Chapter 4

Thomas pulled out his phone. An unfamiliar landline number lit the screen.

He answered with a frown.

"Hello? Who is this?"

A serious male voice came through.

"Am I speaking with Mr. Thomas Henson?"

"This is Officer Wallace, from the Longbridge Community Police Station."

Thomas's stomach dropped, but the tension eased just as fast.

Longbridge Police Station?

Probably that woman Rita pulling some new stunt.

"Yeah, this is him. What's the problem, Officer?"

"Is it my ex-wife Rita again, making trouble down there?"

"Let me tell you, I've already signed the divorce papers with her. Whatever she does is nothing to do with me."

The officer on the line went quiet for two seconds, his tone turning heavier.

"Mr. Henson, we're not calling about Ms. Simmons."

"We need you to come to the Downtown Memorial Hospital morgue as soon as possible."

"To identify a body."

Thomas froze.

The morgue? A body?

His first thought was that Rita's mother had actually died.

"Officer, you've got the wrong person, haven't you?"

Thomas gave a cold laugh.

"The one who died is Rita's mother. Go find her, why come to me?"

"I already told you, I'm divorced from her!"

The officer's voice carried an edge of displeasure.

"Mr. Henson! Please cooperate!"

"The deceased has no identification on her, only a broken flip phone."

"We recovered the contacts, and you're the only emergency contact listed."

"You need to come now and confirm the identity!"

The line went dead. Thomas stood rooted where he was.

Rita's mother, why would she ever save him as her emergency contact?

Thomas's gaze.

Dropped again to the battered wicker basket on the ground.

Those scattered mushrooms, glinting strangely under the streetlight.

"Thomas? What's wrong with you? You look awful."

Thomas snapped back and grabbed Chloe's arm.

"Chloe... where's Mom?"

"That call you made to her just now, did it go through?"

Chloe winced under his grip and complained.

"No, still switched off. Why?"

Thomas's breathing came fast and ragged.

"The hospital... hurry! Get to the hospital!"

He half-scrambled into the car, and it shot off like an arrow loosed from a string.

Downtown Memorial Hospital, second basement level, the morgue.

Thomas and Chloe stumbled out of the elevator.

The first thing they saw was the officer standing at the morgue door.

And...

Me, leaning against the wall, expressionless.

The moment he saw me, Thomas rushed over like a drowning man grabbing at a straw.

He yanked my collar, his eyes bloodshot.

"Rita! What are you doing here?!"

"Say something!"

I let him hold on, watching him coldly, saying nothing.

The officer pushed open the door of the mortuary room.

A body lay in the center under a white sheet.

"Mr. Henson, please come confirm it."

Thomas edged forward, one step at a time, to the table.

Behind him, Chloe was trembling with fear.

I looked at the state of him and laughed, cold and short.

"What? Afraid to lift it?"

Without hesitation I reached out and grabbed the edge of the sheet.

"Thomas, open your damn eyes and look."

"Whose mother is this, really!"

The sheet was ripped away with a snap.