We reached the cemetery shortly after two in the morning.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s shed no longer felt safe.<\/p>\n
Neither did the storage unit.<\/p>\n
Vale refused to return to the police station.<\/p>\n
That told me more about the size of the problem than anything else had.<\/p>\n
We moved into Pinecrest\u2019s old records building, a brick structure no longer used except for archived burial maps. Dad had a key.<\/p>\n
Naturally.<\/p>\n
Vale spread Claire\u2019s binder across a metal table.<\/p>\n
Dad stood opposite him.<\/p>\n
They looked like men preparing to argue about sixteen years of unfinished business.<\/p>\n
I interrupted before either began.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo secret history until we decide one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we trust each other long enough to get the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale answered first.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
He continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we may not need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like Howard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou haven\u2019t changed either.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI faked my death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
I put both hands on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
They stopped.<\/p>\n
Prison had given me one useful skill: controlling a room containing men who disliked each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t need trust,\u201d I said. \u201cWe need aligned interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
Vale did too.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter wants the ledger destroyed. Whoever attacked the marina wants Claire\u2019s binder. We want the ledger before either of them gets it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Reagan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe let me escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe also got the binder out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe poisoned me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou doubt that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI doubt everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silenced him.<\/p>\n
Vale opened Claire\u2019s structural notes.<\/p>\n
A floor plan appeared.<\/p>\n
The original Silver Lake house looked tiny compared with what stood there now.<\/p>\n
Claire had numbered spaces.<\/p>\n
One through twenty-three.<\/p>\n
Seventeen was beneath the western study wall.<\/p>\n
A foundation cavity.<\/p>\n
Dad studied it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI covered this during the renovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d Vale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire showed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad glared.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe showed you my house plans?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped draw them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer house too.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped between them verbally before the argument could become archaeological.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we reach it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad traced the newer construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot from inside without breaking concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom outside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly through the old drainage line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lake drain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to crawl into a pipe under the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dawn was still hours away.<\/p>\n
Carter would expect us to avoid Silver Lake after my first intrusion.<\/p>\n
That was our only advantage.<\/p>\n
We drove separately.<\/p>\n
Vale took an unmarked sedan.<\/p>\n
Dad and I used the cemetery utility truck.<\/p>\n
I sat beside him in silence for several minutes.<\/p>\n
Finally he said, \u201cClaire trusted Howard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat surprises me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told her everything either.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked through the windshield.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
The road curved toward the lake.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cDid Mom love you when she died?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s hands tightened on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He drove another hundred yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least he had stopped pretending certainty where none existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was angry with me,\u201d he continued. \u201cShe had every reason. But the last night she was fully conscious, she asked me to take you fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe hated fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said we never talked when we were looking at each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded exactly like Mom.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe thought sitting beside water gave men permission to tell the truth without feeling watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
We entered the trees behind Silver Lake.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we should have fished more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing else needed saying.<\/p>\n
We parked half a mile away.<\/p>\n
Vale met us beside the shoreline.<\/p>\n
The drainage outlet sat behind reeds below the property retaining wall. Dad located a steel grate buried under vegetation.<\/p>\n
It had been welded shut.<\/p>\n
Recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vale examined the weld.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr someone else protecting the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad used a compact battery saw from the truck.<\/p>\n
The sound seemed deafening in the early morning darkness.<\/p>\n
I watched the house through trees.<\/p>\n
No lights.<\/p>\n
After ninety seconds, the grate loosened.<\/p>\n
The pipe beyond was barely three feet high.<\/p>\n
I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou first.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy shoulder won\u2019t fit comfortably.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at his chest scar.<\/p>\n
\u201cVale?\u201d<\/p>\n
He answered, \u201cI\u2019m armed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t answer anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means you\u2019re more mobile.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crawled inside.<\/p>\n
Cold lake water ran around my knees.<\/p>\n
The pipe narrowed gradually.<\/p>\n
Concrete scraped my jacket.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s voice came faintly through the old phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately forty feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt twenty-five, I already dislike you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems unrelated to the pipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line crackled.<\/p>\n
Vale said, \u201cQuiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
Somewhere above me, a dull vibration.<\/p>\n
Footsteps?<\/p>\n
A vehicle?<\/p>\n
Hard to tell underground.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
At forty feet, the pipe ended behind brickwork.<\/p>\n
Dad instructed me to search the right side.<\/p>\n
I found an iron ring.<\/p>\n
Pulled.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
A small brick panel rotated inward.<\/p>\n
Behind it was darkness.<\/p>\n
I crawled through.<\/p>\n
The hidden cellar was barely large enough to stand.<\/p>\n
I raised my flashlight.<\/p>\n
Dust covered shelves filled with old paint cans, rusted tools, and boxes.<\/p>\n
One shelf held a waterproof metal case.<\/p>\n
I knew immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cFound something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s breathing came across the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGray case. Two locks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale said, \u201cClaire used combination locks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNumbers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Dad answered first.<\/p>\n
\u201cTry Finnley\u2019s birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Vale said, \u201cTry Claire\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
I stared at the case.<\/p>\n
Mom had left clues designed around mistrust.<\/p>\n
What would she choose that Dad would not guess?<\/p>\n
A date meaningful to her and me.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered.<\/p>\n
The lake.<\/p>\n
When I was thirteen, Mom and I got trapped overnight on a small island after our canoe drifted loose. Dad had been furious.<\/p>\n
Mom thought it was hilarious.<\/p>\n
August seventeenth.<\/p>\n
8-17.<\/p>\n
K-17.<\/p>\n
I entered 0817.<\/p>\n
The first lock opened.<\/p>\n
The second required four digits.<\/p>\n
I thought longer.<\/p>\n
Then tried the year.<\/p>\n
It clicked.<\/p>\n
My hands began trembling.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Dad said nothing.<\/p>\n
Neither did Vale.<\/p>\n
I lifted the lid.<\/p>\n
Inside was a black ledger wrapped in waxed cloth.<\/p>\n
A smaller envelope rested on top.<\/p>\n
FINNLEY.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
Everything disappeared for a second.<\/p>\n
The house.<\/p>\n
Carter.<\/p>\n
Vale.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
Prison.<\/p>\n
Only that name remained.<\/p>\n
I sat on the cellar floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinnley?\u201d Dad asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRead it later.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice shook.<\/p>\n
That was how I knew how much it cost him to say it.<\/p>\n
I placed the envelope inside my jacket and opened the ledger.<\/p>\n
Names.<\/p>\n
Dates.<\/p>\n
Accounts.<\/p>\n
Payments.<\/p>\n
Codes matched to people.<\/p>\n
Judges.<\/p>\n
Executives.<\/p>\n
Foreign officials.<\/p>\n
Police.<\/p>\n
Company directors.<\/p>\n
Some names I recognized from newspapers.<\/p>\n
Others meant nothing.<\/p>\n
Then I reached the first page.<\/p>\n
A heading.<\/p>\n
KESTREL AUTHORIZED PARTNERS.<\/p>\n
Three names.<\/p>\n
Claire Dennis.<\/p>\n
Howard Vale.<\/p>\n
And one more.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale\u2019s voice came through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I read it again.<\/p>\n
The name remained.<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour name isn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved the flashlight closer.<\/p>\n
The third name was written in Mom\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
REAGAN MERCER.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
Not Reagan Dennis.<\/p>\n
Reagan Mercer.<\/p>\n
The same surname as the inmate who had approached me during my fourth month in Oakwood.<\/p>\n
Mercer.<\/p>\n
The man Dad had caused to be transferred.<\/p>\n
I heard Vale swear through the phone.<\/p>\n
Dad said, \u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI met Reagan twelve years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale\u2019s voice was flat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Camden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad breathed into the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou met her twelve years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire knew her long before that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something scraped behind me.<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
The brick panel had closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Static filled the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n
The cellar light from my flashlight caught movement near the opposite wall.<\/p>\n
Another doorway.<\/p>\n
One not shown on Claire\u2019s map.<\/p>\n
It opened.<\/p>\n
Reagan stepped through.<\/p>\n
She held a pistol.<\/p>\n
I raised my hands slowly.<\/p>\n
She looked at the ledger.<\/p>\n
Then at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he your family?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shut the hidden door behind her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer hit with immediate force.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou put him in Oakwood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe approached me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad had him transferred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy was he there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep you alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone keeps saying that right before admitting something unforgivable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t send him there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had been dead thirteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe arranged it before she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lifted the ledger slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour name is on the first page.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Kestrel before Dad met you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou married him anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Reagan\u2019s voice became very quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Claire asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
Footsteps pounded somewhere above.<\/p>\n
Carter.<\/p>\n
Reagan looked toward the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found the drainage grate.\u201d<\/p>\n
She moved closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinnley, if Carter gets into this cellar, he will kill both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expected me to die in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat recording wasn\u2019t what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt rarely is, apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can argue after we leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the second passage.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire built two exits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Reagan almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Then a gunshot cracked above us.<\/p>\n
Dust drifted from the ceiling.<\/p>\n
Carter shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinnley!\u201d<\/p>\n
Reagan raised her weapon toward the hidden doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another shot.<\/p>\n
Closer.<\/p>\n
The brick panel behind me shook.<\/p>\n
I looked down at the ledger.<\/p>\n
At Mom\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
At Reagan Mercer\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
At the envelope inside my jacket that might finally explain why every adult in my life had turned protection into another word for deception.<\/p>\n
Then I heard Dad shout from somewhere outside.<\/p>\n
A third gunshot answered him.<\/p>\n
Reagan\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n
\u201cCamden.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ran toward the second passage.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
Behind us, the brick wall burst inward.<\/p>\n
Carter stepped through the dust with a pistol in his hand.<\/p>\n
He saw the ledger.<\/p>\n
And smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
We reached the cemetery shortly after two in the morning. Dad\u2019s shed no longer felt safe. Neither did the storage unit. Vale refused to return to the police station. That … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11343,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11323\/revisions\/11343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}