Chapter 2: The Woman Who Knew My Wife
I didn't wait to find out what the man was reaching for.
I grabbed Sophie with one arm, held Ruby with the other, and ran.
“Daddy!”” Sophie screamed.
“Don't let go of my jacket!””
We pushed through a crowd outside a restaurant. Someone dropped a coffee. A woman shouted as I knocked into her shopping bag.
Behind us, I heard the woman in the beige coat screaming.
Then a car horn blared.
I reached the corner and spotted a parking garage entrance.
I had parked two blocks away, but going back to my car would have been a mistake. If those people knew my name, they probably knew what I drove.
I pulled the girls into a crowded hotel lobby.
“Stay close,” I whispered.
Sophie was crying.
Ruby looked terrified.
“Daddy, why is that man following us?”” Sophie asked.
“I don't know, sweetheart.””
“Is Ruby in trouble?””
I looked at the other girl.
She was holding the blackbird pendant so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
“What's your mommy's name?”” I asked her.
Ruby looked at me.
“Mommy says I'm not supposed to tell strangers.””
“I understand.””
“Are you a stranger?””
I swallowed.
“I don't think so.””
She studied my face.
Then she asked, “Are you the man in Mommy's picture?””
My heart stopped.
“What picture?””
“The one in her bedroom. She keeps it inside a book.””
“What does the man look like?””
Ruby pointed at me.
“Like you.””
Sophie stopped crying.
“Daddy, you have a picture with Ruby's mommy?””
“I don't know, sweetheart.””
Ruby continued.
“Mommy cries when she looks at it.””
I crouched in front of her.
“Ruby, what's your mommy's name?””
She looked toward the hotel entrance.
Then she whispered, “Olivia.””
For a moment, the entire lobby disappeared.
The sound of rolling suitcases, conversations, elevator bells—all of it faded.
“Say that again.””
“Olivia.””
“Your mommy's name is Olivia?””
Ruby nodded.
I gripped the edge of the reception desk.
Olivia.
My Olivia.
The woman I had buried in my imagination a thousand times because nobody had ever found her body.
The woman whose wedding ring I still kept in the top drawer of my bedroom.
The woman who had supposedly disappeared while carrying our unborn child.
“Daddy?”” Sophie whispered.
I turned toward her.
She was staring at me with frightened eyes.
“Is Mommy Olivia?””
I couldn't answer.
Not yet.
I took out my phone and called the police.
A dispatcher answered.
“Atlanta emergency services. What's your emergency?””
“My name is Damien Cole. Two men in a black SUV are following me and two children. One of them may have information about my missing wife, Olivia Cole.””
“Are you in immediate danger, sir?””
“I don't know. They approached us downtown.””
“Where are you now?””
I gave her the hotel address.
Then I noticed Ruby staring at my phone.
“Mommy has that number,” she whispered.
“What number?””
“The number you called.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
“She says it's the number of the bad people.””
My stomach tightened.
Before I could ask anything else, the dispatcher spoke.
“Mr. Cole, officers are being dispatched. Please remain somewhere secure.””
I ended the call.
A woman at the reception desk approached us.
“Sir, are you all right?””
“Can we wait here for the police?””
“Of course.””
She offered the girls water.
Sophie accepted hers.
Ruby didn't.
She was still watching the entrance.
I pulled a chair close to them.
“Ruby, can you tell me about the picture?””
She nodded.
“It's inside Mommy's blue book. There's a picture of you holding Mommy's tummy.””
I stared at her.
“Was I smiling?””
Ruby nodded.
“Mommy says you were happy because I was coming.””
My chest tightened.
“Does she ever tell you about your daddy?””
Ruby lowered her eyes.
“She says he's a good man.””
“Does she tell you where he is?””
“She says he doesn't know where we are.””
I closed my eyes.
Six years.
Six years of searching.
Six years of wondering whether my wife had died in those woods.
And all that time, she had been telling another child I was a good man.
“Why didn't she come home?”” I asked.
Ruby shrugged.
“Mommy says bad people were watching us.””
A cold feeling moved through my stomach.
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
She leaned closer.
“But she says Grandma Evelyn knows.””
My head snapped up.
“Who is Grandma Evelyn?””
Ruby looked confused.
“Grandma Evelyn is the lady who visits Mommy.””
I knew an Evelyn.
My mother.
Evelyn Cole.
My mother had helped me raise Sophie after Olivia disappeared. She'd attended every school performance, every birthday party, and every doctor's appointment.
She had cried with me when the police closed the active search.
She had even helped me organize the memorial service we held one year after Olivia vanished.
“Ruby,” I said slowly, “what does Grandma Evelyn look like?””
“White hair. Big diamond earrings.””
My mother wore diamond earrings almost every day.
I felt the room tilt.
“Does she visit your mommy often?””
Ruby nodded.
“Sometimes she brings presents.””
“What kind of presents?””
“Dolls. Dresses. Money.””
“Money?””
“Mommy doesn't like taking it.””
I looked at Sophie.
She was watching me silently.
Then Ruby said something else.
“Grandma Evelyn says Mommy has to stay away because Daddy would be sad if he knew about me.””
My fingers curled into fists.
“Did she say why?””
Ruby nodded.
“She says Daddy only wants one little girl.””
The words hit me like a punch.
My mother had known.
She had known there were two children.
She had known Olivia was alive.
And she had allowed me to believe my wife and unborn baby were dead.
A police siren sounded outside.
Two officers entered the lobby.
I stood and approached them.
“I'm Damien Cole. I called about the black SUV.””
The taller officer introduced himself as Officer Harris.
“Sir, we received your call. Did anyone threaten you?””
“Yes. A man followed us. Another woman warned me.””
“Where is the woman?””
“I don't know. She stayed behind.””
Officer Harris looked at his partner.
“Did you get a description?””
I described the man.
Then I showed him a photograph of the SUV I'd managed to take while running.
He studied it.
“Do you know who owns this vehicle?””
“No.””
He turned the phone toward his partner.
The other officer frowned.
“That's strange.””
“What?””
He zoomed in on the license plate.
“Mr. Cole, this vehicle is registered to a private security company.””
“Which company?””
He looked up.
“Cole Security Group.””
My mouth went dry.
It was my father's old company.
A business my family had sold years earlier, after my father died.
But the company's current chairman was my mother.
Evelyn.
Officer Harris asked us to come to the station.
I agreed.
But before we reached the exit, Ruby tugged my sleeve.
“Daddy?””
I looked down.
She was holding something in her little hand.
A folded photograph.
“I found this in Mommy's coat pocket before we ran.””
I carefully unfolded it.
The photograph showed Olivia sitting on a hospital bed, holding two newborn babies.
One baby was in her left arm.
The other was in her right.
Behind her stood my mother.
Evelyn was smiling.
But it wasn't the smile I remembered.
She was looking at the babies with an expression that seemed almost possessive.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
May you like
Two girls. One family. One must disappear.
And beneath those words was my mother's signature.
