Chapter 9 - THE FALSE POLICE REPORTWe escaped through the crypt beneath the chapel.
Thomas knew an old passage leading to the river.
Gregory's voice echoed behind us through the megaphone.
“Daniel, running will only make you look guilty!”
I wanted to turn back.
I wanted to fight.
But Sophie was with me.
That changed everything.
We reached the riverbank before sunrise.
Thomas stopped.
“You need somewhere nobody knows.”
“My house?”
“No.”
“My company?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then where?”
He looked at Helen.
She said:
“There is one place.”
The old estate.
My wife's childhood home.
It had been empty since her parents died.
Nobody in my current circle knew I still had access.
We drove there using Thomas's old truck.
When we arrived, I unlocked the door.
Dust filled the air.
Sophie looked around.
“Is this Mommy's house?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“She told me about it.”
Amanda looked at me.
“She did?”
“Before she died.”
Sophie pointed to the staircase.
“She had a secret room.”
I stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“Mommy showed me.”
“She showed you this house?”
“When I was little.”
I almost laughed.
“You were a baby.”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
She walked toward the wall.
Then she tapped a wooden panel.
“Here.”
A click sounded.
The panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow room.
Helen stared.
“The archive.”
I stepped inside.
Shelves covered every wall.
Boxes.
Documents.
Tapes.
Photographs.
And one locked metal chest.
Thomas whispered:
“She stored everything.”
I opened the nearest box.
Bank transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
The same network.
But then I found something unexpected.
A list of people with one word beside each name:
LIVE
Or:
DEAD
Or:
MISSING
I scanned it.
My mother.
DEAD.
My wife.
DEAD.
Elias.
DEAD.
Amanda's mother.
MISSING.
Then one name near the bottom:
THOMAS REED — LIVE
I looked at my father.
“You knew about this list.”
He nodded.
“What else?”
“There was a second list.”
“Where?”
“Your wife never showed me.”
I opened the chest.
Inside was an old cassette recorder.
A note sat on top.
DANIEL, LISTEN BEFORE YOU TRUST ANYONE.
My hands shook.
I pressed play.
My wife's voice filled the room.
“Daniel, if you are hearing this, then I failed to protect you.”
I closed my eyes.
“I'm leaving you this because the people around us are not who they claim to be.”
Static.
“The man who first approached me was Gregory.”
My jaw tightened.
“He told me he wanted to help.”
Another pause.
“He wasn't alone.”
The tape crackled.
“There is another man.”
My breath stopped.
“A man who has been close to our family for years.”
I looked at Thomas.
His face had gone pale.
My wife continued.
“He calls himself a protector.”
Thomas whispered, “No.”
I looked at him.
“Who is she talking about?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The tape continued.
“He will tell Daniel that he survived for his son.”
Then her voice dropped.
“He didn't.”
I stared at Thomas.
“He survived because he needed Daniel alive.”
The room became silent.
My father sat down.
He looked old.
Very old.
I turned toward him.
“Why?”
He whispered:
“Because your mother left something inside you.”
“What?”
“Not inside your body.”
He looked at Sophie.
“Inside your identity.”
Helen frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas didn't answer.
The tape did.
“Daniel, your name isn't Daniel Reed.”
My blood went cold.
The recording continued.
“The man you call your father is not your biological father.”
I stared at Thomas.
He looked away.
Then the tape gave the final revelation.
“Your real father is the man they buried in the second grave.”
At that exact moment, someone knocked three times on the front door.
Sophie whispered:
“Mommy used to say three knocks meant someone was coming home.”
We all froze.
Then a woman's voice came from outside.
“Daniel?”
May you like
Amanda covered her mouth.
Because the voice belonged to my dead wife.
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