Chapter 12 - The Second PartnerThe second business partner was named Nathaniel Cross.
He had disappeared from my father’s company immediately after the accident.
My mother told me he had moved to Florida.
That was another lie.
Nathaniel was still in Nashville.
Living under a different name.
We found him in a small apartment overlooking the river.
When he opened the door and saw me, he almost fainted.
“You look like your father.”
I stepped inside.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Caldwell.”
His face hardened.
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
He looked away.
“Yes.”
I placed my father’s journal on the table.
“Tell me the truth.”
Nathaniel sat down.
“The week before your father died, he discovered that money was being stolen from the company.”
“By Caldwell?”
“Partly.”
“Who else?”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Your mother.”
I expected that.
What I didn’t expect was what came next.
“Your father confronted her.”
“And?”
“She admitted she was working with Caldwell.”
My jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted to expose them.”
Nathaniel leaned forward.
“He planned to go to the FBI.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Then how did he die?”
Nathaniel swallowed.
“He was supposed to meet an investigator.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone intercepted him.”
“Who?”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Your mother.”
I felt sick.
“But the accident…”
“Was staged.”
Silence.
Amy took my hand.
Nathaniel continued.
“They sabotaged the truck.”
My stomach turned.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You never told anyone?”
“I was afraid.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone was afraid.”
Nathaniel looked at Amy.
“Your father-in-law left evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A recording.”
“Where?”
Nathaniel stood.
“In the church where your father used to pray.”
We drove there.
The church had been closed for years.
Behind the old wooden altar was a small compartment.
Inside was a cassette.
We found an old player.
My father’s voice filled the room.
“If you are hearing this, I’m probably dead.”
Amy covered her mouth.
My father continued.
“The people responsible are not acting alone.”
He named Caldwell.
He named my mother.
Then he named the second person.
Nathaniel stared at the floor.
The third name was one I recognized immediately.
Someone I had trusted my entire life.
Someone who had attended Frederick’s birthday party.
Someone who had laughed while Amy worked in the kitchen.
My aunt Diane.
I turned to Nathaniel.
“What did she do?”
“She handled the money.”
I closed my eyes.
The entire birthday party suddenly came back to me.
Twenty relatives.
Diane laughing.
My mother giving orders.
And one person disappearing from the room for several minutes.
Mason.
I opened my eyes.
“Where is Mason?”
He wasn’t in the church.
He wasn’t answering his phone.
Then my phone received a video.
Mason was tied to a chair.
My mother stood behind him.
Her face was bruised.
Her voice was calm.
“You keep digging, Connor.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“And every secret you uncover gives me another reason to hurt someone you love.”
The video ended.
A final message appeared.
MIDNIGHT.
THE OLD BRADLEY MILL.
COME ALONE.
I stared at the screen.
Amy whispered, “Don’t go.”
I looked at her.
“I have to.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then she opened my father’s old cassette case.
Inside was a tiny key.
And engraved on it were four numbers.
“Connor,” she whispered.
“These are not random.”
May you like
I looked closer.
They were the coordinates to the old mill.
