She looked up at me and I could see the worry in the lines of her face before she covered her eyes with her leathery, trembling fingers. I touched her arm and was surprised by how cold she was.
“Please, Mrs. Renee. It’s the only option we have. If Larry doesn’t talk to me, I can’t help him. I can’t solve this mystery and you can’t go back to your previous existence. Let me speak to him.”
She remained silent for seconds that felt like days as I waited. Finally, she nodded her head, as though she’d won an internal argument with herself.
“Not here.” She took a deep breath. “It won’t be safe here.”
seven
We sat in the diner in a corner booth and I stared at the pay phone next to the toilets.
“This is why I love Yelp.” I smiled at her. “All I did is type in pay phones and I found this place.”
“I didn’t know they even had pay phones anymore.” Mrs. Renee looked at me bleakly as she nibbled on her toast.
“They won’t have tapped the pay phone.” I leaned forward. “But if they’re watching us, they will know we’re up to something. I need to call and speak to him now.”
“He won’t like it.” She looked nervous.
“He might not like it, but how long can he stay in hiding? How long can I sit around and wait to see what’s going to happen to me next? I was kidnapped and I don’t know why. I’m sleeping with a man I don’t . . .” I sighed. “I don’t want to get into all the details. Please just give me the phone number.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll call it and you can talk to him, but I’m not giving you the number.”
“Fine.” I nodded eagerly and handed her some quarters. “Here you go.”
She took them from me and walked to the pay phone, looking behind her as she picked up the phone and quickly dialed. I watched as she talked into the phone and then waved me over.
I jumped up quickly and grabbed the phone from her. “Uncle Larry, it’s Bianca.”
“You shouldn’t be calling me, Bianca.” He sounded old and worried.
“They kidnapped me, Larry. They drugged me and kidnapped me. I deserve to know what’s going on.”
“You shouldn’t have gone to that shareholders’ meeting. I never should have gotten you that proxy access.”
“Why? What are they afraid of?”
“I’m sorry, Bianca. I’m responsible for a huge lie.”
“What huge lie? Did you know that Mattias was going to pretend to be Jakob and—”
“You met Jakob?” he cut me off, his voice keen.
“Yes, he’s the one who kidnapped me. David told him I was looking for Mattias. He’s Mattias, he—”
“Listen to me, Bianca, forget about Mattias Bradley.”
“How am I supposed to forget—”
“The clues lead you past Mattias Bradley.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mattias Bradley means nothing. He can’t and won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t understand, Larry.”
“Mr. Bradley senior, he knew what he was doing, Bianca. We all knew what he was doing. It was a game in the beginning. All of us thought it was a game, me, your father, Bradley, Maxwell. And then Bradley started cheating on his wife and things got complicated. It was okay at first, it was just random women—but then it was Maxwell’s wife and that’s when everything changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“That ruined everything.”
“I don’t understand.”
“None of us were innocent, Bianca.” His voice was lowered. “We all did things we shouldn’t have; even your father.”
“What did my father do?”
“You have a sibling, Bianca.” Larry’s voice dropped.
“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “No, that’s impossible. I’m an only child.”
“You have a sibling.”
“I don’t understand.” My head felt heavy as I stared at the phone. “How is that possible?”
“Your dad had another child.”
“What?” My voice rose. “No, he can’t have. He never told me he had another child.”
“He didn’t find out until later.” Larry’s voice dropped. “There are things you don’t know, Bianca. Things you shouldn’t know. You need to just drop whatever it is you’re doing. Your father made a huge mistake. One that he paid for dearly.”
“What do you know, Uncle Larry?” I leaned forward, my heart beating rapidly as I gripped the phone. “You need to tell me.”
“I’ve already told you too much.”
“How is this all linked? Why are you hiding? What do you know?” I paused. “Are they scared that I want money? Do I have a brother or a sister?” I rambled on, my mind whirling with a million questions.
“This isn’t about money. There are things you don’t know. Things that certain people will do anything to keep private.”
“And you know these secrets?”
“I know some of them. I don’t know enough. I had hoped you could find out. You need to look at the paperwork I gave you again. There’s something in there—” The phone went dead.
“Larry?” I asked frantically. “Larry?” I looked at his wife. “You need to call him back. The phone went dead. Call him back!”