thumb over her father's face.
Daddy promised he'd come home.
Sarah swallowed.
“Why did you run here tonight?””
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
Her hands moved.
Mommy heard the car. She told me to run. She said find the blue lights. Don't go with Damon.
Sarah brushed a damp braid away from Maya's forehead.
“You did exactly the right thing.””
Maya looked at the envelope.
Mommy took papers from the house. Damon wanted them. Rick helped him.
Officer Lena nodded.
“We're going to find out what happened. I promise.””
Maya's face tightened at the word.
Sarah noticed.
Promises had probably become dangerous things in the child's world.
Outside, Officer Reed opened the patrol car door and leaned toward Damon.
“Who is David Price?””
Damon looked straight ahead.
“Never heard of him.””
Reed held up the document.
“Same date of birth as Daniel Brooks. Same parents. Same medical record number on a hospital form from twenty years ago. You want to try that answer again?””
Damon's jaw flexed.
“Records get mixed up.””
“Not this many.””
“Then investigate it.””
Reed closed the door.
He walked toward his partner, speaking into his radio. Sarah couldn't hear the details, but she saw the change in his expression when dispatch responded.
His shoulders stiffened.
He looked toward Damon.
Then toward the blue sedan.
Finally, he looked through the diner's window at Maya.
Sarah felt the atmosphere change.
“What is it?”” she asked Officer Lena when she came back inside.
Lena hesitated.
“Dispatch found a missing-person report connected to Daniel Brooks. It was filed under a different name.””
“What name?””
“David Price.””
Sarah stared at her.
“The man in the photograph?””
“Apparently, Daniel and David were identical twins. One was reported dead after a vehicle fire two years ago. The other was reported missing months later.””
“Which one was actually dead?””
“We don't know yet.””
Rick suddenly let out a strangled laugh from the far end of the diner.
“You don't understand,” he said.
Officer Lena turned.
“Then explain.””
Rick looked at the document on the counter.
“David wasn't just Damon Price's brother. He was supposed to inherit the entire operation when their father died.””
Sarah's mouth went dry.
“Supposed to?””
Rick nodded.
“David wanted out. Daniel wanted to expose the books. They were both trying to leave, but Damon believed one of them had betrayed the family.””
Maya watched Rick's face.
Her fingers moved.
Daddy didn't betray anybody.
Sarah translated.
Rick swallowed.
“I know.””
“No,” Sarah said sharply.
“You don't get to say you know. You got paid to help a dangerous man take a little girl from her mother.””
Rick flinched.
“I was scared.””
“So was she.””
Rick looked at Maya.
For a moment, he seemed to have no defense left.
Then his phone, now resting in an evidence bag on the counter, began vibrating again.
Officer Lena glanced at the screen.
An incoming call.
The number was blocked.
She looked at Officer Reed through the window and raised the phone so he could see it.
Reed returned immediately.
“Don't answer it,” he said.
The phone stopped vibrating.
Then it rang again.
Officer Lena activated the recording function on her department device and accepted the call on speaker.
“Hello?””
For two seconds, there was only static.
Then a man's voice came through.
“Rick?””
Everyone in the diner froze.
The voice was low, tired, and unmistakably human. It sounded like someone speaking from a room with poor reception.
Rick went white.
“Who is this?””
The caller gave a short, humorless laugh.
“You know who this is.””
Rick grabbed the edge of the counter.
“No.””
“Don't lie to me, Rick. You were paid to keep my daughter safe.””
Sarah felt Maya stiffen beside her.
The caller continued.
“And you let Damon get to her.””
Rick shook his head as if he could physically reject the voice.
“You're dead.””
A long silence followed.
Then the man answered.
“That's what my brother wanted you to believe.””
Officer Reed leaned closer to the phone.
“This is Officer Reed with the county police department. Identify yourself.””
The caller didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he asked a question.
“Is Maya there?””
Sarah looked at the little girl.
Maya's face had gone pale.
Her hands rose slowly.
Daddy?
Sarah took the phone from the counter and held it near her.
“Maya is here,” she said.
“She's safe. Her mother is being taken to the hospital.””
The man's breathing changed.
“She was hurt?””
“Yes.””
A sound came through the speaker that might have been a sob.
Then the man spoke again, quieter.
“Maya, sweetheart, can you hear me?””
Maya stared at the phone.
She was deaf.
Sarah immediately knelt beside her and signed the man's words.
He wants to know if you're safe.
Maya's eyes flooded.
She signed back so quickly that Sarah struggled to keep up.
Daddy? Are you alive? Did you leave me?
Sarah translated aloud, her own voice trembling.
The phone remained silent for several seconds.
Then the man answered.
“I never left you, baby girl.””
Sarah signed the words.
Maya covered her mouth, tears running down her cheeks.
The man continued.
“I tried to come home. I tried so many times. Damon made sure I couldn't.””
Officer Reed leaned toward the phone.
“Sir, we need your location. Are you in danger?””
“Everybody is in danger if Damon knows I'm alive.””
“He already knows.””
Another silence.
Then the caller said something that made Officer Lena straighten.
“Listen to me carefully. The papers in that envelope aren't enough. Damon will deny everything, and he'll make sure the evidence disappears.””
Reed frowned.
“What other evidence?””
“The original ledger.””
“Where is it?””
The caller took a shaky breath.
“Ask Maya's mother. She knows where I hid it.””
Sarah glanced toward the ambulance disappearing down the highway.
The caller's voice hardened.
“But don't let her go back to the house. Damon has people watching it.””
Officer Reed reached for his radio.
“Units, secure the Brooks residence and request additional assistance.””
The caller spoke again.
“And one more thing.””
Reed returned his attention to the phone.
“What?””
“Don't trust anyone from the Price family. Not even the one who tells you he's trying to help.””
Sarah looked through the window.
Damon was watching the diner again.
But this time, he wasn't smiling.
He was staring at the phone in Officer Lena's hand, as if he knew exactly who was on the other end.
Then a second voice broke through the speaker.
A different man.
Close to the microphone.
Calm.
Cold.
“Daniel,” the stranger said, “if you're calling your daughter, you should know something.””
The first man stopped breathing audibly.
The stranger continued.
“We already found the ledger.””
The call went dead.
Maya clutched Sarah's hand.
Officer Reed stared at the phone.
Outside, Damon lowered his head and began to laugh.
And from somewhere beyond the parking lot, an engine roared to life.
A black SUV turned onto the highway.
Its headlights swept across the diner windows.
Then it accelerated toward the ambulance carrying Maya's mother.
Sarah saw it first.
“Officer!”” she screamed.
“That vehicle is following the ambulance!””
Reed bolted toward his patrol car, shouting into his radio.
Maya stood frozen beneath the neon lights, tears still shining on her cheeks.
May you like
She looked at Sarah and signed the words that made the entire night feel suddenly much worse.
They know where Mommy is.
