Chapter 6 - Twelve Years AgoThe night Daniel disappeared, he wasn't running from his father. He was running with evidence.
The envelope contained a letter.
My mother tried to take it from me.
Nathaniel stopped her.
"She deserves to know."
Mom looked at me.
Then she nodded.
I opened it.
The paper was old.
Yellow around the edges.
Daniel's handwriting covered the page.
Ruby,
You won't remember me.
That's okay.
If you're reading this, it means you're old enough to ask questions.
Your mother will tell you that I loved you.
She is right.
But she will also tell you I died.
That is only partly true.
I frowned.
Nathaniel read over my shoulder.
The next line made his face go blank.
I didn't die in the crash.
Mom covered her mouth.
"What?"
Nathaniel turned toward her.
"You didn't know?"
Mom shook her head.
"He told me there was an accident."
Daniel's letter continued.
Father wants everyone to believe I'm dead.
He has been stealing from the Orchard Fund for years.
He created false tenants, false charities, false deaths.
Families disappeared from buildings and their money disappeared from accounts.
I found the records.
Nathaniel's fists clenched.
His father had always been presented as a brilliant businessman.
A philanthropist.
A man who built hospitals.
Daniel had called him a thief.
Then the letter revealed the part that terrified me.
The worst part isn't the money.
The children.
Father kept a private list of children whose identities could be erased.
Children connected to people who knew too much.
Ruby was one of them.
My mother began crying.
I looked at her.
"You knew?"
She nodded.
"I knew he was afraid."
"Why?"
"Because your father told me someone wanted you erased."
Nathaniel took the letter.
The final paragraph was underlined.
Nathaniel will eventually find out.
He is the only person in this family I still trust.
If I disappear, find him.
But don't tell him about Ruby until you're certain the board can't reach her.
There is one person who helped Father build the list.
His name is Leonard Vale.
Nathaniel stopped.
"Vale."
"Margaret's father?"
"Yes."
He looked at the page.
"Leonard Vale was our father's chief legal adviser."
Mom nodded.
"He wasn't just an adviser."
Nathaniel stared at her.
"What was he?"
"He was the architect."
A loud sound echoed through the underground corridor.
Footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Nathaniel grabbed the red box.
"How many entrances?"
"Two."
"Which one do they know?"
Mom pointed.
"The east corridor."
Nathaniel nodded.
"Then we take the west."
We ran.
I clutched Daniel's letter.
Halfway through the tunnel, we heard voices behind us.
"Search every room."
"They can't be far."
Nathaniel shoved open a maintenance door.
We crawled through a narrow passage.
Then he stopped.
A camera was mounted above us.
He stared at it.
"They knew we'd come here."
Mom whispered:
"How?"
Nathaniel looked at the screen.
The camera indicator was blinking.
"They're watching us now."
A voice crackled from a hidden speaker.
Nathaniel's face hardened.
"Mr. Graves."
The voice was distorted.
"Bring us the girl."
Nathaniel stepped forward.
"No."
The voice laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"The girl isn't valuable because she's Daniel's daughter."
Nathaniel stared at the speaker.
"Then why?"
May you like
The voice answered:
"Because she is the only living person whose blood can open the vault."
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