CHAPTER 6 The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
For several seconds, Corin could not understand what he was looking at.
The photograph on his phone remained unchanged.
Thomas Hayes.
The man who had stood beside them in court.
The man who had claimed he wanted justice for Daniel and Amelia Bellweather.
The man who had helped uncover Lorraine’s lies.
Standing beside Lorraine.
After the accident.
Corin stared at the timestamp again.
Then again.
Maybe he was reading it wrong.
Maybe his exhausted mind was creating another nightmare.
But the numbers did not change.
July 14.
Yesterday.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
“That’s impossible.”
Evelyn looked over.
“What?”
Corin turned the screen toward her.
The moment she saw the image, her expression disappeared.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone sent it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn took the phone carefully.
She studied the picture.
The warehouse in the background.
The two people standing together.
Thomas.
Lorraine.
A secret meeting.
“I thought he was gone.”
Corin looked at her.
“You knew?”
Evelyn remained silent.
That was enough of an answer.
“You knew Thomas disappeared?”
She nodded slowly.
“Your father told me something happened before the accident.”
“What?”
“He said Thomas found proof that someone inside the company was working against him.”
Corin’s eyes narrowed.
“Against him?”
“Yes.”
“Lorraine?”
Evelyn looked away.
“I don’t know.”
The answer made Corin angry.
Not because she was wrong.
Because she was still hiding something.
“You don’t know?”
His voice became louder.
“You knew my parents were afraid. You knew Lorraine was dangerous. You knew Thomas disappeared.”
He pointed at the phone.
“And now we find him standing next to her.”
His voice cracked.
“Why does everyone know everything except me?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Because she knew there was no excuse anymore.
“I was afraid.”
Corin stopped.
“Afraid of what?”
“Of losing you.”
The answer surprised him.
Evelyn continued.
“When your parents died, I wanted to tell you everything.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because you were eleven days away from your thirteenth birthday.”
Corin frowned.
“What does that matter?”
“It mattered because you were a child who had just lost both parents.”
Her voice trembled.
“I watched you sit in that hospital hallway for six hours waiting for someone to tell you they were wrong.”
Corin looked down.
He remembered.
The smell of the hospital.
The bright lights.
The doctor’s expression.
The moment he knew.
Evelyn continued.
“You were already trying to be strong for Rory.”
She looked at him.
“I was afraid if I gave you the truth, you would blame yourself.”
Corin was silent.
Because she was right.
A part of him still blamed himself.
For not noticing.
For not protecting them.
For not being older.
But another part of him hated being kept in the dark.
“I deserved to know.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
No excuses.
No defense.
Just the truth.
“I should have told you.”
The honesty made Corin pause.
Then Evelyn looked at the photograph again.
“But this changes everything.”
“What?”
“Because if Thomas is working with Lorraine…”
She stopped.
“Then your father’s investigation was wrong.”
Corin frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Thomas wasn’t investigating Lorraine.”
A cold feeling entered the room.
“He was investigating someone else.”
The next morning, Thomas Hayes arrived at the Bellweather house.
He looked tired.
Older.
Like a man who had not slept in years.
When he entered the living room, he immediately noticed the atmosphere.
Corin was standing there.
Waiting.
Not like a child.
Like someone demanding answers.
Thomas stopped.
“What happened?”
Corin placed the phone on the table.
The photograph faced upward.
Thomas looked at it.
And his face changed.
Only for a moment.
But Corin saw it.
“You know about this.”
Thomas said nothing.
“Answer me.”
Thomas looked at Evelyn.
Then back at Corin.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone sent it.”
“Who?”
“I asked you first.”
The lawyer slowly sat down.
For the first time, Thomas Hayes looked defeated.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t find this.”
Corin felt his chest tighten.
“So it’s true?”
Thomas did not answer.
That was the answer.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Because I was trying to protect your family.”
Corin almost laughed.
Another person saying those words.
“Everyone says that.”
His voice was bitter.
“Everyone who lies to me says they are protecting me.”
Thomas looked hurt.
But he accepted it.
“Fair.”
He removed his glasses.
“I owe you the truth.”
Evelyn stood nearby.
Waiting.
Thomas took a deep breath.
“I was never working for Lorraine.”
Corin looked confused.
“Then why were you meeting her?”
“Because I was following her.”
“Following her?”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at the photograph.
“That meeting was not a partnership.”
“What was it?”
“A confrontation.”
He paused.
“Lorraine was trying to find something.”
“What?”
“The original evidence.”
Corin remembered the hidden letter.
The second door.
The missing recording.
“What evidence?”
Thomas looked directly at him.
“The evidence proving she caused the accident.”
The room became silent.
Corin felt the words before he understood them.
“You knew?”
Thomas nodded.
“I suspected.”
“SUSPECTED?”
Corin’s voice exploded.
“My parents died!”
“I know.”
“You knew someone might have killed them!”
Thomas looked down.
“And I failed to stop it.”
That sentence changed the room.
Because it was not the voice of a liar.
It was the voice of someone carrying guilt.
Thomas continued.
“Your father came to me because he discovered financial crimes connected to Lorraine.”
He looked at Corin.
“But during my investigation, I found something worse.”
“What?”
“Someone had been monitoring your family.”
Corin froze.
“Monitoring?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Not Lorraine.”
Everyone stared.
“Then who?”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“The person who hired Lorraine.”
The answer felt impossible.
Corin stepped closer.
“Someone hired her?”
Thomas nodded.
“Lorraine thought she was in control.”
A pause.
“But she wasn’t.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Then who was?”
Thomas reached into his briefcase.
He removed an old file.
The cover was worn.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Bank transfers.
And one name.
A name Corin had never heard before.
Victor Blackthorne.
Thomas placed the file down.
“Your parents discovered that Lorraine wasn’t stealing money for herself.”
Corin looked at the name.
“Then who?”
Thomas answered quietly:
“For someone who wanted the entire Bellweather empire.”
The room fell silent.
Because suddenly Lorraine was no longer the final enemy.
She was only a piece.
A piece on someone else’s chessboard.
Then Corin noticed something.
A photograph inside the file.
It showed Daniel and Amelia.
Standing outside a restaurant.
Talking to someone.
Corin picked it up.
His hands began shaking.
Because standing beside his parents…
Was someone he recognized.
Someone who had been in court.
Someone who had looked him in the eyes.
Someone who had pretended to help him.
Corin whispered:
“No…”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Corin turned the photograph around.
The person in the image was smiling.
Friendly.
Trustworthy.
The last person anyone would suspect.
Because the person who had been secretly meeting his parents before their death…
Was the same person who had been guiding the entire custody case.
May you like
Judge Miriam Caskey.
End of Chapter 6
