The name seemed to drain the air from the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cElias,\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n
My mother nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had forgotten him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather's first son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Thomas was his oldest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the oldest son everyone knew about.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cElias was born before your grandfather married.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria looked at the picture again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why was he involved with Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Evelyn discovered what he had been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother explained that Elias had access to my grandfather's financial records long before my father did. He knew about the shell companies and property transfers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed the business should belong to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father inherited it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Elias hated him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hated each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Dad work with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause sometimes people cooperate with the person they fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of my father standing outside the basement door.<\/p>\n
He had not looked like a man in control.<\/p>\n
He had looked trapped.<\/p>\n
Margaret searched the cabinet.<\/p>\n
She found medical records for Chloe Ellis.<\/p>\n
Then Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Then a child.<\/p>\n
Jonah Ellis.<\/p>\n
The dates connected them.<\/p>\n
Chloe had worked at the property where Jonah had been kept.<\/p>\n
Evelyn had disappeared.<\/p>\n
Jonah had vanished from the records.<\/p>\n
Chloe had died.<\/p>\n
Valeria had been declared dead.<\/p>\n
The pattern was becoming impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Chloe?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Valeria found another folder.<\/p>\n
Inside was a photograph of Chloe with Elias.<\/p>\n
She stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next document was a payment record.<\/p>\n
Elias had paid Chloe several times.<\/p>\n
Then the payments stopped.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, Chloe disappeared.<\/p>\n
My mother whispered, \u201cHe killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still need proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
A voice came from behind the basement door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won't find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all froze.<\/p>\n
My father's voice.<\/p>\n
Valeria stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n
He entered slowly.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
There was blood on his sleeve.<\/p>\n
My mother gasped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing that matters now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at Valeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't have come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew I was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor seven years?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother slapped him.<\/p>\n
The sound echoed through the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me bury her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He accepted the blow without defending himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I could keep her alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me pray for a dead daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother struck him again.<\/p>\n
This time he caught her wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pulled away.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me about Elias?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he would have killed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe nearly did anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept him away as long as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy giving him what he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked at the files.<\/p>\n
\u201cInformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He admitted that he had continued the family businesses because Elias threatened to expose the original crimes and destroy anyone connected to them.<\/p>\n
When Valeria discovered the records, Elias demanded that she disappear.<\/p>\n
My father staged her death.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Chloe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't kill her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElias?\u201d<\/p>\n
My father nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cChloe tried to expose him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you use her body?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou protected yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had no answer.<\/p>\n
Margaret found a document on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis says something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
She held it up.<\/p>\n
My father looked at it.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA transfer order.\u201d<\/p>\n
The document showed money moving from Elias to someone else.<\/p>\n
The recipient was Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n
Valeria whispered, \u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel worked for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho ordered Chloe's death?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sound came from above.<\/p>\n
Footsteps.<\/p>\n
My father looked toward the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's Elias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria backed away.<\/p>\n
My father reached for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won't leave you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The basement door opened.<\/p>\n
Daniel appeared.<\/p>\n
He looked at my father.<\/p>\n
Then at Elias behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's over,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n
Elias smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It ends when I say it ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked frightened.<\/p>\n
My father stepped in front of Valeria.<\/p>\n
Elias raised a handgun.<\/p>\n
My mother screamed.<\/p>\n
Margaret grabbed the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop!\u201d<\/p>\n
Elias turned toward her.<\/p>\n
She threw it across the room.<\/p>\n
The distraction gave us a second.<\/p>\n
My father pushed the door open.<\/p>\n
\u201cRun!\u201d<\/p>\n
We rushed toward the rear exit.<\/p>\n
I heard shouting behind us.<\/p>\n
Then a gunshot.<\/p>\n
Valeria grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
We reached the trees.<\/p>\n
Only then did we stop.<\/p>\n
Margaret looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shot wasn't meant for your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward Valeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was aimed at her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeria reached into her coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took something.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pulled out a photograph.<\/p>\n
It showed Elias standing beside Chloe.<\/p>\n
A young boy stood between them.<\/p>\n
On the back were four handwritten words.<\/p>\n
Jonah knows the truth.<\/p>\n
The name seemed to drain the air from the room. \u201cElias,\u201d I repeated. My mother nodded. \u201cI had forgotten him.\u201d Valeria looked confused. \u201cWho was he?\u201d \u201cYour grandfather's first son.\u201d … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14827","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\/14827","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=14827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14853,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14827\/revisions\/14853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}