A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2) (33 page)

"I was married. I have a child with my ex-wife." Hunter pulled his wallet from his pocket and took out pictures of Sienna. "My daughter. She's three." He handed the photo to Joe. His hand was shaky.

"Your dad and mom would have been proud grandparents. They would have doted on her. What's her name?"

"Sienna." Thinking of his parents as proud grandparents hit Hunter with a floodgate of emotions. "I called you Uncle Joe, didn't I?" he blurted. Well damn! He hadn't meant to put it out there quite like that.

Joe's eyes lit up. "You did. My wife and I never had children. We wanted them so bad, but life wasn't ready to make us parents. You were the closest thing I had."

So why didn't you come find me?

Hunter wanted so badly to ask, but for once, he didn't blurt out his thoughts.

"You really don't have many memories before-" Joe couldn't even bring up the crash.

"No, I don't. I hate it because so much has happened, and I don't even have anything from my mom and dad to hold on to other than memories. I don't even remember what happened to the house or where we lived, for that matter." Did he live in Maryland after all before everything?

"I've got things for you then. Photos, and a few items. I was the one who cleaned the house. I kept things, some of them even yours."

Hunter sat up straighter. "You took care of my house? Where did I live before?"

Which meant if there'd been any trace of what they were doing before the plane ride, Joe could have and probably did get rid of it. How convenient.

He'd sure made the right call to come here.

"You lived in Maryland, not far from Baltimore. Since you found me, you probably know now your dad was a lawyer. Best damn partner I ever had."

Maryland. He wondered if going there one day would bring back a memory. "I got my love of basketball from him," Hunter recalled.

Joe laughed. "Actually, you both found your love of the game through me. Your dad couldn't be bothered with it before, but we used to go to games and he grew into it. Wasn't a bad player, either. We took you to games from an early age. I was real proud when you picked up the love of it. Do you play any more?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not like I wanted to. It was just one of those things I let go of. I played here and there, but the love I had for it died the night I lost my family." Regret weighed on his heart.

"Come inside. I have some home videos and albums to show you." Joe struggled to climb to his feet. Hunter aided him. "I don't know what brought you to me today, but I've missed you, Hunter."

*****

Becca waited for news from Hunter. Anything! In the meantime, she finally gave in and sorted through the photos Amelia sent. With her phone beside her, she dug inside the large envelope. It looked like the photos had been in there a while, as the white was very faded to more of a dull yellow and the edges torn.

She wondered if the pictures were going to be a lot of Rusty with his old family, and while there might have been one or two, most of them were of himself. The photos were a still version of memories Becca had of him, a light hearted funny man who loved to make people smile. The photos of Rusty were full of life. One looked like he was dancing in front of a large crowd. His smile was genuine and fun. In another, he stood near a body of water squinting, probably because of the bright sunlight.

At the bottom of the pile of pictures, Becca found a folded aged letter. What was this? She unfolded it to find it was a letter from Rusty to Sylvia and Amelia. Her heart slammed against her ribcage as she read it.

Somehow, she had a feeling this letter wasn't meant to be sent with the photos.

It was dated a few days before the day Becca was supposedly born.

The letter was short and scrawled in messy writing.

Sylvia,

I know you won't understand this now, but I can't write any more. When things are better, I'll come back and visit so we can write again. You be good for your mom. I know she tries hard.

-R

That was it?

Becca set the letter down.

Rusty Lange had a guilty conscience and ended up leaving a letter for Sylvia. Or maybe he'd really been that close to her and felt terrible about having to disappear because his wife wanted a child so desperately he helped her steal one? Was this why Sylvia went on her rampage to find her dad? Then what? Threatened him? How did she find out whatever she knew about Becca? Was this Sylvia's box of photos originally? How in the world did this note get in there?

She covered her mouth, choking back a cry. Now she wished she'd either looked before or not looked at the photos at all.

Becca wiped her eyes, trying to stay focused. This was why Hunter insisted on the trip to Rhode Island, to get these answers. As much as she missed him and worried, she understood. Her email notification went off, and she opened up her laptop to see who it was from.

Amelia.

Scanning the email, Becca laughed. Amelia wrote about a funny moment with Rusty and how she missed his humor.

His humor was one thing Becca remembered. He always loved to laugh.

Becca typed back with trembling fingers.

I just looked at the pictures. That's the man I remember, how much he loved to smile and laugh.

She stared at the screen, wondering if she should bring up the note she'd just found. It could start the process of finding answers.

How did you two meet? I bet he made a great first impression.

I found a note that wasn't meant for me. It was addressed to Sylvia from my dad. How he was sorry that he couldn't write any more.

She quickly hit send, her stomach feeling like she took a nose dive on a plane. Too bad there was no way to erase or unsend that email.

Time to get ready for work, even though she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Mentioning that letter could open a can of worms, and in some ways Becca was ready, but in many more ways she wasn't.

What's done is done.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Hours passed, and Hunter still hadn't asked the questions he came here to do. Joe popped in old videos of his family, and Hunter watched in awe at the younger version of himself. For the longest time, he had no other link to his past. Today, he had them. The questions could wait a while, but they were definitely there in the back of his mind begging to be asked.

He sat beside Joe in the reclining chairs, both in a reminiscing mood. The current video playing was his parents' wedding. They were so young and happy! Now that's what a wedding should be like. Hunter closed his eyes and pictured the bride and groom in the video as Becca and himself. Then he opened his eyes again, taking a quick look over at Joe.

Joe beamed, a proud gleam in his eye. "I was the best man. Wasn't too long after their honeymoon that you popped out. You were the cutest baby! And so happy. You hardly fussed at all. You were crawling at five months and walking by ten months."

Joe sounded so damn proud. Hunter knew without a doubt this man cared about his family.

There were plenty of video clips on this tape. Hunter was blown away by how well kept they were and that Joe had a VCR in decent enough shape to play them.

"There you are at your first birthday party."

Whatever Joe had been involved with concerning the family and Becca, he had a lot of respect and love for his dad Charles. They'd been best friends. Close as brothers. Which was probably why he went out on a limb to do whatever it was.

Every time Hunter opened his mouth to ask, his throat went dry and he couldn't make the words come. It was so rare for him.

"I'll be sending you home with these," Joe promised. He had another box full of photo albums and other stuff. "Where are you living these days?"

"Virginia. That was the last home I lived in before I turned eighteen. I took flight lessons when I was seventeen. The instructor is my ex-father-in-law, but we've remained close. I actually didn't meet my ex-wife until years later, but I was friends with their son and working with her father. I wanted to get over my fear of planes, so I became a pilot."

"You sure have the determination to overcome anything, just like your father did. He was always strong willed." Joe's voice had a sad edge to it. "Does your daughter live with you, or her mama?"

"She's with her mom. We're working on arrangements for joint custody, but I need to find a steady job again. Because of the PTSD, I'm not able to fly right now. My girlfriend has been trying to help me come up with something," Hunter hadn't meant to bring Becca up, but now that he did, it might be the perfect way to slip in the questions. In a way, he felt bad because he'd been having a good time remembering.

But it's not the only reason I'm here.

He had to do this. As much as it was nice to watch videos of his childhood, the questions remained.

"Ahh, dating again? Tell me about her? Where did you meet?" Joe's eyes lit up.

Once again, Hunter pulled out his wallet and handed him a picture of Becca. He wondered if the photo would flash a recognition. Had Joe ever seen Becca as an older child? "That's Rebecca Lange. I met her when I was twelve and she was eight."

Silence. Painful, agonizing silence. It only lasted less than a minute, but to Hunter it felt so much longer.

Joe's face paled. A choking sound escaped his throat. He kept staring at the picture, then flicking his gaze back to Hunter.

"So you know her." Hunter plucked the photo from Joe's hand and put it safely back in his wallet.

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Joe whispered. "I never imagined any of this would come up, especially now."

Here goes. Time to get it out in the open.

"I don't know how much you know about the crash. Becca and I were on an island for five days. I did everything I could to help her. She struggles to this day with a traumatic brain injury. Every year we visit Mount Desert Island, one of the islands near the crash site. It's a way to reflect. Anyway, this year after four years of me not being there, someone who claimed to be a third survivor started sending us letters and ominous things. One night she took Becca up on my plane and I don't know her original plan, but she told Becca that she didn't exist. She said she was on the plane that night, but I can't remember her! I keep having nightmares and flashbacks and I don't know what the hell is real." Hunter took a deep breath before he continued. "Becca just moved away from Vermont and her cold hearted grandparents. They're hiding something from us. I hired a PI and we just found out Becca's birth certificate is fake. Your name was on there as the one who notarized it." Hunter watched Joe's expression. He trembled and continued to stare at him, mouth slightly ajar. He felt bad for plowing this on him like he did, but this was what he'd come for. The truth. "Did you and my parents help steal a child for the Langes? What do you know about the crash? I have to know, Joe. For both Becca and I. I love her. Becca's my world and I need to give her the closure she and I need."

Joe stumbled forward. Was he going to pass out? Shit! "Joe?" His eyes rolled in the back of his head. All Hunter could see were his whites. He tumbled forward but Hunter held him, helping to lay him down easily so he didn't hit his head. He pulled out his phone to call 911. As he spoke to the operator, the front door opened and a woman ran in.

"Joe, whose car is that parked in-" Her gaze landed on Hunter. "Joe!" she screamed, running their way.

The 911 operator asked him things he wasn't sure how to answer. Hunter handed the phone to her. "I don't know a lot of these questions they're asking about him." Things like medical history and prior problems with the heart. Stuff that really gave Hunter a jolt of awareness that this situation was dire.

The woman, Hunter guessed to be Joe's wife, snatched the phone and spoke to the operator. She knelt beside Joe. There wasn't much for Hunter to do but take a step back. Regret dug a painful hole in his heart.

Was he having a heart attack? Shock from the question?

Did I cause this?

Hunter didn't think of all this when he asked. He'd just wanted to know what happened. Oh shit, if he caused this and something happened to Joe, he wasn't sure how he'd handle it.

It didn't take long for help to arrive. Paramedics rushed into the house. The woman handed Hunter his phone back, her gaze sweeping curiously over him. Recognition flashed in her eyes, but she turned away to talk to the people working on Joe.

They asked Hunter some questions, since he'd been the one with Joe. Then they loaded him up on the stretcher and took him in the ambulance.

The woman turned to Hunter. "You. Come with me," she directed. "We'll talk on the way to the hospital."

Hunter simply nodded. He followed her out of the house and to her car. For the first few minutes, the ride was intense because of the quiet. Did she know him? Was she going to blame him for whatever happened with Joe just now?

"You're Joe's old partner's son, aren't you?" she finally asked. "Forgive me. I can't recall your name."

"Hunter Beckman," he managed to say. His mind raced with thoughts of Joe's condition. "Is Joe going to be okay?"

"Of course he will, no thanks to you! What the hell did you say to him? Why did you come after all these years?" The woman was clearly upset.

Did she know anything about what Joe did? How the hell did he answer this without causing more problems?

Hunter sighed. "I have memories I wanted to understand, things that keep popping up. I don't know what's real or not. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Sometimes memories are better left buried," the woman snapped, making the turn in a parking lot.

"In some cases, maybe." Hunter left it at that.

She didn't know, did she? And now Joe's health was at stake. A man linked to his past and Hunter could lose him.

The inside of the hospital was pure chaos. Kids crying. A woman covered in blood screaming. Hunter followed Joe's wife inside, feeling a little dazed.

A nurse directed them to the wing Joe had been brought in but informed her that until Joe was stable, she couldn't be in the room with him yet. Although Hunter had his suspicions, he finally had confirmation that this woman was Joe's wife.