Chapter 4
I didn't know whether to feel angry or afraid.
My father's name was on documents connected to Nia's missing father.
Caleb had been using those secrets to manipulate my wife.
And someone had been watching our bedroom.
I looked at Olivia's name on my phone.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
She sighed.
"Marcus, your father placed specific instructions on certain confidential records. I couldn't simply disclose everything without reviewing the legal obligations."
I stared at the folder.
"He died eight months ago."
"I know."
"Then why am I only hearing about this now?"
Olivia paused.
"Because the records were incomplete, and several people connected to the matter were still at risk."
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I felt like everyone in my life had been keeping secrets.
My wife.
My father.
His attorney.
And now a stranger who might be standing outside my house.
I took a breath.
"Olivia, tell me what you can."
She explained that Harold Bennett and Raymond Ellis had worked together on a real estate development nearly twenty years earlier.
The project involved several investors.
One was a businessman named Victor Monroe.
Caleb's father.
The partnership initially appeared successful.
Then suspicious financial transactions began.
Raymond discovered irregularities.
He raised concerns.
Shortly afterward, he disappeared.
I looked at Nia.
She was sitting on the edge of my office chair, trembling.
"Did my father know Raymond was alive?" I asked.
Olivia hesitated.
"Yes."
Nia covered her mouth.
My stomach tightened.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know his current location."
Nia began crying.
I looked at her.
She had spent thirteen years believing her father was dead.
And now we were learning that my father had known the truth.
I felt sick.
Olivia continued.
"Harold believed Raymond had entered a protected arrangement after cooperating with investigators."
I frowned.
"Are you talking about witness protection?"
"I can't confirm that."
She paused.
"But the documents suggest he received assistance relocating after threats against him."
Nia wiped her face.
"Why didn't he come back for me?"
Her voice was so small that my anger disappeared for a moment.
I looked at her.
She stared at the floor.
"Why would he let me believe he was dead?"
I wanted to answer.
But I couldn't.
Because I didn't know.
And I wasn't going to invent another comforting lie.
I sat beside her.
"Nia, we'll find out."
She shook her head.
"I don't know if I can believe anything anymore."
I understood.
Too well.
Olivia arranged to meet us the next morning.
She also told us to preserve the phones, messages, and camera without altering them.
I agreed.
Then I called our security company to request emergency service.
The technician arrived with a police officer who was responding to our earlier report.
They checked the property.
No one was found outside.
But near the bedroom window, they discovered fresh footprints in the grass.
They also found signs that the window screen had been removed and replaced recently.
I felt my stomach tighten.
Someone had been coming close enough to touch our bedroom window.
The technician restored the backyard camera and checked the rest of the system for unauthorized access.
We arranged for the suspicious clock to be preserved as potential evidence.
By three in the morning, the house was quiet again.
But I didn't feel safe.
Neither did Nia.
She sat on the sofa staring at her hands.
I brought her a glass of water.
She looked up.
"Marcus, I don't expect you to forgive me."
I sat across from her.
"Good."
Her eyes filled.
I hated the pain on her face.
But I wasn't going to pretend her choices hadn't hurt me.
She had lied.
She had hidden a phone.
She had installed a camera.
She had allowed someone to target my private documents.
And whatever fear she'd been carrying, those decisions had endangered both of us.
I took a breath.
"Nia, I love you. But I don't trust you right now."
She nodded.
"I know."
I continued.
"Whatever happens next, we need the truth."
She wiped her face.
"No more secrets."
I looked at her.
"That has to mean something."
She nodded again.
"It will."
I wanted to believe her.
But I knew trust would take more than one conversation.
The next morning, Olivia arrived with a security specialist and a thick file.
We sat around the dining room table.
The same table where Nia and I had celebrated our anniversary three weeks earlier.
It felt like a different house now.
Olivia placed several documents in front of us.
"This is what we can establish."
She showed us records from the old development partnership.
Harold Bennett.
Raymond Ellis.
Victor Monroe.
Three names.
One company.
And several disputed transactions.
Then she showed us a letter.
It was written by my father.
I recognized his handwriting immediately.
"Marcus,
If you're reading this, then something has happened that makes the old partnership relevant again.
Raymond Ellis was a good man.
He discovered financial misconduct that threatened several families.
I tried to help him.
But I made mistakes.
I trusted people I shouldn't have.
And by the time I understood the danger, Raymond had already lost his family.
If his daughter ever comes looking for answers, please don't turn her away.
She deserves to know the truth.
Dad."
I read it twice.
My throat tightened.
Nia began crying.
I looked at her.
Then back at the letter.
My father had known about her.
Not necessarily that she would someday become my wife.
But he'd known Raymond had a daughter.
And he'd wanted her to receive the truth.
Olivia watched us.
"There's more."
I looked up.
"What?"
She opened another folder.
Inside were copies of property records.
One document identified a commercial building connected to the old partnership.
I recognized the address.
It was the same property I'd inherited.
The nearly two-million-dollar building Caleb wanted documents for.
My heartbeat quickened.
"Why does he want this property?"
Olivia took a breath.
"Because it may contain evidence relevant to the old financial misconduct."
I frowned.
"Evidence?"
She nodded.
"Your father believed certain original records were stored in a secure archive associated with the building."
I stared at her.
"Where?"
She hesitated.
"That's what we need to determine."
Nia suddenly spoke.
"Caleb said something about a basement."
We all turned.
She looked nervous.
"He told me the blue folder would show him how to access a locked storage room."
My stomach tightened.
I looked at Olivia.
Her expression changed.
"Marcus, does the building have an old records vault?"
I nodded slowly.
"There is a locked basement room."
Olivia leaned forward.
"Has anyone opened it recently?"
I shook my head.
"Not since Dad died."
She took a breath.
"Then we need to secure it immediately."
I reached for my phone.
But before I could call the property manager, it rang.
An unfamiliar number.
I answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A man's voice spoke.
"Marcus Bennett?"
"Yes."
"This is the overnight security supervisor at your Westbrook property."
My heart tightened.
"What's wrong?"
He hesitated.
"Someone broke into the basement storage area."
I stood.
"What?"
"We've contacted police."
I looked at Olivia.
Then at Nia.
The supervisor continued.
"There's something else."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"We found a phone near the storage room."
I held my breath.
"And?"
"The lock screen shows a photograph of your wife."
Nia went completely pale.
May you like
Then the supervisor said the words that made my entire body go cold.
"Mr. Bennett, the person who entered the building may have been expecting her to meet them there tonight."
