forced her car off the road. Jonah’s mother witnessed what happened.”
I covered my mouth.
“Why didn’t she tell the police?”
“Because Richard threatened to destroy her family. He told her that if she spoke, Jonah would be next.”
Jonah stood motionless.
“My mother knew,” he whispered. “All these years, she knew.”
Adrian nodded sadly.
“She spent years trying to undo what she had allowed to happen. But fear made her a prisoner of her own silence.”
Jonah turned away.
For the first time, I saw tears running down his face.
The man who had lost three years of his life to a false conviction had just learned that his own family had helped bury the truth about my mother’s death.
And neither of us knew how to live with it.
“Where is Richard now?” Jonah asked.
Adrian looked toward the entrance.
“He has been hiding under another identity. He knew I was alive, but he believed I had no proof against him.”
“Then why bring us here?” I asked.
“Because I wanted you to see the truth before I
