“Don’t you dare use that word in this house!”
“I’m sorry.”
Palmer stepped between us.
“Mr. Rhodes, we’re going to need you to come with us.”
Rick didn’t resist. He just nodded.
I turned to Palmer, my legs barely holding me up.
“Judith,” I said. “What happened to her? Where’s my daughter?”
Rick didn’t resist.
“Judith passed away two months ago,” Palmer said softly. “Cancer. She’d been sick for a while. She left a letter behind, ma’am. We’ve made a copy for our file, and the original is with a foster caregiver named Beverly because it was addressed to Hannah.”
Gomez chimed in from the door. “It’s clear Judith had started to doubt Rick’s story. Hannah’s memories didn’t match what he’d told her. In the letter, she mentions taking the earrings off your daughter the night she arrived before locking them in a drawer for safekeeping.”
“She
left a letter behind.”
“Over the years, your sister-in-law (SIL) forgot they were there. When the house was cleared out, they were mistaken for Judith’s own jewelry and placed in the estate box with everything else.”
“And Hannah?”
“Your daughter is alive. She’s 21 and living with Beverly just outside Columbus. She’s safe and healthy. Hannah has been searching for you, ma’am, but with the wrong last name, every lead went cold. She was saving up to hire someone.”
They were mistaken for Judith’s own.
My knees finally gave out. Palmer caught me before I hit the floor.
“I knew,” I sobbed into her shoulder. “I always knew!”
