found a recording revealing that our marriage had never been an accident.
And just when I thought I understood the truth, a man I had buried stepped out of the darkness.The footsteps stopped at the top of the basement stairs.
Nobody moved.
Russell lay bleeding beside me. Mr. Hayes held a gun with both hands. Claire had another weapon pressed against Daniel’s chest.
And somewhere above us stood a woman Russell had just called by my dead mother’s name.
**Margaret.**
My mother.
The woman I had buried nine years ago.
“Emily,” Russell whispered, gripping my wrist. “Whatever happens next… don’t trust what you see.”
I stared down at him.
“That advice is about ten years too late.”
The basement door creaked.
A shadow appeared.
Then a woman’s voice drifted down.
“Put the guns down.”
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
Age had roughened it. Time had changed
