Chapter 8 - My FatherWe barricaded the doors.
Megan treated Judith's wound while Lauren stood by the window.
Evan was gone.
But he had left us something.
A message written on the glass in red lipstick.
ASK YOUR FATHER.
I couldn't breathe.
“My father is dead.”
Judith shook her head.
“No.”
“What was his name?”
She hesitated.
“Thomas Bennett.”
I stared.
That wasn't my father's name.
“Yes, it was.”
My father's name was Richard Hale.
Judith saw my confusion.
“Your mother changed it.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From whom?”
She looked toward the lake.
“Your father was an accountant.”
I almost laughed.
“My father owned a hardware store.”
“That was his cover.”
Megan went still.
“What did he uncover?”
Judith said:
“The network.”
The ledger.
The shell companies.
The missing money.
The deaths.
My father had discovered everything twenty-five years earlier.
Then he vanished.
My mother told me he abandoned us.
Judith told me the truth.
“He went into hiding.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know he survived?”
“Because he contacted Evan.”
My stomach twisted.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I stared at her.
“Six months?”
“That was when Evan decided to fake his death.”
I understood.
The plan had not started with Evan.
It had started with my father.
Megan found another hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside was a small cassette tape.
An old-fashioned tape recorder sat beside it.
My hands trembled as I pressed play.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
My father's voice.
“Caroline, if you are hearing this, I failed.”
I covered my mouth.
The recording continued.
“Evan will tell you he loved you.”
A pause.
“He did.”
I closed my eyes.
“But he also needed you.”
The tape crackled.
“There is something inside the trust that the others believe is money.”
“What is it?”
“The names.”
Megan looked at me.
“The identities of every person connected to the network.”
My father's voice continued.
“Your mother hid the ledger where no one would look.”
I leaned closer.
“Where?”
Then the tape stopped.
Dead silence.
“That's it?”
Megan shook the recorder.
Nothing.
I felt desperate.
“Come on.”
Judith whispered:
“There is another tape.”
“What?”
“In Evan's old office.”
Megan looked at me.
“Then that's where we're going.”
Before we left, I looked at Judith.
“You said Evan loved me.”
“He did.”
“Then why did he try to kill me?”
Judith's eyes filled with tears.
“Because someone convinced him that if he didn't, they'd kill you first.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father is alive?”
Judith nodded.
“He has been alive all these years.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the lake.
“You already know.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
COME ALONE.
Then another.
BRING THE PENDANT.
I looked at Megan.
She hadn't sent it.
May you like
The third message arrived.
I AM YOUR FATHER.
