Chapter 6: The Third Lie
The video played across the tablet screen.
A parking garage.
Concrete pillars.
Rows of empty spaces.
A Black woman stood beneath a fluorescent light, her face partially shadowed.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Who are you?””
The woman on the screen looked directly into the camera.
“My name is Camille.””
Jessica's knees nearly buckled.
Gloria noticed.
“You know her.””
Jessica shook her head.
“No.””
Camille continued.
“I don't have much time.””
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Why are you contacting me?””
“Because Jessica won't tell you the truth.””
Jessica whispered, “Turn it off.””
Daniel ignored her.
Camille raised a photograph toward the camera.
It showed the same hotel.
“The night your father died, he wasn't alone.””
Gloria covered her mouth.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Who was with him?””
Camille looked away.
“Your father came to meet someone.””
“Who?””
“A woman.””
Daniel glanced at Jessica.
Jessica was crying silently.
Camille continued.
“She arrived twenty minutes after him.””
The video suddenly distorted.
The image broke into static.
Then returned.
Camille was closer to the camera.
“She wasn't your mother.””
Gloria's face changed.
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
Camille said, “And she wasn't a stranger.””
The video cut to black.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“No.””
He tapped the tablet.
The video had ended.
Jessica stepped forward.
“Daniel…”
He turned.
“Who was she?””
Jessica shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“You said you didn't know Camille.””
“I don't.””
“Then why did you react when she said your name?””
“I was scared.””
“You keep saying that.””
“Because I am!””
Gloria stepped between them.
“Jessica, enough.””
Jessica looked at her.
“I never wanted this.””
“What did you want?””
Jessica's face crumpled.
“A normal wedding.””
Gloria shook her head.
“You destroyed your own wedding.””
Jessica looked at Daniel.
“No.””
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“You did.””
Jessica walked toward him.
“I found the photograph by accident.””
“Where?””
“In your father's old storage box.””
Daniel froze.
“What?””
Jessica swallowed.
“Three months ago, you asked me to help clean out the basement.””
“I remember.””
“There was a box with his name on it.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You opened it.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“I saw my name.””
Daniel frowned.
“My name?””
Jessica nodded.
“There was an envelope inside.””
“What envelope?””
“One addressed to you.””
Gloria looked at Daniel.
“Your father left you a letter?””
“I never saw one.””
Jessica wiped her cheeks.
“Because I took it.””
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
“You took a letter from my dead father.””
“I was afraid of what it said.””
“What did it say?””
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
“I never opened it.””
“Then why take it?””
Jessica looked down.
“Because I thought it was about me.””
Daniel's voice rose.
“How could it be about you?””
“I don't know!””
He turned away.
Gloria walked to the vanity.
“Where is the letter now?””
Jessica didn't answer.
“Jessica.””
“It's gone.””
Daniel spun around.
“What?””
“I threw it away.””
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
Gloria's eyes widened.
“You threw away a letter from his father the day before their wedding?””
Jessica began crying.
“I panicked.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Of course you did.””
He walked toward the door.
Jessica grabbed his sleeve.
“Where are you going?””
“To find it.””
“You can't.””
“Why?””
“Because the trash was collected.””
Daniel stopped.
Jessica lowered her voice.
“There was something else in the envelope.””
He looked at her.
“What?””
“A key.””
Gloria frowned.
“What kind of key?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel stared at Jessica.
“Where is it?””
She didn't answer.
“Jessica.””
“I kept it.””
His expression changed.
“You kept the key?””
Jessica nodded.
“Where?””
She looked toward her wedding gown.
Then toward the vanity.
Then finally at her purse.
Daniel followed her gaze.
“You put it in the purse.””
Jessica said nothing.
Daniel opened the purse again.
He searched beneath the compact and cosmetics.
His fingers found metal.
He pulled out a small brass key.
A white paper tag hung from it.
Written in black ink were three words:
*ROOM 214 — MIDNIGHT.*
Gloria stared at it.
Daniel's phone vibrated.
Another unknown message appeared.
*DON'T GO ALONE.*
Then a second message arrived.
*JESSICA IS NOT THE PERSON YOU NEED TO FEAR.*
Daniel looked at Jessica.
For the first time all morning, she looked genuinely confused.
“Who is sending these?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
A final message appeared.
*ASK GLORIA WHAT SHE REMEMBERS ABOUT THAT NIGHT.*
Daniel slowly turned toward his mother.
Gloria's face had gone completely still.
Daniel noticed.
“Mom?””
She didn't respond.
“Mom, what do you remember?””
Gloria stared at the little brass key.
Her lips began to tremble.
May you like
Then she whispered the words that made Daniel's blood run cold.
“I remember seeing that key before.””
