Chapter 4: The Call From Dad
Vanessa stared at the phone.
It rang again.
*Dad.*
The name glowed against the screen in bright white letters.
Daniel looked from the phone to his wife.
“Answer it.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I can’t.””
“Why not?””
“I just can’t.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“No one touches that phone.””
Daniel turned on him.
“You’ve been telling me what to do since you walked through that door.””
Marcus held his gaze.
“Because I know what happens when that number is answered.””
The phone stopped ringing.
For one breath, nobody moved.
Then it started again.
Eleanor gripped the edge of the table.
“Vanessa,” she whispered, “don’t.””
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry.””
Daniel heard the fear in her voice.
Not guilt.
Fear.
He reached for the phone.
Vanessa pulled it against her chest.
“Don’t!””
The sharpness of her voice startled Lily.
Daniel stopped.
“Who is it?””
Vanessa whispered, “My father.””
“Your father died eight years ago.””
“I know.””
Daniel’s skin prickled.
Marcus looked at him.
“That’s why you don’t answer.””
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“Then who is calling?””
Vanessa looked at the screen.
“I don’t know.””
The ringing continued.
Louder.
More unbearable.
Finally, the call ended.
Vanessa’s shoulders dropped.
Then a message appeared.
Daniel could see the preview.
*You have five minutes to bring her to the old house. Come alone.*
Daniel read it twice.
“Who is ‘her’?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
He stepped closer.
“Vanessa.””
She closed her eyes.
“Your mother.””
Eleanor gasped.
Marcus immediately moved toward the front doors.
“We have to leave.””
Daniel blocked him.
“Not until you tell me everything.””
“There isn’t time.””
“There was time for twenty years of lies.””
Marcus’s jaw clenched.
“That man doesn't make empty threats.””
“What man?””
Marcus pointed at the phone.
“The one who just called.””
“You said it was impossible.””
“I said the number belonged to your wife’s father.””
“Then who has it?””
Marcus looked at Eleanor.
She answered for him.
“The same people who came after your father.””
Daniel felt something inside him go cold.
“No.””
Eleanor took a breath.
“They never stopped.””
A plate slipped from a guest’s hand and shattered on the floor.
Everyone jumped.
Daniel turned toward the remaining guests.
“Go home.””
No one argued.
Chairs scraped.
Coats were grabbed.
Whispers followed people toward the entrance.
Lily stayed beside Eleanor.
Vanessa watched Daniel.
“You need to take your daughter and leave.””
“I’m taking my mother too.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.””
“She’s not staying here.””
“If you take her now, they’ll follow.””
“Let them.””
“You don’t understand.””
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Then explain it.””
Vanessa looked at the recorder on the table.
“That recording isn't the only thing they want.””
Daniel glanced at the device.
“What else?””
“The original ledger.””
Marcus nodded.
“He's right.””
Daniel turned toward him.
“How does he know?””
“Because I told him where it was.””
Daniel stared.
“You gave him the ledger?””
“No.””
“Then what did you give him?””
“Nothing.””
Marcus looked toward Eleanor.
“She still has it.””
Daniel’s eyes moved to his mother.
“Where?””
Eleanor hesitated.
Then she pointed toward the staircase.
“Your old room.””
Daniel blinked.
“My old room?””
“I kept a few things there.””
They hurried upstairs.
The mansion’s polished hallway suddenly felt unfamiliar.
Daniel pushed open the door to his old bedroom.
Dust covered the bookshelf, but everything else looked almost exactly as it had when he left for college.
A baseball trophy.
A faded photograph.
His childhood desk.
Lily came inside behind him.
“Daddy?””
“Stay with Grandma.””
“But—”
“Please.””
She nodded.
Daniel crossed the room.
“Where?””
Eleanor stood in the doorway.
“Third drawer.””
He opened it.
Nothing.
“Mom.””
“The false bottom.””
Daniel frowned.
He ran his hand across the wood.
Nothing.
Marcus reached past him.
“Here.””
He pressed a corner.
A panel lifted.
Beneath it was a flat metal box.
Daniel pulled it out.
The lock was already broken.
Inside was a leather-bound ledger.
Several photographs.
A USB drive.
And a small envelope bearing his father’s handwriting.
Daniel touched the envelope.
His fingers trembled.
“What does it say?””
Eleanor answered.
“Your name.””
He looked at the front.
*For Daniel. When there is nowhere left to hide.*
Daniel opened it.
A single page.
His father’s handwriting covered both sides.
He read silently.
Then his lips parted.
“What?””
Eleanor stepped forward.
Daniel handed her the paper.
She didn’t read it.
“I already know what it says.””
“Then why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because your father made me promise.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps making promises that involve me, but nobody bothers asking me anything.””
Marcus picked up the USB drive.
“This is what they came for.””
Daniel snatched it from him.
“What’s on it?””
“Bank records.””
“From when?””
“The month your father died.””
Daniel looked at the ledger.
He opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Company numbers.
Then something caught his eye.
A line written in red ink.
*VANESSA CARTER — $250,000 — 10/14*
Daniel’s breath caught.
He turned the page.
There were more payments.
*VANESSA CARTER — $75,000 — 11/02*
Another.
*VANESSA CARTER — $125,000 — 12/18*
Another.
Dozens.
Daniel slowly looked toward his wife.
She stood at the door.
Her face was wet with tears.
“What is this?””
Vanessa said nothing.
“You took money from them.””
“I didn't know what it was.””
“You signed for it.””
“I was trying to help Eleanor.””
“You were paid.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Then make me understand.””
She wiped her face.
“They threatened Lily.””
Everything stopped.
Daniel stared at her.
“What did you say?””
“They threatened our daughter.””
Lily appeared behind Eleanor in the doorway.
“Mom?””
Vanessa looked at her and broke down.
“I was trying to keep you safe.””
Daniel’s anger faltered.
“Who threatened her?””
Vanessa looked at Marcus.
Marcus’s expression darkened.
“She’s telling the truth.””
Daniel turned.
“How?””
“Because I was the one who warned her.””
“Why?””
Marcus exhaled.
“Your father asked me to protect your family if anything happened to him.””
Daniel looked down at the ledger.
“Then why were you taking their money?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I wasn't taking it.””
“What?””
“I was moving it.””
“For whom?””
“For Eleanor.””
Daniel frowned.
“That makes no sense.””
Vanessa walked to the desk.
She pulled open a drawer and removed a second folder.
“I was laundering the payments back into the treatment account.””
Daniel stared.
“I was trying to make it look like the treatments were being paid by insurance.””
Marcus nodded grimly.
“She was protecting Eleanor from the people who controlled the account.””
Daniel looked at the hospital band on his mother’s wrist.
“So the radiation…”
“Was legitimate,” Eleanor said.
“And the money?””
“Blood money,” Marcus answered.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
He looked at Vanessa.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because every time I tried, they reminded me they knew where Lily went to school.””
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“Did they ever hurt you?””
Lily shook her head.
“But one man waited outside my school.””
Daniel’s face went pale.
“When?””
“Last month.””
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
Vanessa whispered, “Because they said you'd do something stupid.””
Daniel stared at her.
“They were right.””
A sound came from downstairs.
Three slow knocks.
Everyone froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Marcus raised a finger to his lips.
“Don't move.””
Daniel gently moved Lily behind him.
Eleanor whispered, “Who is that?””
Marcus listened.
Another knock.
Then a man's voice floated up the staircase.
“Eleanor?””
Her face turned white.
Daniel recognized something in her expression.
She knew the voice.
“Mom?””
She couldn't speak.
The man called again.
“It's been a long time.””
Marcus quietly shut the bedroom door.
Daniel whispered, “Who?””
Marcus answered.
“The man your father was running from.””
The doorknob began to turn.
Daniel tightened his grip on the ledger.
“Marcus, the door is locked.””
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Not for long.””
The knob stopped.
Silence.
Then the man outside laughed softly.
“I know you're in there, Daniel.””
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
The voice continued.
“And I know you found the ledger.””
Vanessa covered her mouth.
The man spoke again.
“You have exactly three minutes to bring me Eleanor.””
Daniel looked at his mother.
Then at his wife.
Then at Lily.
He whispered, “Nobody leaves this room.””
A sheet of paper slid underneath the bedroom door.
Daniel crouched and picked it up.
It was a photograph.
His father stood beside the same black SUV from the accident.
But this time, the driver's door was open.
And behind the windshield was a face.
Daniel stared at it.
His own face.
Older by twenty years.
The man outside spoke one final sentence.
“You've been asking who killed your father.””
May you like
Daniel stopped breathing.
“I think it's time you asked why your father hired me to do it.””
