"A disc? Dad, do we even have anything that plays those anymore?"
"The old laptop in the closet upstairs. Go get it. Quickly."
He bolted up the stairs. Adam stayed beside me, his shoulder pressed against mine like he did when he was a little boy afraid of thunder.
"Dad, what if it's something bad?"
"Your mother left it. The night before."
"Then we face it together."
"Twenty years, Dad. Twenty years and she hid this here?"
"I don't know, son. I don't know anything anymore."
Ethan returned with the laptop. My hands shook so badly I could barely slide the disc into the drive.
"Let me, Dad," Ethan said gently. "Sit down. Please."
I sat on an overturned crate. The screen flickered. Then Laura appeared, alive, breathing, her eyes red from crying.
"Then we face it together."
"Oh my God," Adam whispered. "Mom…"
"My loves," she began, "it hurts me to say this, but you need to know the whole truth."
I gripped the edge of the crate.
"If you're watching this, something has gone wrong, or I haven't come back yet. Please don't be angry with me."
