Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO ARRANGED THE FUNERAL
We found an abandoned farmhouse two hours outside Houston.
It belonged to Daniel.
I didn't ask how he had acquired it.
At that point, I had stopped being surprised by anything.
Olivia slept in a portable crib beside the fireplace.
Sofia sat near her.
Rachel placed the USB drive on the table.
Thomas stood across from her.
Daniel locked the doors.
“Play it,” I said.
Rachel connected the drive to an old laptop.
A video appeared.
The quality was poor.
But the voices were clear.
My father sat at a desk.
Across from him was Victor Shaw.
And beside Victor stood Thomas.
I stopped breathing.
Thomas closed his eyes.
The video continued.
Victor said:
“You can't protect the girl forever.”
My father answered:
“She isn't a girl. She's my granddaughter.”
Victor smiled.
“Her shares belong to us if the trust fails.”
Thomas spoke.
“The trustee can be removed.”
My father's expression hardened.
“You promised me no one would touch my family.”
Victor laughed.
“I promised you nothing.”
Then the screen changed.
Another recording.
Thomas was standing outside a hospital.
He was speaking to a doctor.
“The body needs to be identified as Richard Hayes.”
The doctor asked:
“What if someone questions the records?”
Thomas answered:
“They won't.”
My stomach turned.
I looked at Thomas.
“You arranged the funeral.”
He didn't deny it.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To protect your father.”
“You let me bury a stranger.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe my father was dead.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“You lied to me for years.”
Thomas looked devastated.
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
He lowered his head.
“Your father ordered me to do it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“Thomas didn't betray him.”
I turned.
“What?”
“He was working undercover.”
I stared.
Rachel continued.
“Victor believed Thomas was loyal to him.”
“Then why did the video show them together?”
“Because Thomas needed Victor to trust him.”
I looked at Thomas.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because if Victor knew you were involved, you would have been killed.”
I looked toward Olivia.
My daughter slept peacefully.
Thomas pointed toward her.
“Your father knew what was coming.”
“And Lauren?”
“She was supposed to be protected.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor had her mother under his control.”
Rachel nodded.
“That's true.”
I sat down.
The story was finally making sense.
Not completely.
But enough.
Then the USB displayed another video.
Lauren.
She was sitting in a room.
Victor stood behind her.
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Rachel.
Alive.
Lauren began crying.
Victor said:
“Do what we ask.”
Lauren whispered:
“She'll kill me.”
Victor smiled.
“She already thinks you're dead.”
I felt my chest tighten.
Lauren wasn't innocent.
But she wasn't entirely free either.
Victor had used her fear.
He had used Rachel.
He had used Olivia.
He had used money.
Everything had been designed to make me distrust the people closest to me.
Then another recording played.
My father's voice.
“Ryan, if you're seeing this, I'm already gone.”
I froze.
His face appeared on screen.
He looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Your daughter will inherit more than money.”
He paused.
“She will inherit evidence.”
I stared.
“The original trust contains access to a hidden archive.”
Rachel whispered:
“The archive.”
My father continued.
“Northbridge's crimes are recorded there.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“Do not trust anyone who asks you to surrender the certificate.”
Then he said something that made everyone silent.
“The person who knows where the archive is... is Lauren.”
The video ended.
I looked at Rachel.
Then Daniel.
Then Thomas.
Nobody spoke.
My phone rang.
It was the detective.
“Ryan, we found your wife.”
“Where?”
“She's been released.”
“By whom?”
A pause.
“She walked out with an attorney.”
“What attorney?”
The detective gave me a name.
I recognized it.
Victor's attorney.
I stood.
“Where is she going?”
“We don't know.”
Then another message appeared on my phone.
A photograph.
Lauren standing beside Victor.
Underneath it was one sentence:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR WIFE BACK.
I looked at Olivia.
Then at Daniel.
“No.”
May you like
Daniel nodded.
“We don't go alone.”
