Chapter 5 - The House With Too Many Rooms
We did not go back to the motel.
Nobody even suggested it.
When Mom was discharged three days later, we moved into Mr. Harrison’s house.
I had never seen a house like it.
It had stone columns.
A circular driveway.
More windows than our entire old apartment building.
Rosie stared through the car window.
“Do people live here?”
Mr. Harrison looked at her.
“We do now.”
Mom stiffened beside me.
“Dad.”
He glanced back.
“If you want to leave tomorrow, I won’t stop you.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Mom looked at the house.
“I don’t want the kids thinking this fixes everything.”
Mr. Harrison nodded.
“It doesn’t.”
I loved him a little for saying that.
A woman named Mrs. Bell opened the front door.
She had worked for Mr. Harrison for twenty-two years.
The second she saw Mom, she dropped the towel in her hand.
“Oh my God.”
Mom froze.
Mrs. Bell covered her mouth.
“Sarah?”
Mom smiled through tears.
“Hi, Margaret.”
Mrs. Bell crossed the entryway and hugged her.
“I thought you were dead.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Rosie whispered to me:
“Everybody cries in this family.”
I almost laughed.
Mr. Harrison heard her.
“So far, yes.”
For the first time in days, we all smiled.
Our bedrooms were upstairs.
Rosie’s had a window seat.
Mine had shelves full of books.
I did not touch anything.
That first night, I hid two dinner rolls under my pillow.
I did it without thinking.
At two in the morning, Mr. Harrison found me sitting on the kitchen floor eating one.
He wore pajama pants and a sweater.
He did not ask why.
He just sat across from me.
“I used to hide food,” he said.
I stared at him.
“You?”
“My father drank.”
I had never imagined rich people having fathers who drank.
“When he lost jobs, we lost meals.”
“So you got rich?”
“That wasn’t why.”
“Why did you?”
He thought about it.
“I got tired of being afraid.”
I looked at the bread.
“Did it work?”
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
“Money gives fear nicer rooms.”
I looked around the enormous kitchen.
He smiled sadly.
“But it doesn’t make fear disappear.”
I tore the roll in half.
“Want some?”
He accepted it.
We ate on the floor.
The next morning, everything changed again.
Mom was in Mr. Harrison’s office with Detective Ortiz when I walked past.
I heard Victor’s name.
I stopped.
The office had been damaged during the break-in.
Cabinets forced open.
Desk drawers pulled out.
The police believed whoever entered knew exactly what they wanted.
“What’s missing?” Mom asked.
Mr. Harrison held up an empty document sleeve.
“My original will.”
Mom stared.
“Why would Victor want your will?”
“Because of what it says.”
I should have walked away.
Instead I stayed behind the door.
Detective Ortiz asked:
“What does it say?”
Mr. Harrison hesitated.
“Half of Harrison Development passes to Sarah or her children.”
My stomach dropped.
Mom gave a bitter laugh.
“So there it is.”
“Sarah—”
“You think this is about money.”
“No.”
“Victor does.”
Detective Ortiz said, “Would he benefit if Sarah were legally declared dead?”
Mr. Harrison became silent.
Mom stared at him.
“Dad?”
He looked sick.
“My shares would pass partly to Victor.”
“How much?”
“Thirty percent.”
Mom whispered, “Hundreds of millions.”
I stepped backward.
The floor creaked.
Everyone turned.
Mom came to the doorway.
“Caleb.”
“Sorry.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
Mr. Harrison looked angry with himself.
I asked the question nobody seemed to want to say.
“Did Uncle Victor want Mom dead?”
Mom grabbed my shoulders.
“We don’t know that.”
“But he made Grandpa think she hated him.”
“Yes.”
“He paid Dad.”
“We believe so.”
“And if Mom disappeared, he got money.”
Mr. Harrison came closer.
“Caleb, listen carefully.”
I stared at him.
“I will never lie to you just because you’re young. But I also won’t tell you something is true before we can prove it.”
I swallowed.
“So you don’t know?”
“No.”
That helped.
A little.
The doorbell rang.
Mrs. Bell appeared in the hallway.
“Arthur.”
Something in her voice made everyone turn.
“There’s a man outside.”
Mom’s face changed.
“What man?”
“He says he’s Sarah’s husband.”
My blood went cold.
Rosie was in the playroom.
I ran toward her.
Mom grabbed my arm.
“Caleb.”
“He can’t get her.”
“He won’t.”
A loud pounding shook the front door.
Then Dean’s voice filled the entryway.
“SARAH!”
Mom went white.
“Sarah, I know you’re in there!”
Mr. Harrison moved toward the door.
Detective Ortiz stopped him.
“Let me.”
Dean pounded again.
“You kidnapped my children!”
I felt my body shaking.
He sounded exactly like he used to sound before things broke.
Mom noticed.
She came beside me.
“You stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Caleb.”
“I’m not hiding.”
Her eyes filled with pain.
“You shouldn’t have to protect me.”
“I know.”
This time I meant it.
Detective Ortiz opened the door but kept the chain locked.
Dean stood outside.
Unshaven.
Wild-eyed.
“You.”
He recognized her.
“Where’s my wife?”
Detective Ortiz showed her badge.
“Leave the property.”
“My children are in there.”
“Leave.”
Dean saw Mr. Harrison behind her.
Then he smiled.
“So you finally found Daddy.”
Mom stepped into view.
Dean’s expression changed.
“Sarah.”
“Go away.”
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“You’re confused.”
“No.”
“You’ve been sick.”
“No.”
“You’re turning the kids against me.”
Mom’s hands trembled.
But her voice did not.
“I said no.”
Dean’s face hardened.
Then he looked over her shoulder.
At me.
“Caleb.”
I stepped back.
“Come outside, son.”
I hated when he called me that.
Mr. Harrison moved between us.
Dean laughed.
“This is what you wanted, Sarah? Your rich father?”
Mom stared at him.
“No.”
“What, then?”
She lifted her chin.
“To stop being afraid of you.”
His smile disappeared.
Police lights appeared behind him.
Dean looked over his shoulder.
For the first time, he seemed nervous.
Then he looked directly at Mr. Harrison.
“You think I’m the problem?”
Mr. Harrison said nothing.
Dean laughed again.
“Ask your brother.”
Mom froze.
Dean backed toward the driveway as officers approached.
“Ask Victor who came up with the plan.”
May you like
And then he shouted the words that made everyone silent.
“I was supposed to marry her from the beginning.”
