Chapter 7 - Thirty MinutesMarcus drove with the phone pressed against the dashboard, Elena's photograph glowing on the screen.
Thirty minutes.
The words repeated in his head.
Thirty minutes before they find us.
The motel was forty miles away.
He had already wasted three of them arguing with himself.
He couldn't decide what frightened him more: getting there too late, or getting there and finally learning what everyone had been hiding.
His phone rang.
Celeste.
Marcus ignored it.
It rang again.
Then again.
Finally, he answered.
“What?”
Her voice was breathless.
“Don't go there.”
“You've said that.”
“Marcus, listen to me.”
“No. You listen.”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“You have lied to me for years.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe Elena abandoned Nia.”
“I know.”
“You turned my daughter's bedroom into a closet while hiding the truth from me.”
“I know.”
“And now you're telling me you're Nia's other parent.”
Celeste was silent.
Marcus swallowed.
“Why?”
“I'll explain everything.”
“You should have explained it before.”
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
Marcus looked at the dark road ahead.
“Was Elena trying to kill her?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
A long pause.
“People who believed Nia belonged to them.”
His jaw tightened.
“Nia belongs to herself.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me who they are.”
“I can't over the phone.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“That's convenient.”
“Marcus, please.”
The call ended.
He threw the phone onto the passenger seat.
Minutes later, he reached the motel.
It was a low building beside an empty highway, its neon sign missing three letters.
Rain dripped from the roof.
Marcus parked beneath a dead security light.
He stepped out.
The motel office was dark.
Room 214.
He walked along the exterior corridor.
The number appeared at the far end.
Before he could knock, the door opened.
Elena stood there.
For a second, Marcus couldn't breathe.
She looked older than the woman in his memories.
There were faint lines around her eyes.
Gray threaded through her dark hair.
But it was her.
Every part of her.
The same crooked tilt of her mouth.
The same scar near her eyebrow.
The same eyes that had once watched him across a kitchen table when they were too young to understand how quickly a life could change.
Neither moved.
Then Elena whispered:
“Marcus.”
He stared at her.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“For nine years.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I never let you believe anything.”
His expression hardened.
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“You left Nia.”
“I watched her.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“I know.”
A small figure appeared behind her.
“Dad?”
Marcus looked past Elena.
Nia stood in the room.
She was wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans.
Her eyes were swollen.
Marcus rushed forward.
She ran into his arms.
He held her so tightly she made a small sound.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“For not knowing.”
Nia pulled back.
“Mom told me you didn't know.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
“She said you couldn't know.”
Elena nodded.
Marcus stepped inside.
The motel room was small.
Two beds.
A table.
A lamp.
Three packed bags.
And hundreds of photographs scattered across the carpet.
Marcus stared.
“Nia found them?”
Elena shook her head.
“I brought them.”
“Why?”
“Because you're finally ready.”
Marcus laughed without humor.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Elena closed the door.
“Then sit down.”
Marcus stayed standing.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“No more half-truths.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
She picked up a photograph.
It showed Eleanor standing in front of a hospital.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
“The day Nia was born.”
“Yes.”
“Why was my mother there?”
“She came to see the baby.”
“No.”
Elena placed the photograph on the table.
“She came for the documents.”
Marcus stared at her.
“What documents?”
“The trust papers. The custody papers. The original birth records.”
Marcus's face tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she intended to change them.”
“To make herself Nia's guardian?”
Elena shook her head.
“To make herself the only person who could control Nia's trust.”
Marcus remembered the forged signature.
“So that's where the money came from.”
“Yes.”
“And you found out.”
“I found out three months after Nia was born.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you'd believe your mother.”
Marcus looked away.
“Maybe I would have.”
Elena's eyes filled.
“That is why I left.”
Marcus turned back.
“You could have fought me.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Every day.”
She reached for another photograph.
This one showed Marcus asleep on a hospital chair with newborn Nia against his chest.
Elena's voice softened.
“I left because Eleanor told me that if I tried to take Nia, you'd lose everything.”
Marcus stared at the picture.
“She threatened you.”
“She threatened all of us.”
“Us?”
Elena looked at Celeste's name on Marcus's phone screen.
“You still don't understand what Celeste was doing.”
Marcus's face hardened.
“She told me she was your partner.”
“She was.”
“Romantically?”
Elena nodded.
“For a while.”
Marcus sat down.
Nia sat beside him.
Elena remained standing.
“Celeste helped me collect evidence against your mother.”
“Then why did she marry me?”
Elena took a breath.
“Because Eleanor found out.”
Marcus looked up.
“What happened?”
“She gave Celeste a choice.”
“Which was?”
“Leave town, or watch her own family disappear.”
Marcus frowned.
“Her family?”
“Elena's mother was sick. Celeste had a younger brother. Eleanor had connections everywhere.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“So Celeste married me to stay close to Nia.”
“Yes.”
“To protect her.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't explain the bedroom.”
Elena's expression changed.
“Celeste thought the house was no longer safe.”
“She replaced Nia's room with her things.”
“She was preparing to move Nia.”
“Without telling me.”
“Because you would have stopped her.”
“Damn right.”
Elena looked at him.
“And if she had told you, Eleanor's people would have known Nia was being moved.”
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“So Celeste thought she had to lie to me.”
“Yes.”
“She treated my daughter like an intruder.”
Elena was quiet.
Finally she said, “That was wrong.”
Nia spoke softly.
“She was mean.”
Elena looked at her.
“I know.”
“She locked me out.”
“I know.”
“She said Mom was dangerous.”
Elena's eyes closed.
“I know.”
Marcus stood.
“You knew she was doing this.”
“I knew some of it.”
“Some?”
“I wasn't in the house.”
“Then who was?”
Elena looked toward the window.
“I had someone watching.”
Marcus followed her gaze.
“Who?”
Elena didn't answer.
Nia suddenly reached for one of the photographs.
“Mom.”
Elena turned.
Nia held it up.
It showed Elena and Celeste standing together years earlier.
Between them was a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Marcus stared.
“That's Nia.”
“Yes.”
“You said Celeste was only your partner.”
“She was.”
He pointed to the baby.
“Then why is she holding her like that?”
Elena looked at Nia.
“Because she was the first person besides me who loved you.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“You said she was your partner.”
“She was also your biological mother.”
Silence.
Marcus looked at Nia.
Then Elena.
Then the photograph.
He'd heard the words before.
But hearing them again somehow made them real.
“How?”
Elena sat beside him.
“We had fertility treatment before you and I met.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Nia was conceived before us?”
“Yes.”
“But I thought…”
“You became her father.”
Marcus looked at Nia.
She was listening carefully.
He reached for her hand.
“None of this changes that.”
Her fingers closed around his.
Elena watched them.
“That was always the one thing I was certain of.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Then why come back now?”
Elena's face lost its color.
“Because your mother left something behind.”
“What?”
“A list.”
“Of what?”
“Everyone who knew about Nia.”
Marcus felt cold.
“What happened to them?”
Elena reached into her bag and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
Some names had been crossed out.
Marcus scanned the list.
Former lawyers.
Accountants.
Two private investigators.
People he had never heard of.
Then one name stopped him.
He looked up.
“This person is alive.”
Elena nodded.
“She was.”
Marcus stared at the crossed-out name.
“Who did this?”
Elena didn't answer.
Nia looked toward the motel door.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“I think someone is outside.”
Everyone froze.
A soft footstep sounded in the corridor.
Then another.
Marcus moved toward the door.
Elena grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
The footsteps stopped.
Someone stood directly outside.
Marcus looked through the curtain.
A shadow passed beneath the gap.
Then a folded piece of paper slid underneath the door.
Nia gasped.
Marcus picked it up.
May you like
Three words were written across the front.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.