Chapter 2 - The Red BoxJordan reached the hallway first.
He grabbed the red metal case.
Samuel was only a few steps behind him.
“Put it down.”
Jordan turned.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know my daughter told Avery about it.”
Jordan's face hardened.
“She was six.”
“She was your wife.”
That landed.
For half a second, Jordan's confidence cracked.
Samuel saw it.
Nora saw it.
Avery saw it too.
Elaine stepped into the hallway.
“Mr. Vale, perhaps this isn't the place.”
Samuel looked at her.
“You knew about the box?”
Elaine swallowed.
“No.”
Avery tugged Samuel's sleeve.
“Mommy hid things in it.”
Jordan's hand tightened around the metal case.
Madeline appeared behind him.
“Jordan.”
He didn't answer.
“Jordan.”
“What?”
“You need to handle this.”
Samuel's eyes narrowed.
Handle this.
Not help.
Not protect Avery.
Handle this.
The words sounded rehearsed.
Security entered the hallway.
“Sir, is everything all right?”
Jordan immediately changed his expression.
“Family disagreement.”
Samuel laughed.
“Family?”
He pointed toward Avery.
“Your daughter thinks you forged my signature.”
“That is ridiculous.”
Samuel held up the document.
“She says her mother warned her about this case.”
Jordan stepped closer.
“You are upsetting a grieving child.”
“No,” Samuel replied. “You are.”
The security guard looked uncertainly between them.
Nora folded the document.
“I'm taking this.”
Jordan reached for it.
Nora pulled it back.
“You're not touching it.”
“That's private property.”
“Then we can discuss that with an attorney.”
Jordan's eyes flashed.
Madeline stepped between them.
“This is becoming absurd.”
Samuel looked at her red gown.
“You've been at every important meeting since Rachel died.”
Madeline smiled thinly.
“Because I work with Jordan.”
“Doing what?”
“Business.”
“What business?”
She did not answer.
Samuel turned to Nora.
“Get Avery out of here.”
Nora nodded.
Avery refused to move.
“But Mommy's box.”
Samuel crouched.
“We'll find out what's inside.”
Avery whispered, “Not here.”
Samuel frowned.
“Where?”
“Basement.”
The word came out so quietly he almost missed it.
“Mommy had another one.”
Jordan went pale.
Nora noticed.
“Another what?”
Avery pointed toward the service corridor.
“Another red box.”
Jordan moved again.
Samuel grabbed his arm.
The two men stared at each other.
Samuel saw something strange in Jordan's eyes.
Not fear of being exposed.
Fear of something far worse.
Samuel released him.
“Why don't you want us going into the basement?”
Jordan pulled his arm free.
“There is no basement.”
Avery spoke immediately.
“Yes, there is.”
Everyone looked at her.
“I went there with Mommy.”
“When?”
“Before Christmas.”
Rachel had died in February.
Samuel crouched again.
“What did you see?”
Avery looked toward the red case in Jordan's hands.
“A blue bag.”
“What was inside?”
“Pictures.”
“Of what?”
Avery shook her head.
“Mommy said I wasn't supposed to look.”
Nora's face changed.
“Rachel told you that?”
Avery nodded.
“Then why did she tell you where to find it?”
“Because she said…”
Avery looked at Jordan.
“…if she wasn't here anymore, I had to remember.”
Silence.
Samuel stood.
“Jordan, open the box.”
“No.”
“Then I will.”
Jordan's voice hardened.
“You will not touch anything in this building.”
Samuel looked toward the elevators.
“Fine.”
He walked to the elevator.
Nora and Avery followed.
Jordan didn't stop them.
That worried Samuel more than anything.
As the elevator doors closed, Avery looked up.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy isn't scared of the police.”
Samuel watched the doors reflect his own face.
“Then what is he scared of?”
Avery whispered:
“Mommy coming back.”
Two hours later, Samuel sat in his old house with the document spread across his desk.
Nora stood beside him.
“The signature is good.”
Samuel nodded.
“Too good.”
“You think Rachel knew?”
“I think Rachel was trying to warn us.”
He picked up his phone.
“Call Daniel.”
“The forensic accountant?”
“Yes.”
Nora hesitated.
“Samuel, before we do that, look at the date again.”
He did.
Seven days after Rachel's death.
Daniel answered on the third ring.
“What happened?”
Samuel sent him a photograph.
“Tell me whether this document is real.”
There was silence.
Then Daniel said:
“Where did you get it?”
“From Avery.”
Another pause.
“Samuel, don't show this to Jordan.”
“Why?”
“Because this paper has a corporate filing number.”
Samuel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever created this wasn't simply forging your signature.”
“They were building a legal record.”
Samuel slowly leaned back.
Rachel hadn't just been killed.
Someone had prepared for what happened afterward.
And whoever did it had expected Samuel to disappear from Avery's life.
Daniel sent another message.
A scanned government form.
Samuel opened it.
His blood went cold.
It was a transfer of ownership.
Rachel had owned thirty-one percent of Vale Maritime.
The transfer had been processed eight days after her death.
The buyer was listed as:
Jordan Vale.
But below that was a second name.
Madeline Cross.
Samuel stared at the screen.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Who filed this?”
Daniel hesitated.
“That's the problem.”
“Why?”
“Because the person who signed the submission used Rachel's attorney's credentials.”
Samuel slowly looked toward the window.
Rachel's attorney had died six months earlier.
That night, Avery woke from a nightmare.
Nora found her sitting upright.
“Mommy?”
Nora knelt.
“No, sweetheart. It's me.”
Avery stared at the darkness.
“Grandpa found the paper.”
“Yes.”
“Then he'll find the other one.”
“What other one?”
Avery whispered:
“The paper Mommy hid inside my picture.”
Nora's heart stopped.
“What picture?”
May you like
Avery pointed to the wall.
“The one Daddy told me to throw away.”
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