“Laura, I don’t want to do this over the phone.”
“Then tell me who Lily was.”
“I don’t know. But there was someone Daniel knew when he was young.”
“Who?”
“A friend. Michael.”
The name stirred something in my memory. Daniel had mentioned him, rarely and never fondly.
I don’t want to do this over the phone.
Publicidad
“He stole from Daniel.”
She went quiet.
“Didn’t he?”
“I don’t know what happened between them.”
Whatever she knew about Michael, she had been keeping it from me for a reason.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
The name stirred something in my memory.
“I’ve told you what I know.”
“No. Four years ago, you told me Lily was his cousin because you wanted me to stop asking questions.”
“I didn’t know what else to say.”
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There it was.
An admission.
She had been keeping it from me for a reason.
“Why?”
“I have to go.”
“Who was Michael?”
She hung up.
I stared at the phone.
An admission.
Publicidad
Daniel’s mother and I had never been close, but this was different.
Why protect Daniel’s affair?
And what did Michael have to do with it?
Was he Rebecca’s brother? Had he helped Daniel hide it?
I opened my laptop again.
This was different.
***
Nearly an hour later, an old article gave me Michael’s last name.
Michael H. Daniel C.
Business partners.
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Another article said the company had closed after a “financial dispute between its founders.”
“What did you do, Daniel?”
An old article gave me Michael’s last name.
I searched for Michael H.
His obituary appeared.
Then I saw the date. “No. That’s not possible.”
Daniel had told me Michael died before we met.
The obituary said otherwise.
Business partners.
