Chapter 8: The Night Thomas Carter Died
Renee sat down before her legs could give out.
Daniel placed the phone on the desk, keeping the message visible.
“What did you do that night?””
Renee stared at the screen.
“I didn't kill your father.””
Nobody had accused her of murder.
That made the statement even more disturbing.
Loretta gripped the back of Thomas's chair.
“Why would you say that?””
Renee pressed both hands against her face.
“Because I know what this looks like.””
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“Then explain it.””
She lowered her hands.
“Your father called me to the hospital at 9:40 that night. He'd been admitted earlier that afternoon. The doctors told us his condition was worsening, and he wanted to see me before he spoke to you.””
Loretta shook her head.
“Thomas never told me he wanted to see you.””
“He asked the nurse to contact me privately.””
Daniel looked stunned.
“You were at the hospital when he died?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because he made me promise to keep the meeting secret.””
Loretta's eyes filled with tears.
“I was beside him when he took his last breath. He was holding my hand. He told me he loved me.””
Renee's face crumpled.
“I know.””
“Then why did he need you?””
“Because he believed the people behind Westbridge were watching the hospital.””
Vanessa opened her portfolio and took out a notepad.
“Let's establish the timeline. What time did you arrive?””
“About ten fifteen.””
“And how long were you with him?””
“Twenty minutes. Maybe twenty-five.””
“What happened during that meeting?””
Renee looked at Daniel.
“Your father gave me the original trust document and asked me to make sure it reached you.””
Daniel frowned.
“But Mom said she gave me the envelope.””
“She did. Thomas told me to hand the trust to Loretta first. He wanted her to decide when you were ready to read it.””
Loretta stared at her.
“Why would he give you the document instead of me?””
“Because he believed someone would search your belongings if they knew what he had prepared.””
Vanessa wrote something down.
“Did you give the document to Loretta?””
“No.””
Renee's voice broke.
“I was followed when I left the hospital.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“By whom?””
“I never saw his face clearly. A man approached me in the parking garage and told me to hand over the envelope. He knew my name, where I worked, and where my mother lived.””
Vanessa stopped writing.
“Did you report this to the police?””
“No. I was frightened. He said my mother would be hurt if I spoke.””
“And what did you do with the document?”” Daniel asked.
Renee stared at her hands.
“I hid it.””
“Where?””
“In your father's study.””
Loretta shook her head.
“You had access to that room?””
“Thomas gave me the key before I left the hospital. He said there was a place behind the bookshelf where I could hide it.””
Daniel glanced at the open safe.
“Then how did it end up in the desk?””
“I don't know. I put it in the safe. I swear I did.””
Vanessa's expression remained professional, but her voice softened.
“Mrs. Carter, why didn't you tell Daniel any of this after you married him?””
Renee looked toward Maya, who sat beside Loretta.
“Because the threats continued. Then I received money from an account connected to Westbridge. The messages said I would be watched for the rest of my life.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You accepted the money.””
“Yes.””
“How much?””
Renee whispered an amount.
Vanessa wrote it down, then looked up.
“That payment appears consistent with the transfers recorded in this ledger.””
Daniel turned away.
“So you knew there was criminal activity, accepted money, and stayed silent.””
“I was scared.””
“You could have told me.””
“Your father told me not to.””
“My father is dead!””
The words echoed through the study.
Maya flinched.
Daniel immediately turned toward her.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart.””
She nodded, but her eyes were wide.
Loretta took Maya's hand.
“Why don't we go downstairs for a few minutes?””
Maya shook her head.
“I want to stay with Daddy.””
Daniel crouched.
“I'm not going anywhere.””
“Promise?””
“I promise.””
Loretta led Maya toward the doorway, leaving Daniel, Renee, and Vanessa in the study.
For a moment, the room was quiet except for the ticking of the old clock.
Then Daniel spoke again.
“Did you marry me because you were afraid of whoever threatened you?””
Renee wiped her cheeks.
“At first, I stayed close because I thought it would keep you safe. Your father believed whoever was behind Westbridge might eventually target you.””
“And later?””
“Later, I fell in love with you.””
Daniel looked at her for a long time.
“You should have told me.””
“I know.””
“You should have told my mother.””
“I know.””
“You should never have tried to sell the house.””
Renee's face tightened.
“I didn't think I had another choice.””
Vanessa closed her notebook.
“Let's talk about that. Who approached you about the sale?””
Renee hesitated.
“A man named Gregory Shaw. He said he represented a private investment group interested in acquiring the property.””
“Did he identify the buyer?””
“He called the buyer's representative a trustee. He said the sale would settle an old obligation connected to Westbridge.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“An obligation to whom?””
“I don't know.””
Vanessa looked at the ledger.
“Did Gregory provide any documents showing that obligation?””
“Yes. He said the original trust had been superseded by a later agreement.””
“Did you see the original agreement?””
Renee nodded.
“He showed me a scanned copy.””
“Do you still have it?””
Renee reached into her handbag and removed her phone.
“There was a file attached to one of his emails.””
Vanessa asked her to preserve the email and avoid forwarding or deleting anything. Renee opened the message and turned the screen toward her.
The attachment showed a document dated two weeks before Thomas's death.
Its title read:
*IRREVOCABLE TRANSFER OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST.*
Daniel leaned over Vanessa's shoulder.
At the bottom of the page was his father's signature.
It looked authentic.
But the date was impossible.
Thomas had been unconscious and heavily medicated during that period, according to the hospital records Daniel remembered.
Vanessa enlarged the document.
“There's a problem with this.””
“What?”” Daniel asked.
“The notary's registration number.””
She compared it with the information in her notes.
“This number belongs to a notary who retired nine years before the date on this agreement.””
Renee's face drained of color.
“Gregory told me it was legitimate.””
“Then he either didn't verify it or knowingly supplied a fraudulent document.””
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Can we find out who sent it?””
Vanessa nodded.
“The email headers may help establish its origin. I'll need the original message and any related correspondence.””
Renee handed over the phone.
Then she whispered, “There's something else.””
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
“Of course there is.””
“The man who threatened me at the hospital didn't just know my name. He knew what Thomas had told me. He said that if I ever revealed the truth, he'd show Daniel what happened before his father died.””
Vanessa looked up.
“What did he mean?””
Renee shook her head.
“I don't know.””
She reached into the inside pocket of her handbag and removed a small folded photograph.
It showed Thomas in his hospital bed, his eyes closed. A hospital clock was visible behind him.
On the back, someone had written a message in black ink.
*HE DIDN'T DIE WHEN THEY SAID HE DID.*
Daniel took the photograph.
“That makes no sense.””
Renee looked directly at him.
“Your father was declared dead at 11:18 p.m. I left the hospital before midnight. But three days later, I received a message saying he'd been alive when someone entered his room.””
Vanessa stood very still.
“Who sent it?””
“A blocked number.””
“Did you keep the message?””
“Yes.””
Renee opened her phone again and scrolled through an old conversation.
The message was still there.
*YOU HAVE UNTIL CHRISTMAS TO KEEP YOUR PROMISE. AFTER THAT, THE HOUSE BELONGS TO US.*
Daniel felt the room tilt around him.
“Why didn't you show this to anyone?””
“Because the next message contained a photograph of my mother leaving her apartment.””
Vanessa took a slow breath.
“Where is your mother now?””
Renee looked at the floor.
“She died six years ago.””
“Was her death investigated?””
“An accident. A car struck her on a rainy night.””
Vanessa's face became grave.
“I am sorry.””
Renee nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I kept quiet because I thought it would keep the rest of you alive.””
Daniel stared at the photograph of his father.
For eleven years, he'd believed Thomas's final hours were a closed chapter. Now every detail seemed uncertain.
Then the study door opened.
Loretta returned alone.
She carried a small velvet pouch in her hand.
“I found something in the downstairs cabinet,” she said.
She placed the pouch on the desk and pulled out a gold wedding band.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
His father's ring.
Loretta turned it over.
An inscription was engraved inside.
*TO LORETTA — FOREVER, EVEN WHEN THE TRUTH MUST WAIT.*
Loretta looked at Renee.
“Thomas took this off before he died. I thought the hospital had lost it.””
She opened the pouch's hidden seam.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Vanessa stared at it.
“Where did you find that?””
“In the lining. Thomas must have hidden it himself.””
Daniel picked up the card.
“What's on it?””
Loretta shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Vanessa took a protective sleeve from her portfolio.
“Don't insert it into a personal device. We'll need to preserve it and make a verified copy before anyone examines the contents.””
Daniel placed the card inside.
Then he looked at Renee.
“If my father was alive when someone entered his room, I need to know who was there.””
Renee nodded.
“So do I.””
Vanessa glanced at the old hospital photograph again.
“There may be a way to establish who had access to his room that night.””
Daniel frowned.
“How?””
“Hospital visitor logs. Staff records. Security footage, if any survives. And the original death documentation.””
Loretta tightened her grip on the velvet pouch.
“Then we start with the hospital.””
Daniel looked down at his phone.
Another message had arrived.
This one contained a single sentence.
*ASK LORETTA WHO SIGNED THE FINAL HOSPITAL FORM.*
Daniel slowly raised his eyes to his mother.
Loretta's face had become unreadable.
May you like
And when he asked whether she had signed anything on the night Thomas died, she answered with a whisper.
“Yes.””
