Chapter 6: Someone Was Watching
The photograph showed me standing in the lounge.
My torn lace sleeve hung from my arm.
Marcus stood beside me.
Evelyn was behind him.
Diane was holding the tablet.
The picture had been taken from somewhere outside the room.
Close enough to see our faces.
Close enough to hear us.
Marcus stared at the phone.
“Who sent that?””
Robert slipped it into his pocket.
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“You know exactly who this is.””
Robert looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
“Tell him.””
Robert exhaled.
“Not here.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“My wedding is falling apart in front of fifty people, my mother has been assaulted, my wife is being accused of forging documents about my father, and someone is threatening Vanessa.””
He pointed toward the phone.
“So you're going to tell me who.””
Robert looked at him.
“I don't know who sent the message.””
“Then how do you know they're dangerous?””
“Because I've been getting the same messages for three weeks.””
Evelyn whispered, “Robert…”
He shook his head.
“He deserves the truth.””
Marcus looked at him.
“What truth?””
Robert opened his briefcase.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Old photographs.
New photographs.
Documents.
Bank statements.
Letters.
A small black notebook.
Marcus stared.
“What is all this?””
“Your father.””
Marcus reached for the first photograph.
It showed his father standing outside a motel.
Beside him was a woman.
A Black woman Marcus had never seen.
The woman was pregnant.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
Twenty-nine years earlier.
Marcus's hand began shaking.
“Who is she?””
Robert answered.
“Her name was Camille Reed.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Marcus looked at me.
“Vanessa's mother's name is Camille.””
Nobody spoke.
I stared at Robert.
“How do you know my mother?””
He looked at me.
“Because I met her.””
My knees nearly buckled.
“When?””
“Twenty-nine years ago.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Robert continued.
“Your father told me Camille was pregnant.””
Marcus stared.
“With me?””
Robert shook his head.
“No.””
Marcus's eyes moved to me.
“With Vanessa.””
I felt something inside me crack.
“No.””
Robert looked at me.
“Your mother gave birth to a daughter.””
“Me?””
“Yes.””
Marcus stepped away from me.
“So my father was her father.””
Robert nodded.
“And Vanessa is my half-sister.””
The words seemed to echo around the room.
I couldn't breathe.
Marcus couldn't move.
Evelyn sat down.
Diane stared at the three of us.
“No,” I whispered.
Robert opened the black notebook.
“Your father kept records.””
“Why would he?””
“Because he knew the truth would eventually come out.””
Marcus looked at me.
“You knew?””
“I didn't.””
“You never knew?””
“I swear.””
“Then why did you come into my life?””
“I met you at a charity event.””
“You knew my name.””
“Yes.””
“You knew who my father was.””
“Yes.””
“And you still dated me.””
“I didn't know.””
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
“Vanessa.””
“I didn't know.””
“Did you know my mother?””
“No.””
“Did you know my uncle?””
“No.””
“Did you know about the storage unit?””
“No.””
He looked toward Robert.
“Then who did?””
Robert slowly closed the notebook.
“That is the question.””
A loud crash came from the ballroom.
Everyone turned.
A champagne glass had shattered.
Then came a scream.
Diane immediately grabbed her security tablet.
“Stay here.””
She ran toward the ballroom.
Marcus started after her.
Robert caught his arm.
“Don't.””
“That's my wedding.””
“That's exactly why you shouldn't.””
Another scream.
Then footsteps.
Fast.
Several people rushed past the lounge entrance.
Diane shouted something.
A security guard answered.
Marcus pulled free.
“I'm going.””
I followed him.
We stepped into the reception hall.
Guests were clustered near the windows.
The wedding cake stood untouched.
Music had stopped.
Diane was crouched near a table.
On the floor beside her was a phone.
She picked it up.
“Whose is this?””
Nobody answered.
Then one guest pointed.
“It was on that chair.””
Diane examined the screen.
Her expression changed.
She looked at Marcus.
“It's recording.””
Marcus took a step closer.
“What?””
“The camera on this phone was recording the lounge.””
I felt sick.
“Show me.””
Diane pressed play.
The video showed our confrontation.
It showed Evelyn entering.
It showed me tearing my sleeve.
It showed Marcus slapping his mother.
It showed everything.
But the recording angle was different from the venue cameras.
Whoever had placed the phone had been standing just outside the lounge.
Watching.
Waiting.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Can you identify whose phone it is?””
Diane shook her head.
“No passcode.””
Robert approached.
He saw the phone.
His expression changed.
“That's not the worst part.””
He pointed at the screen.
“Look at the reflection.””
Diane paused the video.
In the dark glass of the lounge door, a figure was visible.
A man.
Tall.
Wearing a black suit.
His face was turned away.
Marcus leaned closer.
“I know that suit.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“That man was at the rehearsal dinner.””
“Who?””
Marcus didn't answer.
He walked toward the reception entrance.
Then stopped.
Because the man was standing there.
Alive.
Watching us.
He was about fifty years old.
Black.
Well dressed.
Gray at the temples.
He held a champagne glass in one hand.
His eyes met Marcus's.
Then he smiled.
Robert went rigid.
Evelyn whispered behind us.
“Oh God.””
Marcus turned.
“You know him.””
Robert didn't respond.
“Uncle Robert.””
Robert's face had gone completely pale.
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Who is that?””
Robert finally spoke.
“His name is Daniel Reed.””
I looked at the man.
Reed.
My mother's surname.
Marcus looked at me.
Daniel raised his glass.
Then he walked toward us.
Every step was slow.
Measured.
Almost calm.
When he reached the edge of the crowd, he looked directly at me.
“You look exactly like Camille.””
My heart stopped.
Marcus stepped between us.
“Who are you?””
Daniel smiled.
“That's a complicated question.””
Robert moved forward.
“Daniel, leave.””
Daniel laughed softly.
“You always were protective of Evelyn.””
Then he looked at Marcus.
“And you must be the son.””
Marcus's fists tightened.
“What do you want?””
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“I came for something your father stole from my family.””
“What?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Her.””
I stepped backward.
Marcus stared.
“What do you mean?””
Daniel pointed at me.
“Your father didn't abandon Camille.””
Robert's expression tightened.
“He kidnapped her daughter.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Daniel looked directly into my eyes.
“Your mother wasn't Vanessa's mother.””
I felt the room tilt.
“What?””
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Camille was my sister.””
He pointed at me again.
“And you're not the daughter she lost.””
He paused.
“You're the daughter she was trying to protect.””
Marcus stared at him.
“From what?””
Daniel smiled.
“From your father.””
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out an old photograph.
He held it toward me.
The photograph showed a young Camille.
A baby in her arms.
And beside her stood a man.
Marcus's father.
But the baby wasn't me.
Daniel whispered,
“That child disappeared twenty-nine years ago.””
He looked at Marcus.
“And your father was the last person who ever saw her.””
Then the ballroom doors slammed shut behind us.
May you like
Every lock clicked at once.
And somewhere above the reception hall, the security cameras went dark.