Chapter 6: My Godfather's Final Warning
For eleven years, Raymond had been the closest thing I had to a second father.
He taught me how to change a tire, how to negotiate my first salary, and how to stand straight when life knocked me down. He attended my college graduation and helped my mother carry groceries when her arthritis made the stairs difficult.
When I proposed to Brianna, he had hugged me so tightly that I laughed.
“Your father would be proud,” he had said.
Now he stood beneath the ballroom chandeliers, staring at a photograph that appeared to connect him to the final months of my father's life.
“Don't trust the woman you're marrying,” he repeated.
I lowered the photograph.
“Which woman?””
His eyes shifted toward Dorothy.
My mother took a step backward.
“Raymond,” she whispered.
“Please don't do this.””
His jaw tightened.
“You've had eleven years to tell him.””
“And you've had eleven years to stay away from my son!””
The words exploded from her before she could stop them.
I looked between them.
“What is going on?””
Neither answered.
Raymond pulled out a chair but didn't sit.
“Jalen, your father asked me to do something for him before he died.””
“What?””
“He wanted me to take a package to a lawyer. It contained financial records and a statement about the company. He believed someone was using his business to move money through accounts that weren't supposed to exist.””
I glanced at Patricia.
She was staring at Raymond with open hostility.
“Did you take the package?”” I asked.
“Yes.””
“Did you deliver it?””
Raymond looked down.
“No.””
The admission landed like a punch.
My father had trusted him, and he had failed him.
“Why?””
“Because I was told your mother would be in danger if I did.””
Dorothy shook her head.
“That's not what happened.””
Raymond turned on her.
“You don't get to rewrite this again.””
I stepped between them.
“Enough. I want the truth from both of you.””
Raymond took a slow breath.
“Your father called me at 10:55 that night. He said he'd found evidence that could destroy someone he loved. He wanted to meet me at the office, but he changed his mind halfway through the call.””
“Why?””
“He said he'd received a message. Someone knew what he had discovered.””
“From whom?””
“I never found out.””
I looked at the photograph.
“Were you meeting him in this picture?””
Raymond nodded.
“Six months earlier. He was trying to negotiate a settlement with Thomas Reed.””
Patricia's face tightened.
“What settlement?””
Raymond looked at her.
“Daniel wanted Thomas to repay the money that had disappeared from the company. In return, he was willing to keep the matter out of court if the money was returned and the accounts were properly documented.””
“My husband never stole anything,” Patricia snapped.
Raymond gave her a weary look.
“Then why did he disappear without saying goodbye to his daughter?””
Brianna went rigid.
“Don't talk about my father.””
“Your father left because he knew what he had done.””
“You don't know anything about him!””
“I knew him better than you did.””
Brianna slapped her palm against the table.
A candle toppled, spilling wax across the white cloth.
“Stop pretending you were the only person who cared about him!””
Raymond fell silent.
For a moment, I saw something unexpected in his expression.
Guilt.
Not anger. Not fear.
Guilt.
“Brianna,” he said quietly, “your father wasn't the only person who paid for what happened.””
She stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Raymond looked at Dorothy.
My mother began to cry again.
I had reached my limit.
“Tell us everything,” I said.
Raymond finally sat.
“The night Daniel died, I received a call from Dorothy at 11:40.””
My mother covered her mouth.
I looked at her.
“You said Dad called you at 11:40.””
“He did,” she whispered.
Raymond continued.
“Dorothy called me moments later. She said Daniel hadn't come home and asked whether I'd heard from him. I told her no.””
“Why would you lie?”” I demanded.
“Because I had seen his car.””
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“Where?””
“Near the old service road, twelve miles from where the police eventually found it.””
The ballroom seemed to disappear around me.
The anonymous message had been right.
“What were you doing there?””
Raymond rubbed both hands over his face.
“I was looking for him.””
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“Because I saw someone leaving the area.””
“Who?””
He hesitated.
Then he looked at Brianna.
“Thomas Reed.””
Patricia staggered backward, gripping the edge of the table.
“No.””
Raymond nodded.
“I saw him get into another car. I couldn't identify the driver, but I recognized Thomas.””
Brianna shook her head violently.
“My father wouldn't hurt anyone.””
“I didn't say he did.””
“You're accusing him!””
“I'm telling you what I saw.””
I turned toward Dorothy.
“Did you know Raymond saw Dad's car?””
She wiped her cheeks.
“Yes.””
“And you kept that from me?””
“I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
She looked directly at Raymond.
“Because he told me not to trust the police.””
Raymond leaned forward.
“I told you not to trust one officer. I never told you to hide the evidence.””
My mother closed her eyes.
I could barely process what I was hearing.
An officer. A hidden package. A missing box. A father who had feared someone close to him.
Every piece of the story seemed to lead to another locked door.
Then Raymond reached inside his jacket and removed a small brass key.
“I kept something from Daniel's package,” he said.
“I thought it was safer with me than with anyone else.””
He placed it on the table.
“What does it open?”” I asked.
“The metal box your father hid in his study.””
Dorothy stared at it.
“You told me the box was gone.””
“I told you I never found it.””
Raymond looked at me.
“Someone removed the box from the house, but they didn't take the key. Daniel gave it to me months before he died.””
I picked it up.
The metal felt cold against my palm.
“Where is the box now?””
Raymond's eyes flicked toward the ballroom doors.
“I don't know. But your father left instructions for what to do if it ever disappeared.””
He pulled a folded note from his wallet and handed it to me.
The paper had been opened and refolded so many times that its edges were nearly worn through.
My father's handwriting covered the page.
If the box is missing, find the person who remembers the night the lights went out.
I read it aloud.
Nobody spoke.
Then Brianna suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Jalen, listen to me. I know where the box is.””
I turned toward her.
“What?””
She looked terrified.
“My mother found it years ago. She kept it hidden because she thought it contained proof that Thomas had been framed.””
Patricia seized her daughter's shoulder.
“Brianna, don't you dare.””
Brianna pulled away.
“You told me it was empty!””
Patricia's face crumpled.
I looked from one woman to the other.
“Where is it?””
Brianna's lips trembled.
“It's not at our house. It's somewhere nobody would ever think to look.””
“Where?””
She looked at Raymond.
He went completely pale.
Then she whispered a location that made my godfather stand so abruptly that his chair crashed onto the floor.
“Your father's grave.””
Raymond stared at her.
“No,” he said.
“That box was never buried with Daniel.””
Brianna began shaking.
“Then why did my mother tell me she watched someone put it there?””
Patricia stumbled backward.
And before anyone could stop her, she reached into her handbag, pulled out her phone, and made a call.
When the other person answered, she spoke only six words.
“They know about the second box.””
Raymond lunged toward her.
“Hang up!””
Patricia dropped the phone.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
Calm. Familiar.
And unmistakably alive.
“It's too late, Patricia. The groom has already found the key.””
Raymond's face drained of color.
He whispered a name I had not heard since my childhood.
May you like
A name that made my mother collapse into the nearest chair.
“Daniel.””
