Chapter 6 - The Son Before Me
For several seconds, I forgot how to speak.
Liam had a sixteen-year-old son.
We had been together four years.
Married two.
I had listened to him talk about becoming a father for the first time when Hailey was born.
I had watched him cry.
I had believed those tears.
“His name is Evan?”
Liam nodded.
I sat down.
Not because I wanted to.
Because my knees stopped cooperating.
Natalie had moved into the doorway.
She heard enough to understand.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
Liam did not look at her.
I asked, “Who is his mother?”
“Rachel Devine.”
“Do your parents know?”
“My mother does.”
Of course she did.
That hurt differently now.
Not surprise.
Confirmation.
“How long have you known?”
“Since I was nineteen.”
“You had a child at nineteen and never told your wife?”
“I didn’t raise him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Liam closed his eyes.
“All his life.”
I laughed once.
Then I cried.
I hated that.
Not because tears made me weak.
Because Liam had spent months planning to use my emotions as evidence, and some part of me still felt watched even in my own kitchen.
I wiped my face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Rachel’s family wanted me gone.”
“So?”
“I was broke. I was nineteen. Her father threatened to destroy me if I fought.”
“You’re thirty-five now.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever try?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Three years.
Before our marriage.
“What happened?”
“Rachel let me see him twice.”
“Did you tell her about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell me about him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because after the second visit, Evan said he didn’t want me in his life.”
I stared at him.
“So you hid him.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You let me marry you without knowing you had a child.”
“Yes.”
Natalie whispered, “Wow.”
I asked, “What does Evan have to do with stolen money?”
Liam sat across from me.
“Last year Rachel called.”
“What did she want?”
“Evan got into trouble.”
“What kind?”
“Nothing criminal. He was missing school. Angry. Fighting. She wanted help paying for a residential program.”
My stomach tightened.
“You stole from work to pay for it?”
“At first I borrowed.”
“From whom?”
“Raymond.”
That name again.
Liam explained that Raymond had discovered Evan years earlier through a background check related to a promotion.
When Rachel asked for money, Raymond offered an advance outside payroll.
Then another.
Then he asked Liam to approve a questionable vendor.
One favor for another.
Classic leverage.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
Liam looked at me as though the answer should be obvious.
“Because I hadn’t told you Evan existed.”
“So you chose fraud.”
“I chose panic.”
“And then Brooke?”
He looked away.
“She happened.”
I almost threw something.
Instead, I said, “No. Affairs do not happen like weather.”
He nodded.
“You’re right.”
That stopped me.
I had expected defense.
Not agreement.
He continued.
“Brooke made me feel like the version of myself I wanted to be.”
“What version?”
“Not a liar.”
I stared at him.
“That is almost impressive.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“You were lying to her.”
“I know.”
“About me.”
“I know.”
“About Hailey.”
His face twisted.
“I know.”
I stood.
“This conversation is over.”
“Emma, wait.”
“No.”
“There’s more.”
“Of course there is.”
“Evan disappeared yesterday.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Rachel called me last night.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because I thought he was with Scott.”
“Scott Larkin?”
“Yes.”
Nothing in my life seemed to have separate compartments anymore.
Everything touched everything else.
“Why would your son be with a procurement manager from your company?”
“Scott is Rachel’s brother.”
I stared.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
That explained why Scott knew about Evan.
Why he might care about Liam.
Why his disappearance coincided with the financial investigation.
“Does Raymond know?”
“Yes.”
“And Brooke?”
“No.”
Natalie said, “Maybe we should call the police.”
Liam nodded.
“Rachel already did.”
I asked, “What does Evan know about Rowan?”
Liam hesitated.
That was enough.
“What?”
“I stored files on a laptop at the Cincinnati apartment.”
“And?”
“Evan used it.”
“For what?”
“School.”
My stomach dropped.
“He could have seen them.”
“Yes.”
“Could he have copied them?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked at Natalie.
“This is insane.”
She said, “Correct.”
Liam leaned forward.
“Emma, I need your help.”
I laughed in his face.
“With what?”
“Rachel won’t talk to me. She hates me.”
“Smart woman.”
“Please.”
“Why me?”
“Because she knows who you are.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
“I told her about you.”
“Before or after you started sleeping with Brooke?”
He flinched.
“Before.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you were kind.”
I did not want that sentence.
Not from him.
Not then.
He added, “And that you were going to be a good mother.”
I looked toward the living room.
Hailey slept peacefully while adults rearranged the world around her.
I said, “Give me Rachel’s number.”
Natalie hissed, “Emma.”
“I’m not helping Liam.”
I looked at him.
“I’m helping find a sixteen-year-old boy.”
Rachel answered on the third ring.
Her voice was rough.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Emma Walker.”
Silence.
Then:
“Liam’s wife.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because I just learned your son exists.”
Another silence.
Longer.
Finally Rachel said, “That bastard.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
“I assume you mean Liam.”
“Who else?”
“Fair.”
Her voice softened by one degree.
“Is Hailey okay?”
I glanced at Liam.
He looked shocked.
Rachel knew my daughter’s name.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Rachel, do you know where Evan is?”
“No.”
“Do you know Scott Larkin is missing too?”
She inhaled sharply.
“What?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Liam moved toward me.
I raised a hand.
Rachel said, “Emma, listen carefully.”
“I am.”
“Scott called me yesterday morning.”
“What did he say?”
“That if anything happened to him, I should find a woman named Brooke Ellis.”
Brooke.
Again.
“Why?”
“He said she had the only copy of something Raymond couldn’t afford to lose.”
“What?”
Rachel’s voice dropped.
“A recording.”
I closed my eyes.
“What recording?”
“I don’t know. But Scott said one sentence before he hung up.”
“What?”
May you like
She began crying.
“He said, ‘Evan heard everything.’”
