Chapter 5: The Man Reagan Buried Alive
Mara met us behind a closed diner ten minutes later.
She carried a file thick enough to bend beneath its own weight.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked.
“Because Reagan asked me to transfer the house three days before Camden was declared d!ead.”
“Did you do it?”
“I prepared the documents.
Then I saw Camden’s signature.”
Elias opened the diner’s rear door with a key.
“The owner is my sister.
We can talk inside.”
Mara spread the documents across a table.
“This signature was traced.
So was the one transferring Camden’s savings.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“I confronted Reagan.
She threatened to accuse me of arranging the transfers.”
“You stayed silent.”
Mara’s fingers stopped on the folder.
“Yes.”
I pushed back my chair.
“Then you’re not helping me.
You’re protecting yourself.”
She slid a visitor’s pass toward me.
“I deserve that.
But this will get you into Briarwood before Reagan’s order arrives.”
At the care center, a nurse read the pass twice.
“Calvin Drake doesn’t receive visitors.”
I placed Camden’s photograph beside it.
“His name is Camden Dennis, and I’m his daughter.”
The nurse stared at the photograph, then locked the reception doors.
“My name is June,” she said.
“I’ve been waiting for someone to say that.”
“You knew?”
“I knew his medical history made no sense.
Mrs.
Dennis insisted he had no children.”
June led us into a small room where an elderly man sat beside the window.
His hair had turned white, and one side of his face sagged, but I knew his hands.
“Dad?”
His cup slipped into the saucer.
“Finland,” he breathed.
I crossed the room, then stopped beyond his reach.
“Did you sign my name?”
Tears gathered in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Say it clearly.”
“I signed your confession.”
My knees struck the chair behind me.
Elias caught my shoulder, but I pulled away.
“Three years,” I said.
“I begged you to believe me.”
“Reagan showed me statements with your name.
Cole said you would receive ten years unless you confessed.”
“You chose them over me.”
“I chose fear over my own daughter.”
I turned toward the door.
“Finland, please,” Camden said.
“I discovered the truth two months later.
Reagan had Derek copy your signature onto the bank forms.
Cole buried the original account records.”
“And you let everyone think you were gone.”
“She controlled my medication and moved me after my stroke.
When I tried to call you, she told the court I was confused.”
June placed a phone on the table.
“He tried eleven times.
I found the call log after I started here.”
My fingers shook over the dates.
Every call had been placed while I was still in prison.
Camden reached toward me but let his hand fall.
“I don’t deserve forgiveness.
I only wanted you to hear the truth from my mouth.”
My chest folded inward.
Elias pulled out the chair, and this time I let him steady me.
“I needed you,” I said.
“I waited every visiting day.”
Camden covered his face.
“I know.”
I sat beside him, and he began to sob.
My own tears came before I could stop them.
June placed one hand on Camden’s shoulder.
“You found each other.
Don’t let her take this minute too.”
I reached for my father’s hand.
The door opened behind us.
Reagan stood there holding a signed guardianship order.
May you like
“Take your minute,” she said.
“It’s the last one you’ll have.”
