Chapter 3 - The Secret I Hid Beneath My Bed
I didn't tell anyone about the flash drive while the police officer was in our living room.
I wanted to.
But fear kept my mouth shut.
Vanessa sat on the sofa beside Attorney Carter.
She was crying.
Not the quiet tears Dad sometimes cried when he missed Mom.
These were loud, angry tears.
She kept saying everyone was misunderstanding her.
She said Grandma had never liked her.
She said Dad was being manipulated.
Then she said I had been spying on her.
My stomach tightened.
Dad looked at her.
"Noah is eight years old."
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
"He's old enough to make trouble."
Grandma stood immediately.
"Watch your mouth."
The officer asked everyone to remain calm.
I stepped closer to Dad.
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Noah hasn't done anything wrong."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"You don't know what he's been doing."
My heart nearly stopped.
Did she know about the flash drive?
I looked toward the staircase.
Nobody seemed to notice.
The officer explained that investigators would need to review the property documents and speak with the people involved.
Vanessa wasn't arrested that afternoon.
But she was told that the suspicious paperwork would be examined.
Dad asked her to stay somewhere else while the matter was investigated.
She stared at him.
"You're throwing me out?"
He shook his head.
"I'm asking for space."
"Because of your mother?"
"Because I no longer trust what you're telling me."
Her expression turned cold.
She pointed toward Grandma.
"You've wanted this from the beginning."
Grandma didn't answer.
Vanessa looked at me.
For one second, her eyes narrowed.
Then she picked up her handbag.
"You'll regret believing him."
Dad stepped forward.
"Don't threaten my son."
She turned and stormed out.
The front door slammed so hard that a framed photograph shook on the wall.
Nobody spoke.
I listened until her SUV disappeared down the street.
Then I finally breathed.
Grandma knelt beside me.
"You okay, baby?"
I nodded.
But I wasn't okay.
I felt like something terrible was waiting.
That night, Dad made spaghetti.
He burned the garlic bread.
Grandma laughed and told him he still cooked like a teenager.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Then Dad asked if I wanted to sleep in his room.
I nodded immediately.
He smiled sadly.
"Okay, buddy."
But before bedtime, I needed to get something.
I walked into my bedroom.
My green dinosaur blanket lay across the bed.
My schoolbooks sat on the desk.
Everything looked ordinary.
I shut the door.
Then I dropped to my knees and reached beneath the bed frame.
My fingers found the small plastic container where I hid important things.
Inside were three baseball cards.
A photograph of Mom.
And the black flash drive.
I picked it up.
It was smaller than my thumb.
I remembered finding it two nights earlier.
Gregory had come to the house while Dad was working.
He and Vanessa were arguing in the study.
I had been standing in the hallway because I wanted my science notebook.
Gregory suddenly left the room.
He threw his coat over a chair and went outside to make a phone call.
The coat pocket was hanging open.
A small black object slipped onto the floor.
I picked it up.
At first, I thought it was a toy.
Then I heard Vanessa coming.
I ran upstairs.
Later, I heard her shouting.
"Where is it?"
Gregory sounded frightened.
"It was in my pocket."
"You better find it!"
I didn't understand.
But something in their voices told me to hide it.
Now I carried the flash drive downstairs.
Dad was sitting at the kitchen table.
Grandma had gone home to get clothes because she planned to stay with us.
I stood in the doorway.
"Dad?"
He looked up.
"What's wrong, buddy?"
I held out my hand.
"I found something."
He frowned.
"What is it?"
I placed the flash drive on the table.
Dad picked it up.
"Where did you get this?"
My voice trembled.
"Gregory dropped it."
Dad sat straighter.
"When?"
"Two nights ago."
He stared at me.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
My eyes filled.
"Because Vanessa said I'd be sorry if I touched her things."
Dad's expression broke.
He pulled me gently onto his lap.
"Noah, listen to me."
I nodded.
"You should never have to be afraid to tell me the truth."
I started crying.
"But you always believed her."
Dad closed his eyes.
I felt his arms tighten.
"You're right."
He swallowed.
"And I'm so sorry."
I cried harder.
Dad held me until I could breathe normally again.
Then he looked at the flash drive.
"We won't open this ourselves."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if it contains something important, we need to handle it properly."
He called Attorney Carter.
She instructed him to preserve the device and give it to investigators.
The following morning, two investigators visited our house.
Dad explained exactly how I found it.
I answered their questions.
They were gentle.
One of them told me I had done the right thing by giving it to a trusted adult.
I felt proud.
But I was still scared.
After they left, Dad took me to school.
Before I got out of the car, he held my hand.
"Noah, nobody gets to punish you for telling the truth."
I nodded.
Then he added something that made my chest feel warm.
"And if you're ever afraid, you come to me."
I looked at him.
"Promise?"
His eyes filled.
"Promise."
For the first time in months, I believed him.
Three days passed.
Vanessa didn't return.
Dad changed the door codes after consulting his attorney.
Grandma stayed with us.
She made pancakes shaped like stars.
She helped with my spelling homework.
And every night, she sat beside my bed until I fell asleep.
I started feeling safe again.
Then Attorney Carter called.
Dad answered while we were eating breakfast.
I watched his face change.
He put down his coffee.
"Are you sure?"
A pause.
"What did they find?"
Grandma looked at him.
Dad stood.
"We'll be there."
He ended the call.
I swallowed.
"Was it about my flash drive?"
Dad nodded.
I felt frightened again.
"What was on it?"
He knelt beside my chair.
"Investigators found financial records."
I frowned.
"What kind?"
"Records that may explain where the money from your mother's property went."
Grandma's expression hardened.
Dad continued.
"And there are audio files."
My stomach tightened.
"Audio?"
He nodded.
"Conversations."
I stared at him.
"With Vanessa?"
Dad looked at Grandma.
Then back at me.
"Yes."
I thought about the nights I'd heard them arguing.
The hidden boxes.
The lies.
Then Dad said something I didn't expect.
"There's also a recording of a man talking about taking something that belongs to you."
My heart started racing.
"What does he want?"
Dad reached for my hand.
"We're going to find out."
But when we arrived at Attorney Carter's office, she looked more worried than anyone I'd ever seen.
She asked Grandma to sit beside me.
Then she turned to Dad.
"Marcus, the investigators have identified a second person involved in the attempted property transfer."
Dad frowned.
"Gregory?"
She shook her head.
"No."
The room became quiet.
"Then who?"
Denise opened a folder.
"Someone who had access to Rachel's estate records before Vanessa entered your life."
Dad's face went pale.
I looked at him.
For the first time, he seemed frightened of an answer he hadn't even heard yet.
And when Denise placed a photograph on the table, Dad whispered a name I hadn't heard in years.
"Uncle Raymond?"
I stared at the picture.
Because I knew that man.
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He had attended every birthday party I'd ever had.
And he had been inside our house only one week before Grandma discovered the folder.
