Chapter 5 - The Second NathanThe voice upstairs came again.
“Mom?”
Same tone.
Same rhythm.
But now that Nathan had warned me, I heard it differently.
It wasn't Marcus.
It was an imitation.
A good one.
A terrifyingly good one.
Nathan pulled me deeper into the underground corridor.
“Stay here.”
“Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
“You said this was your old operation.”
“It was.”
“What operation?”
He looked at me.
“I used to work for the company behind the property acquisitions.”
My stomach dropped.
“You worked for them?”
“Yes.”
“Then why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
The honesty startled me.
“I've made mistakes.”
“What kind?”
Nathan looked away.
“The kind that can get people killed.”
We heard footsteps above us.
Then silence.
A door opened.
Closed.
The sound disappeared.
Nathan waited another minute before moving.
He walked to the far wall and pressed a hidden switch.
A monitor flickered to life.
Security cameras appeared.
Four feeds.
Kitchen.
Living room.
Driveway.
Beach.
My breath caught.
“Harold installed cameras?”
“Hidden ones.”
The living-room feed showed Lauren.
She was alone.
She was holding my photograph.
My wedding photograph.
She stared at it.
Then threw it into the fireplace.
I gasped.
Nathan muted the monitor.
“We need to leave.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I'm not running anymore.”
He looked at me.
“Then we need evidence.”
I sat at the desk.
The first flash drive from Harold’s box contained hundreds of files.
Most were encrypted.
One wasn't.
A video.
Recorded by Harold.
I clicked it.
His face filled the screen.
He looked older than I remembered.
Tired.
Serious.
“If you're watching this, Pat, something has happened that I desperately hoped would never happen.”
My throat tightened.
Harold looked directly into the camera.
“I'm sorry.”
He paused.
“The beach house is not simply a house.”
Nathan crossed his arms.
Harold continued.
“Years ago, I discovered that the property had been part of a development survey. The developers wanted the land because of what lies underneath it.”
The video cut.
Then resumed.
“Not oil. Not gas.”
Harold leaned closer to the camera.
“Records.”
I frowned.
“Records?”
“The previous owner stored documents underground during the early days of the coastal redevelopment projects. Land agreements. Original property boundaries. Ownership claims. Financial agreements.”
He stopped.
“And one document that could destroy several powerful people.”
The video ended.
I looked at Nathan.
“What document?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why are people fighting over this?”
“Because someone thinks it still exists.”
I stared at the screen.
“Does it?”
Nathan slowly nodded.
Harold's second video began automatically.
This time he looked frightened.
“Pat, there is another problem.”
He held up a photograph.
It showed Marcus.
Young.
Maybe twenty-five.
Standing beside Lauren.
But Lauren looked different.
Shorter hair.
Different clothes.
And standing beside them was a man I didn't recognize.
The date was eighteen years earlier.
My stomach turned.
I looked at Nathan.
“Who is that man?”
Nathan stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
“Richard Vale.”
“Who?”
“The R.”
The person Lauren had been emailing.
“The one you thought was mysterious?”
He nodded.
“He isn't mysterious.”
“Then who is he?”
Nathan looked at the screen.
“Richard Vale is Marcus’s biological father.”
I thought I had misheard him.
“What?”
Nathan repeated it.
“Your husband knew Marcus wasn't his biological son.”
The room went silent.
I stopped breathing.
Marcus.
My son.
My only child.
Harold had raised him.
Loved him.
Protected him.
And apparently knew a secret I'd never been told.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From Marcus.
Mom, come to the beach. Alone. I know what Dad hid.
A second message arrived.
And if you tell Nathan, Lauren dies.
I looked at Nathan.
He had seen my face change.
“What happened?”
I didn't answer.
Because now I had another problem.
If the threat was real, every minute mattered.
May you like
And if it was a lie…
Someone knew exactly what would make me obey.
