Page 159 of Buried Too Deep

Or so he’d thought.

But she’d been right. Working for Alan had been the worst thing he’d ever done.

Sage had dreamed of Sanjay and the old librarian last night. He’d woken shaking, unable to go back to sleep. So he’d gotten dressed and made the drive to Mobile.

Maybe his mother had some of the answers he needed. That she and his father had divorced twenty-three years ago was not a coincidence. He was certain of it.

Sage only knew that Alan hated his mother, and that the feeling was quite mutual. Lisa Tupper had never divulged the source of their feud, but it went deep.

Hearing music playing faintly, he followed the sound, walking around her house to the screened patio. She was in the heated pool, cutting through the water in quick, even strokes. Letting himself in through the screen door, he took a seat at the patio table, waiting until she finally surfaced.

She startled, gasping. “Sage. What are you doing here?”

“Came to visit you, Mother. Is that a crime?”

She emerged from the water, grabbing a towel to dry herself off before dropping into the seat beside him and turning off the music coming from her phone. “Not a crime, but definitely unexpected. Are you sick?”

“No. Nothing like that. I have some questions, and I hope you’ll have some answers.”

“Ask whatever you like, son. If I can answer, I will.”

He thought again of Ashley, of the dimple in her cheek that so matched his own. Who is she and why is she living in Merrydale, Louisiana?

But what came out of his mouth was “Why didn’t you fight Grandfather for custody?”

She flinched, taken aback. “Oh. Well.” She refilled her coffee cup, clearly stalling. Finally, she sighed. “It’s a difficult story to tell. And when I tried to approach the subject, you cut me off. It’s been seven years since we’ve talked. I figured you didn’t want me in your life.”

That had been true then. They’d argued about Alan. She’d said his grandfather was dangerous and he’d scoffed, calling her a liar. Then he’d ghosted her.

That had clearly been a mistake. “So Grandfather is the reason?”

“Yes. Your grandfather threatened me,” she said baldly. “He said that if I fought for custody, he’d ‘bury me.’ I wasn’t sure if that was hyperbole or not. He said he had photos of me with other men.” Her gaze was sharp. “He did not, Sage. I was totally faithful to your father during our whole marriage. But the photos Alan had looked real. Even to me. He wanted me to go away and relinquish all my parental rights. I couldn’t do that. So I bargained with him. Got a few weekends with you, a few Christmases. Until you were old enough to decide you didn’t want to see me.”

He frowned again. “Bargained with him? How?”

“I knew something he didn’t want getting out. I threatened him with exposure. I wanted full custody, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. He was already too powerful and he had a lot more money than I did. His lawyers were sharks.” She sighed. “So I was grateful to get what I got.”

Sage knew his grandfather was capable of doing whatever he needed to do to get what he wanted, but that Alan had threatened to bury his mother? Knowing what he knew now, that Alan had killed Medford Hughes, maybe Lisa was being literal.

“Can you please just tell me what happened? I need to know.”

“Why?” she asked, her fear obvious.

Sage pulled out his phone and found the graduation photo of Ashley that he’d snapped after finding it in his grandfather’s safe. “Who is she?”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “I don’t know. How do you know her?”

“She looks like me.”

Lisa nodded. “She does. Where did you get this picture?”

“I found it among Grandfather’s things. He’s done something. Something bad.”

“Are you in danger, Sage?”

“Not at the moment.” It was a prevarication and he knew it.

From the look on her face, so did she. “I have friends in Spain. Or Singapore or Australia. You can go any of those places to hide. Alan won’t find you.”

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