Chapter 5: The Message From the Dead
Nobody spoke.
The message sat on Daniel’s phone screen.
Three words.
Don’t trust her.
And one name beneath it.
Cassandra.
I stared at the screen until my eyes started to blur.
My mother had been gone for eight years.
Eight years of birthdays without her.
Eight years of holidays where I pretended I wasn’t looking at the empty chair.
Eight years of wondering if I remembered her voice correctly.
And now, somehow, she had found a way to warn us.
My father looked at Daniel.
“How?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
“That phone hasn’t been active.””
“I know.””
“Then explain.””
“I can’t.””
Cassandra laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
“You’re all actually believing this?””
Nobody answered.
She looked around the room.
“At a message from a dead woman?””
My hands tightened.
“Don’t talk about her like that.””
Cassandra looked at me.
“Like what?””
“Like she’s a problem.””
Her face hardened.
“Your mother left problems everywhere she went.””
My father stepped forward.
“Enough.””
Cassandra looked at him.
“You still don’t want to hear it.””
“I want the truth.””
“No.””
Her voice dropped.
“You want the version of the truth that hurts the least.””
My father stared at her.
“Why are you defending yourself if you did nothing?””
Cassandra looked away.
That hesitation was becoming familiar.
She was hiding something.
Daniel picked up the envelope again.
“She wanted Marcus to find the card first.””
Cassandra looked at him.
“Why?””
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You know why.””
“No.””
“You know exactly why.””
The tension between them was unbearable.
I looked at my father.
“Dad.””
He looked at me.
“What?””
“Who is Daniel?””
My father hesitated.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
“You know him.””
Marcus looked away.
Daniel answered.
“We worked together.””
“Where?””
Nobody spoke.
I looked between them.
“Why does everyone know something except me?””
That question finally broke something.
My father’s face softened.
“Maya…”
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“I spent my whole life being protected from the truth. But nobody ever asked if I wanted protection.””
The room went quiet.
Cassandra looked at me.
For the first time, she didn’t look angry.
She looked guilty.
My father walked closer.
“You’re right.””
I looked at him.
“I should have told you more.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Your mother said that would happen.””
My father looked at him.
“What?””
“She said you would try to protect Maya by keeping everything away from her.””
My father swallowed.
“And she was right.””
The admission hurt.
But it was honest.
Cassandra suddenly grabbed her coat.
“I’m leaving.””
My father blocked the hallway.
“No.””
“You can’t keep me here.””
“I’m not keeping you anywhere.””
“Then move.””
“Not until you tell me why my wife left a warning with your name on it.””
Cassandra stared at him.
Then she whispered:
“Because she hated me.””
I froze.
My father looked shocked.
“Hated you?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Cassandra’s eyes moved toward the broken photograph.
“Because she thought I was stealing her family.””
The words were quiet.
Almost believable.
Almost.
But Daniel shook his head.
“That’s not what happened.””
Cassandra looked at him.
“You weren’t there.””
“I was.””
Her face changed.
Daniel continued.
“I was there the night she wrote the letter.””
My father turned.
“What letter?””
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
The kind of uncomfortable someone gets when they know they are about to destroy someone’s world.
“The letter that was supposed to go with the memory card.””
Cassandra’s eyes widened.
“What letter?””
Daniel looked at her.
“You don’t know?””
A strange silence followed.
Then my father turned toward the envelope.
“You said she gave you instructions.””
Daniel nodded.
“She did.””
“Where is the letter?””
Daniel opened the envelope.
His fingers moved carefully.
Then he stopped.
The color drained from his face.
“What?””
My father stepped closer.
Daniel looked inside.
“It’s gone.””
Cassandra said nothing.
Nobody said anything.
Because everyone understood.
Someone had removed it.
Daniel looked at the empty envelope.
“She wrote everything down.””
Marcus’s voice became cold.
“Who had access to this?””
Daniel slowly looked around the room.
Then his eyes landed on Cassandra.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.””
My father stared at her.
“Did you take it?””
“No.””
“Then where is it?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel looked at the envelope again.
“She knew this could happen.””
My heart pounded.
“What do you mean?””
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He pulled out another small piece of paper.
“I was told to keep this separate.””
My father grabbed it.
The paper was folded.
Old.
My mother’s handwriting appeared on the outside.
“Open only if the first message is ignored.””
My breathing stopped.
Marcus opened it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he looked at me.
I knew immediately.
Whatever was written there…
It was about me.
“What does it say?”” I whispered.
My father didn’t answer.
Because at that exact moment, Cassandra’s phone rang again.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
She answered.
“Hello?””
A pause.
Then she whispered:
“How did you get that number?””
Everyone watched her.
She slowly turned away.
“No. You can’t come here.””
Another pause.
Then her voice broke.
“I told you Maya was never supposed to find out.””
My father stepped forward.
“Who are you talking to?””
Cassandra ended the call.
But it was too late.
The damage was done.
Marcus looked at her.
“Who knows about Maya?””
Cassandra said nothing.
Then the front door opened.
A woman’s voice came from the hallway.
“She should know.””
I turned.
A woman stood there holding a folder.
May you like
And the first thing I noticed was her eyes.
Because they looked exactly like my mother’s.
