Page 56 of The Ring Thief
I’d returned to work a few days ago, finally facing the last hurdle to getting my life back to normal. It had been just as humiliating as I’d imagined, with pointed questions and conversations halting as soon as I entered a room. But it was over now, and it felt like a fog had lifted, letting me see clearly past all the pain for the first time in weeks.
It’s been thirteen days since my date. Declan has done just as I asked, backing right off. There have been no more surprise visits, no messages, and no more deliveries.
I appreciate that he’s respecting the boundary that I gave him. It’s a good thing, even if there’s a small part of me that’s annoyed at the way he’s just vanished. And then I get annoyed with myself, because how can I feel so angry and betrayed, but still miss him with every breath?
Dad’s sitting on the couch in the living room with Julie, their legs pressed together and hands entangled. I pull up short, immediately registering just how pale and drawn Dad looks.
“What’s going on?” I ask hesitantly.
Julie looks at my father when he doesn’t answer, before giving me a long look. “There’s been a bit of a…development, I guess.”
Dad laughs harshly. “It’s as good a word as any other.”
I sit down in the armchair beside them. “What development?”
They share a look and finally Julie just urges, “Get it over with, like ripping off a band-aid.”
“Yeah, a band-aid on an amputated limb,” he mumbles, before letting out a weary sigh. “Donald Masters was arrested.”
I frown. “I’m aware. It was pretty hard news to miss,” I add dryly.
“Right. He was also ordered to submit a DNA test.”
“That’s not usual, is it?”
Dad shakes his head. “It’s not standard practice. Apparently, they received some information from a current inmate at a state penitentiary, and it was enough to have them concerned.” He looks at Julia again, who gives him a tiny reassuring smile, and he clears his throat. “Lily, when I told your mother to leave, I never could’ve imagined how seriously she would take me. She—” His throat bobs on his swallow, his expression stricken. “She wound up in some backwater town on the other side of the country, using a fake name and working for cash.”
“I don’t understand,” I say numbly, my chin wobbling, although I have no idea why. Julie shoots me a sympathetic look, her hand still clutching his. “You told me you didn’t know where she was. You said no one did.”
He stares back at me, eyes wide and devastated, and Julie leans forward, taking over. “Lily, no one knew until now. What your dad is trying to say is that… Well, it seems like Donald Masters found your mother about three years after she disappeared.” Her mouth pinches tightly as my eyes bounce between the two of them.
“And?” I demand weakly. “What happened when he found her?”
Dad squeezes his eyes closed. “She’s dead, Lily.”
I shiver, feeling like ice water has just been injected into my veins. “She’s dead?” I ask brokenly. I hadn’t even realized until that moment, but I’d just assumed she was living her life somewhere, never thinking about the daughter she’d left behind when she’d escaped her own version of hell.
Dad nods, bowing his head until his chin touches his chest.
“We think,” Julie starts quietly, “that when he found out about the baby…” she shakes her head, eyes shining. “Who can really say why he’d do it? But her body was found ten years ago, and there was no way?—”
“He made sure they couldn’t work out who she was,” Dad interrupts quietly. “It was a cold case. No one knew who she really was or what happened to her.”
“And now?” I ask stiffly. “How did they…?”
“She was buried.” He lifts his head, meeting my eyes with pain-filled ones. “Wrapped in a wool blanket. When they found her, they collected all the evidence they could to try to find out who she was or who had killed her. There was DNA on the blanket belonging to a male, but there were no hits on it back then.”
“Until now.”
He nods. “Once they took the DNA sample…” he lifts a shoulder, expression uneasy. “They told me that DNA on the, uh, blanket was preserved enough for them to say that even if he didn’t deal the killing blow, they’re certain he was there when she was buried.”
“What about the baby?”
Dad blows out a heavy breath. “The authorities have been trying to piece together everything that happened, but in that town…They said she was never seen pregnant or with a child.”
I sit back in the armchair for a long time, trying to process everything they’ve just told me, my mind overwhelmed with the new information.
Declan’s father wasn’t just an asshole. He was a murderer.
