“I Thought My Sister Abandoned Me… Then I Found Her Death Certificate”

I shoved the death certificate into my jacket and pulled Lily behind the kitchen island.

"Noah, lock the back door."

"Someone's already in the garage," he whispered.

The automatic door groaned open.

Vanessa moved before I did. She grabbed the cane off the floor and swung at my shoulder. I blocked it with my forearm. Pain shot to my elbow, but I held on.

"Are you insane?"

"You should've stayed at work!"

That sentence scared me more than the cane.

I twisted it out of her hands and threw it across the room.

"Kids. Upstairs. Lock my bedroom door. Call 911."

Noah took Lily's hand.

Vanessa shouted, "Noah, don't you dare!"

He looked at her with a hatred I had never seen in a thirteen-year-old.

"You said my mom left me."

Vanessa went quiet.

The garage door opened into the kitchen. No one stepped through. Instead, an engine roared outside.

I ran to the window in time to see a dark blue sedan peel away from the curb.

Vanessa bolted for the front door.

I caught the back of her sweater, but the fabric ripped. She slipped outside barefoot and sprinted toward the alley.

I almost followed.

Then Lily screamed upstairs.

I chose my kids.

By the time police arrived, Vanessa was gone.

Detective Maya Ruiz studied the death certificate at my dining table. "You say your sister has been missing thirteen months?"

"Not missing. We thought she left voluntarily."

"And you've been in contact with her?"

"Email. Mostly."

Ruiz's eyes narrowed. "No video calls? No phone conversations?"

Guilt crawled up my throat. Claire and I had been fighting before she disappeared. Vanessa had told me Claire needed space. I had accepted that because it was easier than admitting my sister hated me.

"A few voice notes," I said. "No calls."

Ruiz tapped Marcus Hale's name. "I'll verify this. Until then, it's a document in your house that could be fake."

Noah appeared at the stairs.

"It's real."

I looked at him. "How would you know?"

He swallowed.

"Because Mom told me she was going to die."

The entire room went silent.