Chapter 8: The Woman Who Knew Too Much
The message stayed on the screen.
Three words.
*Don’t trust Tasha.*
Cole read it again.
Then again.
Like the letters might rearrange themselves into something that made sense.
They didn’t.
The diner had already been built on secrets.
But this was different.
Because every path led back to the same people.
Marcus.
Derek.
Tasha.
Elena.
And now even Maya.
Cole slowly lowered the phone.
Tasha looked at him.
She already knew.
“What did she say?””
Nobody answered.
Tasha’s face changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Cole noticed.
“You know.””
Tasha swallowed.
“I know what?””
Cole turned the phone toward her.
“Don’t play with me.””
The room became silent.
Tasha looked at the message.
Her expression broke.
Just for a second.
But Cole saw it.
“You expected this.””
Tasha shook her head.
“No.””
“Then why do you look terrified?””
Tasha looked away.
Because she knew something.
Something she had kept hidden.
Cole stepped closer.
“Everyone in this room has lied to me.””
His voice was low.
“I’m done guessing.””
Derek watched from near the door.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
“Cole.””
Cole ignored him.
“Tasha.””
She looked at him.
“Tell me the truth.””
Tasha’s eyes moved to Maya.
Then Jordan.
Then Isaiah.
Finally back to Cole.
“The truth is dangerous.””
Cole gave a bitter smile.
“So I’ve heard.””
Tasha took a slow breath.
“Elena didn’t send that message.””
Everyone froze.
Cole stared.
“What?””
Tasha pointed at the phone.
“Look at the number.””
Cole checked.
Unknown.
No contact.
No location.
Nothing.
Tasha continued.
“Raymond can copy voices. He can copy messages. He can make anyone look like the person sending them.””
Derek frowned.
“How do you know?””
Tasha looked at him.
“Because he did it before.””
Cole’s expression tightened.
“When?””
Tasha didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
Cole looked around.
“Everyone keeps saying they’re protecting me.””
He pointed toward the door.
“But every person who said that has hidden something.””
He looked at Tasha.
“So what are you hiding?””
Tasha stood still.
Then slowly reached into her jacket.
Everyone reacted.
Cole immediately moved between her and Maya.
But Tasha didn’t pull out a weapon.
She pulled out an old photograph.
She placed it on the table.
Cole looked down.
And his entire body went cold.
It was Elena.
Not the Elena from twelve years ago.
A recent picture.
She looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
Standing beside someone.
Cole stared.
“Where did you get this?””
Tasha looked at him.
“She gave it to me.””
“When?””
“Two weeks ago.””
Cole looked up sharply.
“Two weeks?””
Tasha nodded.
“She found me.””
The anger returned.
“You knew she was alive.””
Tasha closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
The confession hurt more than he expected.
Marcus looked at her.
“You knew all this time?””
Tasha looked at him.
“I knew she was alive.””
A pause.
“I didn’t know where she was.””
Cole pointed at the picture.
“Who is that beside her?””
Nobody answered.
Cole looked closer.
The person standing beside Elena was partially hidden.
Only the shoulder.
Only the hand.
But there was something familiar.
A ring.
A silver ring with a black mark carved into it.
Cole recognized it.
His face changed.
Derek noticed.
“You know it.””
Cole looked at him.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Cole slowly looked toward Marcus.
Then Derek.
Then the picture.
“That ring belonged to my father.””
Silence.
Nobody expected that answer.
Cole’s father had died when he was sixteen.
A man he barely remembered.
A man who left behind only a few possessions.
Including that ring.
Marcus looked confused.
“Your father?””
Cole nodded.
“He wore it every day.””
Tasha looked down.
“That’s why Elena kept the picture.””
Cole looked at her.
“Why?””
Tasha hesitated.
“Because she discovered something about your family.””
The room felt smaller.
Cole laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
“First my brother. Now my father.””
He shook his head.
“What else?””
Tasha looked at him.
“Your father wasn’t the man you thought he was.””
Nobody spoke.
Cole’s face hardened.
“My father has been dead for twenty years.””
Tasha nodded.
“I know.””
“Then explain.””
Tasha looked toward Maya.
“Elena found records.””
“What records?””
“Records connecting Raymond to your father.””
The words hit.
Cole stepped back.
“No.””
Tasha continued.
“Raymond didn’t start working alone.””
Derek looked away.
Cole noticed.
“You knew.””
Derek didn’t answer.
“Derek.””
His brother finally spoke.
“I knew part of it.””
Cole stared.
“Part?””
Derek looked ashamed.
“I knew Raymond had connections.””
“Who?””
Derek looked at him.
“Your family.””
The diner became silent.
Cole felt like the floor had disappeared.
All his life, he had believed he was fighting against a stranger.
But maybe the enemy had been closer than he ever imagined.
Marcus whispered:
“What did Elena find?””
Tasha answered.
“She found out Raymond wasn’t protecting himself.””
A pause.
“He was protecting a legacy.””
Cole frowned.
“A legacy?””
Tasha nodded.
“The people behind everything.””
Jordan stepped closer.
“Then why did he chase us?””
Tasha looked at him.
“Because you weren’t witnesses.””
Everyone turned.
“What?””
Tasha looked at the children.
“You were proof.””
Isaiah’s face changed.
“Proof of what?””
Tasha looked at Cole.
“Proof that Raymond’s entire operation existed.””
Cole stared.
“The children.””
Tasha nodded.
“The payments. The names. The locations.””
She looked at Maya.
“And the reason Elena risked everything.””
Maya looked confused.
Tasha knelt beside her.
She signed slowly.
Maya watched.
Then her expression changed.
Cole noticed.
“What did you tell her?””
Tasha looked up.
“She already knows.””
“Knows what?””
Tasha looked at Maya.
“Maya remembers.””
The room froze.
Cole looked at Maya.
“No.””
Tasha nodded.
“Yes.””
Cole crouched.
“Maya.””
The girl looked at him.
Her hands moved slowly.
Cole understood only some of it.
But Tasha translated.
“She says she remembers the night Elena disappeared.””
Cole stopped breathing.
“Why didn’t she tell me?””
Tasha looked at Maya.
Then answered.
“Because Raymond told her if she spoke, you would die.””
Cole closed his eyes.
Another lie.
Another piece of control.
He looked at Maya.
“What did you see?””
Maya hesitated.
Then she signed.
Her hands shaking.
Tasha translated.
“She saw Elena leave willingly.””
Everyone looked confused.
Cole frowned.
“Willingly?””
Maya nodded.
“She wasn’t kidnapped?””
Tasha shook her head.
“No.””
The truth was worse.
“She went with Raymond.””
Cole stepped back.
“No.””
Maya’s eyes filled with tears.
She signed again.
Tasha’s face changed.
“What?””
Cole looked at her.
“What did she say?””
Tasha hesitated.
“She said Elena went with Raymond…”
A pause.
“Because she was trying to protect you.””
Cole stared.
“From what?””
Tasha looked toward the door.
Then at the photograph.
Then at Cole.
“From your father.””
The words barely left her mouth before the lights flickered.
Again.
But this time, they didn’t come back.
The diner went completely dark.
Someone screamed.
A chair crashed.
Cole immediately reached for Maya.
“Stay with me.””
A sound came from the front door.
A lock turning.
Slowly.
Everyone froze.
Then a voice came from outside.
A voice Cole recognized.
A voice that should have been impossible.
“Cole.””
Nobody moved.
The voice continued.
“You spent twenty years looking for the wrong enemy.””
Cole stared into the darkness.
Because he knew that voice.
Older.
Weaker.
But real.
His father.
The dead man.
The man who couldn’t possibly be standing outside.
The door opened.
A figure stepped into the emergency light.
Everyone backed away.
Cole couldn’t speak.
The man looked exactly like the photograph.
The same eyes.
The same face.
The same silver ring.
He looked at Cole.
And whispered:
“I’m sorry, son.””
Cole stood frozen.
Then the man looked at Maya.
And his expression changed.
“She has no idea who she really is.””
Cole’s voice finally returned.
“Who are you?””
The man stared at him.
Then answered:
“My name is Daniel.””
May you like
A pause.
“And I’m the reason Elena disappeared.””
