"I don't know," she said. "And I shouldn't even be talking to you about this. It's between me and your father. I'm just worried about him. I'm going a little crazy."

"I'm worried, too." I licked my lips and said what I needed to say. "Do you think Dad is having an affair with someone in San Francisco?"

Vicky couldn't hide her quick intake of breath. "What do you know, Brynn?"

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I thought about how to answer Vicky's question for a long moment. "I know you were on Dunbar Street in San Francisco on Wednesday night."

"Oh, God, Brynn. You know, don't you?" Vicky muttered.

"That my mother didn't die twenty years ago? Yes. How long have you known she was alive?"

"About two weeks," Vicky replied.

Her answer surprised me. "Two weeks? What happened two weeks ago?"

"I saw a video online, and she was in it. I thought it had to be a mistake. But there were still photos, too, and in each one, her features were so clear. She'd cut her hair, dyed it a lighter shade of brown. But it was still her, with those same blue-violet eyes that you and Dani have."

"What was this video? Was it a music performance?"

"No, it was a news clip. She was at a school concert and that blues singer, Miguel Rodriguez, made a surprise appearance and had a heart attack onstage. Your mother did CPR and saved his life. There were news crews there to film his performance. It was all over the internet. I thought with your music connections, you might have seen it."

"I had no idea. I assume you told my father."

There was another long pause. "I didn't tell him," Vicky said, a note of defiance in her voice. "I didn't see the point."

"You didn't see the point of telling him that his wife hadn't died? You didn't see the point in telling me and Dani that our mother hadn't drowned in a storm?" My voice rose with the force of my emotions until I was almost yelling.

"I wasn't completely sure if it was her," Vicky replied.

"You're lying. You just said it was her. That's not why you didn't tell us," I said flatly.

"No, you're right, it's not," Vicky said, her voice louder now, too. "I didn't want her to be alive. If she didn't die, that meant she left; she ran out on her family. I didn't want to put you back into that place of grief. So, I didn't say anything."

"But then, Dad suddenly went out of town and became unreachable."