Chapter 5 - MY FATHER'S SECRET ROOM
We drove back as fast as the police would allow.
My mind raced.
Why had my father returned to the house?
Why had he waited until we were gone?
What was he looking for?
When we arrived, the front gate was open.
The security system had been disabled.
I ran inside.
The house was empty.
No broken windows.
No signs of forced entry.
But my father's old office door was open.
I entered.
The room smelled like dust.
Everything looked exactly as it had before.
Except the desk.
One drawer was open.
The black box was gone.
My father's photograph was missing.
And on the desk was a handwritten note.
YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
I turned toward Officer Miller.
“Who left this?”
“We don't know.”
Then I noticed something beneath the desk.
A small red light.
A camera.
Someone had installed it recently.
Officer Miller removed it.
“We'll analyze it.”
I stared at the empty wall.
“My father knew we'd come here.”
She nodded.
“Probably.”
Then Lily called.
I answered immediately.
“Sweetheart?”
“Daddy.”
Her voice was shaky.
“Are you coming back?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“I saw Grandpa.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“He came to the window.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he was sorry.”
I looked at Officer Miller.
“What else?”
“He gave me something.”
“What?”
“A key.”
My blood ran cold.
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to the lady.”
The family-services officer handed me a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a silver key.
I recognized it.
It belonged to my father's old study.
But there was something engraved on it.
WEST WING.
I had never had access to the west wing.
It had been locked since my father's death.
I had assumed it contained old storage.
Officer Miller looked at me.
“Let's see what's inside.”
The west wing was at the end of the mansion.
The door had a heavy lock.
The key opened it.
Cold air came from inside.
We entered.
Dust covered everything.
Old portraits lined the walls.
Then we found a hidden staircase.
It led underground.
At the bottom was a steel door.
The same symbol from the trust documents was engraved on it.
I inserted the key.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with files.
Hundreds of them.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Medical records.
Police reports.
Names.
Dates.
Every file was labeled.
One section was marked:
CLAIRE CARTER.
Another:
LILY CARTER.
And another:
DANIEL CARTER.
I opened my own file.
Inside was a photograph of me as a child.
A medical report.
School records.
And a document dated five years before Claire's death.
It contained one sentence:
Subject may be targeted if trust becomes active.
I looked at Officer Miller.
“What does 'trust becomes active' mean?”
She pointed toward another file.
LILY — ACTIVATION EVENT.
I opened it.
The first page said:
The trust becomes active upon the death of the previous controlling heir.
My father's name was listed.
Then:
Upon Robert Carter's death, control passes temporarily to Daniel Carter.
Then:
Upon Daniel Carter's death or legal incapacity, control passes to Lily Carter.
I understood.
If I died, Lily would control the trust.
But there was another clause.
A temporary guardian may be appointed if the child is deemed unsafe in the father's custody.
Rachel's custody petition suddenly made perfect sense.
It wasn't about Lily's welfare.
It was about control.
I found another file.
VANESSA B.
Vanessa.
Rachel's middle name.
Inside were photographs.
Rachel meeting Richard.
Rachel meeting Michael.
Rachel meeting my father.
Dates.
Locations.
I found one photograph that made my heart stop.
Rachel was standing beside my father.
But she was younger.
Much younger.
The photograph had been taken twelve years earlier.
Before I met her.
Why had my father been meeting her?
I turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared.
Recruitment successful.
My hands shook.
Rachel hadn't entered my life by accident.
She had been recruited.
But recruited for what?
Then I found a letter.
My father's handwriting.
I instructed Rachel to observe Daniel, not harm him.
Another line:
If she develops feelings for him, terminate the arrangement.
I stopped reading.
Rachel had been sent into my life.
She had been watching me.
But at some point, the mission had changed.
I found another letter.
Rachel refuses to leave. She says she loves Daniel.
Then:
Richard has threatened her.
I closed my eyes.
The story was becoming more complicated.
Rachel had hurt Lily.
But she had also been trapped.
That didn't excuse what she had done.
But it explained why she had been terrified.
Officer Miller called me.
“Daniel.”
I turned.
She was holding another file.
“There's something here about Claire's death.”
“What?”
“The official accident report was altered.”
I stared.
“By whom?”
She showed me the signature.
Richard Cole.
My father's attorney.
“He changed the original report.”
“Why?”
“To remove evidence.”
“What evidence?”
She opened the file.
There had been another vehicle.
A black SUV.
It had followed Claire's car for seventeen minutes.
The license plate had been removed from the original report.
But the investigator had written it down separately.
Officer Miller read the number.
Then she searched the database.
Her face changed.
“What?”
“The vehicle was registered to Michael.”
I felt sick.
My brother had followed Claire the night she died.
I turned toward him.
He had been standing at the doorway.
He didn't deny it.
“I followed her.”
“Why?”
“Richard told me to.”
“Did you cause the crash?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
“I got there after it happened.”
“Why didn't you call police?”
“Because Richard was already there.”
“What did he do?”
Michael swallowed.
“He took the documents.”
“And Claire?”
“She was still alive.”
I froze.
“What?”
Michael whispered:
“She was alive when I arrived.”
My entire world stopped.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Claire was alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Minutes.”
“What did Richard do?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“He left her there.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He left my wife to die.”
Michael nodded.
Then he said:
“But someone else arrived.”
“Who?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Your father.”
