Chapter 7
I got out of bed.
Natalie woke immediately.
“What happened?”
I raised one finger.
“Listen.”
She sat up.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Two knocks.
Tap.
Tap.
Natalie stared at me.
“No.”
I walked toward the door.
She grabbed my arm.
“Owen, don't.”
“Someone's outside.”
The hallway was silent.
I checked the security monitor beside the door.
Nobody.
I opened it slightly.
The hallway was empty.
Then I saw something on the floor.
An envelope.
My name was written on it.
I picked it up.
Natalie stood behind me.
“Don't open it.”
I tore it open anyway.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside a stranger.
On the back was one sentence.
HE DIDN'T DIE BECAUSE OF VANESSA.
My heart stopped.
Natalie read it over my shoulder.
“Who is that man?”
“I don't know.”
Then I recognized him.
I had seen him earlier that night.
One of the men arrested outside the mansion.
I called the detective.
He arrived within twenty minutes.
When he saw the photograph, his expression changed.
“We need to talk.”
He took us to the police station.
The man in the photograph was identified as Raymond Cole.
He had worked for a private security company hired by my father.
Three years ago.
The detective explained that Raymond had been investigating threats against my father.
“Your father believed someone wanted him dead.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because your father kept the investigation private.”
Natalie shook her head.
“He told me he was afraid.”
The detective nodded.
“There's more.”
He placed another file on the table.
“Your father had changed his will.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He intended to remove Marcus from the company.”
My stomach tightened.
“And leave everything to me?”
“Not exactly.”
The detective opened the file.
Your father planned to create a trust for Sophie.
I stared at the page.
“For Sophie?”
“Yes.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
My father had been protecting my daughter before she was even old enough to understand what was happening.
The detective continued.
“He also intended to report Marcus and Vanessa.”
I looked down.
Then I saw another document.
A payment record.
Raymond Cole had received money from someone after my father's death.
The sender's name was hidden.
But the account number was familiar.
I knew it immediately.
It belonged to a company controlled by my uncle.
My father's younger brother.
I whispered, “Uncle Daniel.”
Natalie looked at me.
“He's still alive?”
“Yes.”
He lived in another state.
We hadn't spoken in years.
The detective stared at the document.
“Did you know he had access to your father's business?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need to find him.”
We drove back to the mansion under police escort.
The house looked different.
Not haunted.
Just empty.
I walked into the foyer.
The marble floor had been torn apart around the hidden hatch.
Workers were removing cameras.
I stood there remembering Sophie pointing at that exact tile.
Then I noticed something.
A faint scratch on the marble.
Three marks.
Then two.
I touched them.
Natalie came beside me.
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
She stared.
“Maybe your father left another message.”
We searched the foyer.
Nothing.
Then Sophie walked toward us.
She had been holding something.
“Daddy.”
She opened her hand.
A small brass key.
I stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“Under Grandpa's picture.”
Natalie and I exchanged looks.
We hurried to my father's portrait.
Behind it was another compartment.
Inside was a handwritten note.
I unfolded it.
If you're reading this, Daniel is still out there.
I felt the room spin.
My uncle.
The person who had always seemed distant but harmless.
My father had been afraid of him.
The note continued.
Trust no one who asks you to leave the house.
I looked toward the windows.
Every light outside suddenly went dark.
Natalie grabbed my hand.
The mansion fell silent.
Then the front door slowly opened.
I moved Sophie behind me.
A man stepped inside.
He was older.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
I recognized him instantly.
Daniel.
May you like
My uncle looked at me.
“I wondered when you'd find me.”
