Chapter 5: Beneath the Grave
The cemetery was almost empty when we arrived.
Rain had started falling again.
Not heavily.
Just enough to turn the marble paths slick and make the bare branches whisper above us.
Lily sat in the back seat between two officers.
Victoria sat beside me.
Neither of us had spoken since we left the hotel.
I kept staring at the message on my phone.
*LOOK UNDER SARAH'S GRAVE.*
Harris had tried to stop me.
“You don't know who sent that,” he'd said.
“I know who Sarah was.””
“You also know someone just broke into your house.””
“I know.””
“And you still want to go?””
“Yes.””
He had stared at me for several seconds.
Then he had ordered two patrol units to follow us.
Now we stood at the edge of Sarah's grave.
Four years.
Four years since I had stood there in a black suit while rain soaked through my shirt.
Four years since I had lowered my head and promised Lily that Mommy would always be with us.
I looked at the stone.
*Sarah Elizabeth Bennett Beloved Wife. Devoted Mother. Forever Loved.*
Lily slipped her hand into mine.
“Daddy?””
“I'm here.””
“Why are we visiting Mommy at night?””
I looked down at her.
“Because I think someone left something for us.””
She stared at the grave.
“Mommy?””
I couldn't answer.
Victoria stepped forward.
“Mark.””
I turned.
She was pale.
“You shouldn't do this.””
“Why?””
“Because whoever sent that message wants you here.””
“Then they'll know exactly where I am.””
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain.””
Victoria looked at Sarah's name.
“When Daniel showed me the photograph, he told me something.””
“What?””
“He said Sarah's grave wasn't where they buried her.””
My skin prickled.
“What does that mean?””
“I don't know.””
Harris stepped forward.
“We're not digging anything until the cemetery records are checked.””
I nodded.
Then I noticed something.
The ground beside the headstone was disturbed.
Fresh mud.
A narrow strip where the grass had been pressed down.
I crouched.
Someone had already been here.
Recently.
I brushed away the wet grass.
My fingers touched metal.
A small box.
I pulled it free.
It was black.
No bigger than my palm.
Lily gasped.
“What's that?””
“I don't know.””
Victoria took a step backward.
“Don't open it.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
She didn't answer.
I held the box up.
There was no lock.
I opened it.
Inside was a key.
An old brass key.
And beneath it, a folded piece of paper.
My hands were shaking when I unfolded it.
Two words were written across the page.
*NOT HERE.*
I stared.
Harris took the note.
“That all?””
I nodded.
Then I noticed something scratched into the inside of the box.
A series of numbers.
*17 — 04 — 62*
Victoria made a sound behind me.
I turned.
She was staring at the numbers.
“You recognize them.””
“No.””
“Victoria.””
She shook her head.
“I don't.””
“You're lying.””
“I swear I'm not.””
Harris looked at her.
“What's the significance of those numbers?””
She said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“What do they mean?””
Her eyes finally met mine.
“They're the date.””
“What date?””
“The day your father opened the trust.””
I felt my stomach drop.
“April 17, 1962.””
“My father wasn't even born in 1962.””
“No.””
Victoria looked at the key.
“But his father was.””
She pointed.
“That key belonged to your grandfather.””
I stared at it.
“My grandfather died before I was born.””
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
“Because Daniel told me.””
Every answer led to another question.
I was beginning to hate the sound of my own name.
“Where does the key go?””
Victoria whispered, “I don't know.””
Harris took the box.
“Let's get back to the hotel.””
“No.””
I looked at him.
“I need answers.””
“You're standing in a cemetery in the rain holding a mystery key. That isn't an answer.””
“It is if the key opens something.””
Harris sighed.
“Then let the police handle it.””
Before I could respond, headlights appeared beyond the iron gate.
A black SUV rolled slowly past.
My pulse jumped.
The same model.
The same dark windows.
I grabbed Lily.
“Everyone down.””
Harris instantly reached for his weapon.
The SUV stopped.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the headlights went out.
A car door opened.
A man stepped onto the wet pavement.
Tall.
Black jacket.
The same figure Lily had described.
He started walking toward us.
Harris drew his weapon.
“Police! Stop where you are!””
The man stopped.
Then he smiled.
Even from twenty yards away, I could see it.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
A smile.
He lifted both hands.
“I don't want trouble.””
Harris shouted, “Get on the ground!””
The man obeyed.
Two officers rushed forward.
They searched him.
No weapon.
No identification.
Nothing.
Harris walked him back toward us.
“Look at him,” Harris told Lily.
She hid against my leg.
“Is that the man you saw?””
Lily peeked around me.
Her eyes widened.
“Yes.””
The man's smile disappeared.
“That little girl is mistaken.””
Lily shook her head.
“No.””
Harris grabbed his arm.
“You're coming with us.””
The man looked directly at me.
“You should have listened to Victoria.””
I froze.
Victoria stepped backward.
The man laughed.
“You really don't know what she is.””
“Shut up,” Victoria whispered.
His expression changed.
“You're still protecting him?””
“Go to hell.””
He looked at me.
“She never told you about the night your wife died.””
Victoria turned away.
My chest tightened.
“Take him.””
The officers pulled him toward the cruiser.
“Wait.””
I stepped forward.
“What happened to Sarah?””
The man stopped.
Then he looked at Victoria.
“Ask your fiancée why she was the last person to see your wife alive.””
Victoria closed her eyes.
I turned to her.
“Was that true?””
“Mark—”
“Were you?””
She couldn't answer.
I felt something inside me break.
“You knew Sarah.””
“I told you I found records.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“You knew her.””
Victoria started crying.
“Yes.””
The word barely came out.
“When?””
“Before I met you.””
“How long before?””
She looked down.
“Six years.””
The rain suddenly felt freezing.
“You knew Sarah six years before you met me.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“She hired me.””
“For what?””
Victoria wiped her face.
“To investigate your father.””
I stared at her.
“Sarah hired you to investigate my father?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“She believed he was hiding money.””
“And the trust?””
“Yes.””
“Did Sarah know about Lily's inheritance?””
“She suspected it.””
“Did she tell you?””
“Yes.””
I stepped closer.
“Then why did you marry me?””
“I didn't.””
“You were going to.””
“I loved you.””
“That doesn't answer the question.””
“I was supposed to get close to you.””
My heart stopped.
The words came out like bullets.
“I was supposed to find the trust.””
“Who told you to?””
“Daniel.””
“Who is Daniel?””
“I don't know.””
“You've been working for a man whose real name you don't know?””
“I never met him until Sarah's death.””
“Then how did you know he existed?””
“Because Sarah did.””
I looked at the grave.
“Where is she?””
Victoria began crying harder.
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“She disappeared.””
“After the crash?””
Victoria nodded.
“There was never a body.””
I stopped breathing.
“What?””
“That's why the funeral happened.””
My mind went blank.
“What are you saying?””
“They identified the remains from the vehicle.””
“Then there was a body.””
“Fragments.””
“Victoria.””
“They found fragments.””
I stepped backward.
Lily was watching me.
I couldn't let her hear this.
I crouched beside her.
“Sweetheart, go sit in the car with Officer Moore.””
“But—”
“Please.””
She nodded reluctantly.
As she walked away, I looked back at Victoria.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“For four years?””
“I tried to find her.””
“And you never told me?””
“I was afraid.””
“Of Daniel?””
“Of everyone.””
I stared at the cemetery.
The headstone.
The rain.
The name of a woman who might not have been beneath it.
“Why would someone fake Sarah's death?””
Victoria's answer was almost inaudible.
“Because she found the original trust documents.””
My eyes snapped toward her.
“Where?””
“She hid them.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“I swear.””
She took something from her pocket.
Another photograph.
She held it out.
“This is the last thing she gave me.””
I took it.
It showed Sarah standing in front of a red wooden door.
Behind her was a number.
*117.*
On the back was another message.
*He'll look for the money. You look for the room.*
I turned the photograph over again.
“Room 117.””
Victoria nodded.
“Exactly.””
“Where is it?””
She looked at me.
“At the lake house.””
My pulse stopped.
The lake house had only twelve guest rooms.
There was no room 117.
“That's impossible.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Your grandfather designed that house.””
“So?””
“He built something beneath it.””
“What?””
“A hidden floor.””
I stared at her.
“A hidden floor?””
“Sarah found the entrance.””
“Where?””
Victoria pointed at the old brass key in my hand.
“That key opens it.””
A police cruiser door slammed in the distance.
I looked toward the man they had arrested.
He was being placed inside the vehicle.
But before he disappeared, he turned his head toward me.
He mouthed something through the rain.
I couldn't hear it.
I looked carefully.
Three words.
*She is alive.*
My heart nearly stopped.
I turned back to Victoria.
“Who?””
But Victoria wasn't looking at me.
She was staring at the photograph.
At Sarah.
And then she whispered the one sentence I had been terrified to hear.
“Your wife didn't die, Mark.””
She looked up at me.
“She's been hiding.””
Then the phone in my pocket vibrated.
One new message.
A photograph appeared.
Sarah.
Older.
Alive.
Holding a newspaper.
May you like
And standing beside a little girl.
A little girl who looked exactly like Lily.
