The police ordered Thomas to stop.
He did.
He raised both hands.
“I don't want trouble.”
The officer stepped outside.
“Get on your knees.”
Thomas obeyed.
Eric watched from the window.
His face was rigid.
“How can he be alive?”
I had no answer.
Thomas was arrested without resistance.
When the officers brought him inside, he looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I couldn't speak.
Eric stepped forward.
“You've been alive for eight years.”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why did you let everyone believe you were dead?”
“Because I had to disappear.”
“From whom?”
Thomas looked toward Vanessa.
“Her family.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You knew Sarah.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what happened to her.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill her?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“No.”
Eric demanded, “Then who did?”
Thomas looked at Ray's photograph.
“Ray was there.”
“Was he responsible?”
“No.”
That surprised everyone.
Thomas continued.
“Ray was trying to stop it.”
Eric shook his head.
“He's been lying to us for years.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because he was scared.”
“Of you?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“The person who started all of this.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Then said:
“Vanessa's father.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“My father?”
Thomas nodded.
“He was involved in identity fraud long before the children were born.”
Eric looked confused.
“What does that have to do with my children?”
“Everything.”
Thomas explained that Vanessa's father had used family identities to move money through accounts.
When Sarah discovered it, she tried to expose him.
Her death was staged as an accident.
Ray knew.
Thomas knew.
But neither had enough evidence to bring him down.
Vanessa's father died before the truth surfaced.
Thomas disappeared because the people involved believed he still had evidence.
“Then why come back?” Eric asked.
“Because someone found the old records.”
“What records?”
“The ones you found tonight.”
Eric looked at the metal box.
Thomas nodded.
“Sarah hid them.”
“Why did she trust you?”
“She didn't.”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“She trusted Ray.”
“Then why does Ray look guilty?”
“Because Ray spent fifteen years trying to protect everyone while pretending he was protecting himself.”
Vanessa began crying.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father had people watching you.”
Thomas looked at her.
“And because Sarah's death wasn't the end.”
“What happened?”
“She had copied something.”
“Copied what?”
“A list.”
“The ledger?”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked toward the evidence box.
“That ledger contains names of people who bought identities.”
Eric understood.
“And my children?”
Thomas nodded.
“Someone wants their identities.”
“Why?”
“Because the children have clean records.”
Eric stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if someone needs to disappear.”
The officer asked:
“Who?”
Thomas looked toward the road.
“Michael.”
Eric's face hardened.
“Michael is involved?”
“Yes.”
“But he's Vanessa's brother.”
“I know.”
“Why would he hurt his own nieces and nephew?”
“Money.”
Thomas explained that Michael had discovered the old network and wanted access to it.
He had been using Ray as an intermediary.
But someone else had taken control.
“Who?”
Thomas looked at Vanessa.
“Your brother doesn't know.”
“Then who does?”
Thomas hesitated.
“The person who has been sending the messages.”
My phone vibrated.
Everyone looked at me.
Another message.
I opened it.
A photograph.
This time it showed Thomas standing outside the house.
The photograph had been taken ten minutes earlier.
Thomas saw it.
His face changed.
“He's here.”
The officer looked outside.
“No one.”
Thomas shook his head.
“He doesn't need to be visible.”
Then my phone rang.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Thomas whispered:
“Don't.”
A man's voice came through.
“You should have stayed dead, Thomas.”
Thomas went pale.
Eric took the phone.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Tell me.”
“You've been protecting the wrong person.”
Eric looked at Vanessa.
The caller continued.
“Ask your wife where she was the night Sarah died.”
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Eric turned toward her.
“Vanessa?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't—”
The call ended.
Eric looked at her.
“Where were you?”
“I told you.”
“You said you were home.”
“I was.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“No.”
Vanessa looked at him.
Thomas's expression was devastated.
“You weren't home.”
“I was.”
“You went to see Sarah.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“I don't remember.”
“You do.”
She shook her head.
Thomas continued.
“You were seventeen.”
Vanessa began crying.
“You were the last person Sarah called.”
“I don't remember.”
“You were there when she left.”
“I don't remember!”
Thomas stopped.
The room went silent.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“I was there.”
Eric stared at her.
She closed her eyes.
“I saw Sarah get into the car.”
“Who was driving?”
Vanessa looked at Thomas.
“Ray.”
Eric's face tightened.
Thomas nodded.
“He drove her because she asked him to.”
“Where?”
“To meet someone.”
“Who?”
Vanessa opened her eyes.
“I don't know.”
Thomas said quietly:
“She was supposed to meet your father.”
Vanessa froze.
“And she never came back.”
The officer stepped closer.
“What happened afterward?”
Thomas looked at the floor.
“Ray found the car.”
“Where?”
“Near the river.”
“Was Sarah inside?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He called your father.”
Vanessa whispered:
“Why?”
“Because he was told to.”
Eric looked at Thomas.
“Who told him?”
Thomas looked directly at me.
“Your mother.”
I felt the room disappear.
“What?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not you.”
He pointed toward the photograph of Sarah.
“Your husband's mother.”
Eric went pale.
“My mother?”
Thomas nodded.
“She was the person who knew about the accounts.”
Eric staggered backward.
“My mother died before I met Vanessa.”
“She knew.”
The officer looked confused.
“Then how is she connected?”
Thomas answered:
“She was the person who helped Sarah hide the ledger.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“My mother-in-law?”
“Yes.”
Then Thomas reached into his coat.
He pulled out a folded document.
“I found this after she died.”
Eric took it.
It was a letter.
His mother's handwriting.
The first sentence made him sit down.
If anything happens to Sarah, never let Vanessa know what she was carrying.
Vanessa began to sob.
Eric looked at Thomas.
“What was she carrying?”
Thomas answered:
“Proof that your family had been framed.”
Before anyone could ask another question, the lights went out.
The house fell completely dark.
Someone screamed upstairs.
Then came the sound of a window breaking.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: The Last Secret Was Not About Money at All, and the Truth Finally Gave Three Children Back the Life Everyone Had Nearly Stolen
The Children Arrived With More Than Weekend Bags, and the One Envelope I Refused to Open Made My Son Race Home
Part 7 of 8
