The sheriff\u2019s expression softened slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do we.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He glanced toward the second patrol car.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Higgins was found in her bedroom at approximately 5:40 this morning. Her front door was locked. The windows were locked. There were no obvious signs of forced entry.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo\u2026 what happened to her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re waiting on the medical examiner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked directly at the envelope in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that letter was discovered in your mailbox shortly after her death.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our deputies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Mrs. Higgins leave something in my mailbox?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slowly opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside was a single sheet of lined paper.<\/p>\n
The handwriting was unmistakable.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins.<\/p>\n
I had seen that handwriting dozens of times on grocery lists and little notes she\u2019d occasionally left on my porch.<\/p>\n
My eyes moved across the first line.<\/p>\n
Dear Emily,<\/p>\n
My vision blurred.<\/p>\n
I blinked.<\/p>\n
Then I read the next sentence.<\/p>\n
If you are reading this, then something has happened to me.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
The sheriff leaned slightly closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking so badly that the paper rattledI continued.<\/p>\n
I need you to listen carefully. Do not trust anyone who tells you this was an accident.<\/p>\n
A cold sensation crawled up my spine.<\/p>\n
I looked at the sheriff.<\/p>\n
He was watching me carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep reading,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I forced myself to look back down.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, when you mowed my lawn, you saved me from something far more dangerous than an overgrown yard. You didn\u2019t know it, but someone had been watching my house for several weeks.<\/p>\n
My heart seemed to stop.<\/p>\n
I remembered the previous afternoon.<\/p>\n
While I had been mowing, I had noticed a dark SUV parked near the corner.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d assumed someone was visiting one of the neighbors.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins continued:<\/p>\n
I saw the person watching you. I also saw what they left behind.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
What they left behind?<\/p>\n
Then another sentence caught my attention.<\/p>\n
It is hidden beneath the old rosebush beside my back porch.<\/p>\n
I looked at the sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something under her rosebush.\u201d<\/p>\n
He immediately reached for his radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeputy Miller, stay with the house. Don\u2019t let anyone near the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why do I feel like you\u2019re not telling me everything?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
Finally, he said, \u201cBecause Mrs. Higgins called us three nights ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she believed someone had entered her home while she was sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a chill.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they steal anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what did they do?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked away for a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said someone had gone through her photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyebrows drew together.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhotographs?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily photographs. Old albums. Boxes in her attic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would anyone care about those?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat,\u201d he said, \u201cis what we\u2019re trying to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at the letter again.<\/p>\n
There was more.<\/p>\n
Emily, there is something else you need to know. The foreclosure notice you received yesterday may not be what you think it is.<\/p>\n
My heart slammed against my ribs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
I handed him the letter.<\/p>\n
He read the sentence.<\/p>\n
Then his entire expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said your foreclosure proceedings started yesterday?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent you the notice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. It came through the mail.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed toward the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGet it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hurried inside as quickly as my pregnant body allowed.<\/p>\n
My hands were still trembling.<\/p>\n
I found the foreclosure notice on the kitchen counter.<\/p>\n
When I brought it outside, the sheriff took it.<\/p>\n
He studied the document for several seconds.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, this isn\u2019t a foreclosure notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fraudulent filing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I called the number on the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what worries me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned the paper around.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was a phone number.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this number,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Instead, he looked toward Mrs. Higgins\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
Then he said quietly:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same number Mrs. Higgins gave us three days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said someone had been calling her repeatedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff handed the document back.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told us the caller wanted her to sign something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA property transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
Her land.<\/p>\n
Her property.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, everything seemed connected.<\/p>\n
The foreclosure.<\/p>\n
The strange letter.<\/p>\n
The person watching her.<\/p>\n
The photographs.<\/p>\n
The property transfer.<\/p>\n
But there was one thing I couldn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hoping you could answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
He studied my face.<\/p>\n
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Higgins specifically mentioned you by name.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand instinctively moved to my stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said you were the only person on this street she trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I barely knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently, she knew more about you than you realized.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused.<\/p>\n
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you recognize this?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
It was an old photograph.<\/p>\n
A younger Mrs. Higgins stood beside a man I didn\u2019t recognize.<\/p>\n
And between them was a little girl.<\/p>\n
I stared at the girl\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
Something about her looked familiar.<\/p>\n
Not familiar in the way a stranger sometimes resembles someone you\u2019ve met.<\/p>\n
Familiar in a way that made my chest ache.<\/p>\n
I turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
Written on the back were four words.<\/p>\n
Emily is her daughter.<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s expression was grim.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither did I.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the little girl again.<\/p>\n
Then at Mrs. Higgins.<\/p>\n
Then back at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
The sheriff said nothing.<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother died when I was six.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father died before that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who is that little girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff took a slow breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed something written beneath the photograph.<\/p>\n
A date.<\/p>\n
October 14, 1992.<\/p>\n
And beneath it, in smaller handwriting:<\/p>\n
The day we lost her.<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
I suddenly felt dizzy.<\/p>\n
The sheriff reached out.<\/p>\n
\u201cEasy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I put a hand against the porch railing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n
He helped me into a chair.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then a sound came from across the street.<\/p>\n
A car engine.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
A dark SUV was slowly driving past Mrs. Higgins\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
The same kind I\u2019d noticed yesterday.<\/p>\n
The sheriff immediately stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ran toward his patrol car.<\/p>\n
The SUV accelerated.<\/p>\n
Two patrol cars pulled out after it.<\/p>\n
And as they disappeared around the corner, I looked down at Mrs. Higgins\u2019s letter one more time.<\/p>\n
There was one final line I hadn\u2019t noticed.<\/p>\n
It was written at the very bottom.<\/p>\n
Emily, if they discover that you know the truth, they will come for you next.<\/p>\n
I pressed the paper against my chest.<\/p>\n
My baby moved inside me.<\/p>\n
For the first time since my ex had left me, I wasn\u2019t thinking about the mortgage.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t thinking about the foreclosure.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t even thinking about how alone I was.<\/p>\n
I was thinking about one terrifying question.<\/p>\n
Who had been watching me?<\/p>\n
Part 3 \u2014 The Secret Mrs. Higgins Took to Her Grave
\nPart 3 \u2014 The Secret Mrs. Higgins Took to Her Grave
\nThe sheriff returned nearly forty minutes later.<\/p>\n
He was alone.<\/p>\n
The first thing I noticed was the look on his face.<\/p>\n
They hadn\u2019t caught the SUV.<\/p>\n
I stood on the porch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did it go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLost us near the highway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you get the license plate?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward Mrs. Higgins\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the rosebush?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe searched it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cSheriff?\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached into an evidence bag.<\/p>\n
Inside was a small metal box.<\/p>\n
Rust covered the corners.<\/p>\n
There was a tiny keyhole on the front.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found this buried beneath the rosebush.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began beating faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t opened it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it was locked.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how are we supposed to open it?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Higgins left the key with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached into another evidence bag.<\/p>\n
Inside was a tiny brass key.<\/p>\n
Tied to it was a piece of faded blue ribbon.<\/p>\n
I recognized the ribbon immediately.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins had worn that same color around her wrist yesterday.<\/p>\n
I remembered her squeezing my hand.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re a good girl. Never forget that.<\/p>\n
At the time, I thought it was simply something an elderly woman might say to a stranger who had helped her.<\/p>\n
Now I understood.<\/p>\n
It had been goodbye.<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew she might not live through the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tears filled my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know exactly what she knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen open the box.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at the deputy beside him.<\/p>\n
After a brief exchange, they carefully unlocked the box.<\/p>\n
Inside were three things.<\/p>\n
A photograph.<\/p>\n
A folded document.<\/p>\n
And a small cassette tape.<\/p>\n
I stared at the tape.<\/p>\n
\u201cA cassette?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an old tape recorder in her bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
He unfolded the document first.<\/p>\n
His eyes moved across the page.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a birth certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor who?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
I already knew.<\/p>\n
He turned it toward me.<\/p>\n
The name at the top was mine.<\/p>\n
Emily Rose Carter.<\/p>\n
I stared at the date.<\/p>\n
Then at the place of birth.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the hospital where I\u2019d always believed I\u2019d been born.<\/p>\n
It was a small rural hospital nearly two hundred miles away.<\/p>\n
My hands went numb.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff pointed to the mother\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
I looked.<\/p>\n
And the world seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
The name wasn\u2019t the name of the woman who had raised me.<\/p>\n
It was:<\/p>\n
Margaret Higgins.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Higgins?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
According to the document, Margaret Higgins had given birth to a baby girl named Emily Rose Carter thirty-four years earlier.<\/p>\n
But there was something even stranger.<\/p>\n
The father\u2019s name had been blacked out.<\/p>\n
Not crossed out.<\/p>\n
Not faded.<\/p>\n
Intentionally covered.<\/p>\n
Someone had deliberately removed it.<\/p>\n
I stared at the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would my parents lie to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may have just found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Higgins couldn\u2019t have been my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause my mother died when I was six.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father may have been wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt anger rising through the fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father wouldn\u2019t lie about something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at the cassette tape.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
He put the tape into an old recorder recovered from Mrs. Higgins\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, there was only static.<\/p>\n
Then a woman\u2019s voice filled the room.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Tired.<\/p>\n
Afraid.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily\u2026 if you\u2019re hearing this, then I wasn\u2019t able to tell you myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I covered my mouth.<\/p>\n
The recording continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t abandon you. I never wanted to give you away.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a long pause.<\/p>\n
Then she began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was twenty-two years old when you were born. Your father was involved with people I didn\u2019t understand. People who were willing to hurt anyone who stood in their way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff and I exchanged a glance.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter you were born, your father disappeared. I was told that if I wanted you to live, I had to let another family raise you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My tears fell freely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched you from a distance for years. I saw your first day of school. Your graduation. Your wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to tell you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tape crackled.<\/p>\n
Then came the words that changed everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father didn\u2019t die the way you were told.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
The sheriff leaned forward.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t die in an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of something he discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recording suddenly became distorted.<\/p>\n
Then her voice returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, the people who killed him have been looking for something for more than thirty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat something?\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
The tape answered for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father hid it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I believe they finally found the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recording ended.<\/p>\n
The room was silent.<\/p>\n
I stared at the cassette.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered the dark SUV.<\/p>\n
The foreclosure notice.<\/p>\n
The stranger watching Mrs. Higgins.<\/p>\n
The property transfer.<\/p>\n
The photograph.<\/p>\n
Everything suddenly felt connected.<\/p>\n
But one question remained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did my father hide?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff picked up the photograph from the box.<\/p>\n
It was the same photograph we\u2019d seen earlier.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins.<\/p>\n
A young man.<\/p>\n
A little girl.<\/p>\n
He turned it over.<\/p>\n
There was writing on the back.<\/p>\n
This time, there was more than one sentence.<\/p>\n
The truth is buried where Emily began.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at my birth certificate.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere were you born?\u201d<\/p>\n
I told him the name of the hospital.<\/p>\n
He searched something on his phone.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat hospital closed twenty-eight years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe building was demolished.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is there now?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich bank?\u201d<\/p>\n
He told me.<\/p>\n
I recognized the name immediately.<\/p>\n
It was the same company listed on my foreclosure paperwork.<\/p>\n
I felt the room spin.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, I don\u2019t think your foreclosure is about your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what is it about?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at the documents again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think someone wants you out of that house because they believe something is hidden there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve lived there for eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat could possibly be hidden in my house?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Then the deputy outside shouted.<\/p>\n
We both turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSheriff!\u201d<\/p>\n
He ran toward the window.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
The deputy was standing near my front door.<\/p>\n
He was pointing at the ground.<\/p>\n
Someone had left something there.<\/p>\n
A small cardboard box.<\/p>\n
The sheriff immediately ordered everyone back.<\/p>\n
He approached it carefully.<\/p>\n
Inside was a single object.<\/p>\n
A baby bracelet.<\/p>\n
Pink.<\/p>\n
Faded.<\/p>\n
And attached to it was a note.<\/p>\n
The sheriff read it.<\/p>\n
His face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
Then slowly handed me the note.<\/p>\n
There were only six words.<\/p>\n
Stop looking for your mother.<\/p>\n
I stared at the handwriting.<\/p>\n
I knew it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d seen it before.<\/p>\n
On the foreclosure notice.<\/p>\n
On the envelope.<\/p>\n
And on Mrs. Higgins\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
But then I noticed something else.<\/p>\n
The handwriting wasn\u2019t Mrs. Higgins\u2019s.<\/p>\n
It was mine.<\/p>\n
My exact handwriting.<\/p>\n
The same way I formed the letter E.<\/p>\n
The same slant.<\/p>\n
The same pressure.<\/p>\n
I looked at the sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t write this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believed me.<\/p>\n
At least, I thought he did.<\/p>\n
Then he turned the note over.<\/p>\n
On the back was a final message.<\/p>\n
Your mother isn\u2019t the one you need to be afraid of.<\/p>\n
I looked across the street at Mrs. Higgins\u2019s empty house.<\/p>\n
And suddenly I understood why she had been so afraid.<\/p>\n
She hadn\u2019t been protecting herself.<\/p>\n
She had been protecting me.<\/p>\n
My baby kicked hard.<\/p>\n
I placed my hand over my stomach.<\/p>\n
For the first time, I realized something that terrified me more than anything else.<\/p>\n
Whoever had been searching for my father\u2019s secret had finally found me.<\/p>\n
And they knew exactly where I lived.<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, you can\u2019t stay here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my house.<\/p>\n
The house I had struggled to keep.<\/p>\n
The house I had almost lost.<\/p>\n
The house I\u2019d thought was the source of all my problems.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed something through the front window.<\/p>\n
The basement light was on.<\/p>\n
I knew I had turned it off.<\/p>\n
The sheriff followed my gaze.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
He drew his weapon and moved toward the door.<\/p>\n
I stayed behind him.<\/p>\n
Step by step, we entered the house.<\/p>\n
The basement door was slightly open.<\/p>\n
A cold draft came up the stairs.<\/p>\n
Then we heard it.<\/p>\n
A faint sound from downstairs.<\/p>\n
A cassette recorder playing.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Higgins\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
But this time, the recording wasn\u2019t from the tape we had found.<\/p>\n
It was another message.<\/p>\n
And the first words we heard were:<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, if you\u2019ve made it this far, there\u2019s one thing you need to know about the man who left you when you became pregnant\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Because Mrs. Higgins knew something about my ex.<\/p>\n
Something I had never told her.<\/p>\n
And whatever she was about to reveal\u2026<\/p>\n
could explain why he disappeared.<\/p>\n
It could explain the foreclosure.<\/p>\n
It could explain the murder.<\/p>\n
And it could explain why someone had been watching my house.<\/p>\n
The sheriff slowly looked back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily,\u201d he whispered, \u201cdon\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n
From somewhere in the darkness beneath the house\u2026<\/p>\n
a floorboard creaked.<\/p>\n
Someone was down there.<\/p>\n
And then the recording continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe father of your baby is not who you think he is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sheriff\u2019s expression softened slightly. \u201cNeither do we.\u201d I looked at him. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d He glanced toward the second patrol car. \u201cMrs. Higgins was found in her bedroom at approximately 5:40 this morning. Her front door was locked. The windows were locked. There were no obvious signs of forced entry.\u201d My heart pounded….<\/p>\n