Chapter 6 - We reached my house in seventeen minutes.The front door was unlocked.
That alone was wrong.
My home had three security systems.
Cameras.
Motion sensors.
A private security company.
And a reinforced entrance.
Nothing had been forced.
Nothing was broken.
Someone had simply used a key.
Daniel stayed in the car with Claire and Noah.
I stepped inside.
The house looked untouched.
Too untouched.
That was when I knew.
Professionals.
My study door was open.
I walked in.
Every drawer was closed.
Every book was in place.
The painting above my desk hung straight.
But something felt wrong.
Daniel entered behind me.
“What?”
I pointed.
“The painting.”
He studied it.
“You think it's been moved?”
“Three inches.”
He took it down.
Behind the painting was a steel compartment.
I had never shown that compartment to anyone.
Inside was a box.
Empty.
My chest tightened.
“The secret box.”
Noah's words.
Daniel stared at me.
“What was in it?”
“I don't know.”
“You never used it?”
“I forgot it existed.”
He looked at the empty compartment.
“How convenient.”
I hated that he was right.
We searched the study.
Nothing.
Then Claire came in.
She stared at the compartment.
“I've seen that.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know what it was.”
She walked toward the wall.
“There was a key.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward an old bookshelf.
Daniel pulled the books out.
Behind them was a narrow slot.
A brass key sat inside.
Stamped with one number.
My skin went cold.
Claire began shaking.
“The cup.”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
He turned the key.
The mechanism opened a second compartment.
Inside was a small black notebook.
And a flash drive.
The notebook contained dates.
Names.
Amounts.
On the first page:
CLAIRE HALE.
Under it:
ASSET TOTAL: $927,000.
But the amount had been crossed out.
A new figure was written beneath it.
$11,400,000.
I stared.
“Eleven point four million?”
Daniel turned the pages.
Townhouse.
Truck.
Insurance.
Trust.
College.
Investment accounts.
Everything Claire had ever owned.
Next to each item was a percentage.
At the final page was a sentence.
DO NOT LET ROBERT FIND OUT UNTIL PHASE THREE.
Daniel slowly lowered the notebook.
“Phase three?”
“What is phase three?”
He didn't answer.
We plugged in the flash drive.
There was one video file.
No title.
No date.
I clicked it.
A woman appeared on screen.
My breath stopped.
Rebecca.
My dead wife.
I couldn't move.
Claire screamed.
The video showed my wife sitting in a hotel room.
Alive.
Healthy.
Calm.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, something has gone wrong.”
I stumbled backward.
“No.”
Rebecca continued.
“I know Robert will think I died.”
Claire began crying.
“Mum?”
Rebecca looked into the camera.
“Claire, if you ever see this, I'm sorry.”
Daniel paused the video.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Play it.”
He did.
Rebecca continued.
“I couldn't trust anyone.”
Then she said the words that destroyed me.
“Not even your father.”
Claire gasped.
I stared at the screen.
“What?”
Rebecca continued.
“Robert doesn't know the truth about his own family.”
She named Samuel.
Then Marilyn.
Then Derek.
Then Leonard.
But she also named another person.
A person neither of us expected.
Daniel.
He froze.
Rebecca said:
“Daniel Mercer is not your ally.”
Daniel stepped away from the screen.
“That footage is fake.”
I stared at him.
“You're saying my dead wife's message is fake?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I never met her after she died.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
He looked terrified.
Then the video continued.
Rebecca whispered:
“If Daniel is with Robert when this is discovered, do not trust him.”
The screen went black.
Claire looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at me.
Nobody spoke.
Then the security alarm screamed.
A window shattered downstairs.
Daniel grabbed Claire.
I pulled Noah behind me.
Someone had entered the house.
We heard footsteps.
Fast.
Two people.
Maybe three.
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“They know we found the drive.”
A shadow moved beneath the door.
Then someone shouted.
“DROP THE USB!”
I froze.
They knew exactly what we had.
The door handle turned.
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And for the first time, I realized the people who had stolen my daughter's life were no longer trying to hide.
They were coming for us.
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