Truth

he made and people he trusted turned on him. The young man’s father helped in the family demise. The only support this young man believed he had was from his grandfather and his grandfather’s new wife.
    Claire followed along until this point. Nathaniel had a new wife? She remembered reading where Sharron Rawls died years before his arrest. Why hadn’t she seen anything about another wife? She wanted to ask, but never before had Tony shared. She remained silent, hoping he’d reveal more.
    Tony went on explaining: emotions were high, threats and promises were made. The new wife and this young man’s parents did not get along. One night there was an incident. Tony looked down into Claire’s eyes; he rephrased an accident . It wasn’t intentional, but things got out of control. The young man wasn’t there. He arrived too late to help his parents. Since they were beyond help, he chose to help the woman his grandfather loved. The only person who could refute the premise of murder/ suicide was a neighbor. That neighbor, like everyone else, had a price. For over twenty years the young man worked to shield the woman he promised his grandfather he would protect.
    Tony’s eyes once again met Claire’s. “When I changed my name, I hoped to distance myself from the Rawls sins. I’m not sure how or why Patrick Chester made the connection from Anton Rawls to Anthony Rawlings, but I’m so sorry he did.”
    Claire sat up, “It’s my fault.”
    His eyes refocused, “What? How?”
    “ We found his name on a police report. Your parents’ injuries weren’t consistent with murder/suicide. Patrick Chester lived in a very nice neighborhood with very nice cars. His lifestyle didn’t match his profession or income. He had an annual installment that continued to grow. We suspected the annual payments were payoffs for silence. In the original report he mentioned a woman in a blue Honda. The woman was never mentioned again. A month or more ago, I went to his house.”
    Tony’s regret changed to hostility before her eyes, “You did what?”
    Claire couldn’t justify her behavior. She melted against the soft cushions, “I know-- it was stupid.”
    His hands were on her shoulders, “Why would you even think...”
    She allowed the tears to fall, “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I’m the one who put our baby at risk.” His arms surrounded her. With her face pressed against his chest, she asked, “The woman, she wasn’t your aunt was she?” Claire felt Tony shaking his head. “She was your grandmother ?”
    He shrugged, “I guess. I’ve never really thought of her that way. My parents successfully petitioned her and Nathaniel’s marriage to be voided. She wasn’t legally able to maintain the name Rawls.”
    “ You’ve been paying for her freedom for all these years. Do you ever see her?”
    “ I do. But she doesn’t want to be identified.”
    Claire nodded. She didn’t blame the lady. There was no statute of limitations on murder in California; the less people that knew, the better. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
    He pushed her away and looked into her eyes, “No more detective work.” This again wasn’t a question. Claire nodded and settled against his chest. Inhaling his cologne and listening to the beat of his heart, Claire closed her eyes. She didn’t want to ponder the new information. She wanted it all to go away.
    Claire awoke as the plane touched down in Iowa.
     
     

 
     
     
    Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away.
It keeps things for you, or hides things from you -- and summons them
to your recall with a will of its own.
You think you have a memory; but it has you! – John Irving 
    Chapter 55
     
    Over the next few days and weeks Claire settled into an old, yet unfamiliar, pattern on Tony’s estate. Things were different and the same. She had her iPhone and iPad. Tony even bought her a new laptop; her old one was still missing. Apparently, the police found Patrick Chester’s van and hotel room. Unfortunately, the laptop was in neither place. His house in Santa Monica was also thoroughly searched. Nothing was there either. His wife and daughter were shocked. They had no idea why a loving husband and father would decide to kidnap someone. Repeatedly, they told the police and press, “This wasn’t like him at all. We don’t understand what drove him to such behavior.”
    The missing laptop led everyone to assume there might be an