Chapter 2: The Letter She Never Mentioned
I put Emma to bed that night, but I didn't sleep.
I sat at the kitchen table with the silver key in front of me, turning it over and over in my hands.
The tiny blue stone caught the light every time.
I called my sister Rachel just after midnight.
"Did you ever see Mom in the coffin?" I asked.
"At the funeral.
Did you actually see her?"
Silence.
Then: "Daniel, why are you asking me this?"
"Just answer me, Rachel."
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"Dad said it was a closed casket.
He said it would be too hard for us."
My chest tightened.
"He told me the same thing."
"Daniel—"
"He told both of us the same thing, Rachel.
Separately.
And neither of us ever questioned it."
I heard her breathing change.
"What's going on?"
I told her about Emma.
About the woman outside the school.
About the nickname.
About the key.
Rachel went completely quiet.
When she finally spoke, her voice was different.
Lower.
"There's something I never told you," she said slowly.
"About three months after the funeral…
I got a letter.
No return address.
It was one line."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"What did it say?"
She hesitated.
"It said, 'Your father made me disappear.
Don't look for me.
It isn't safe.'"
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What Daniel found next shattered everything he thought he knew about his family.
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