Daniel grabbed his keys before the black security screen had finished refreshing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine stepped between him and the conference-room door.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife is in that house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo are two men who have already demonstrated they know private information about your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me, expecting support.<\/p>\n
I wanted to give it to him.<\/p>\n
I wanted to tell him Renee could not possibly be part of anything involving Harold\u2019s medication, Victor\u2019s blackmail, or the secrets inside that safe-deposit box.<\/p>\n
But I had spent too many years protecting people from questions simply because I disliked the answers they might produce.<\/p>\n
\u201cElaine\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd tell them what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed once, sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich truth?\u201d<\/p>\n
That silenced us.<\/p>\n
The lottery.<\/p>\n
Redstone.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
The paternity report.<\/p>\n
Harold\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n
Renee\u2019s alleged connection to the pharmacy.<\/p>\n
Raymond Bell.<\/p>\n
Any one of those things sounded unbelievable.<\/p>\n
Together they sounded deranged.<\/p>\n
Elaine picked up her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t need to explain fifty years of family history. We report unauthorized entry and possible theft.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe door code,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee knows the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she didn\u2019t break in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe entered without permission after we left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel dragged a hand across his face.<\/p>\n
His anger seemed to collapse into exhaustion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to know whether she\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at the dark security image on my phone.<\/p>\n
Then he nodded.<\/p>\n
Elaine made the call.<\/p>\n
The bank manager moved us to another private room while we waited.<\/p>\n
Daniel sat alone at the far end of a polished table.<\/p>\n
I stayed near him without touching him.<\/p>\n
He had received too much information in too little time.<\/p>\n
The man he believed was his father might not have been his biological father.<\/p>\n
The man who raised him had apparently known.<\/p>\n
The physician responsible for his conception might also be the biological parent.<\/p>\n
His wife had been accused of working with Victor.<\/p>\n
And the dead father Daniel had always considered cautious, predictable, almost boring had left behind warnings about blackmail and altered medication.<\/p>\n
At fifty, my son looked twelve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have listened to you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to him because I thought you were hiding Dad\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
He continued anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw that house, I thought you\u2019d been sitting on millions while Renee and I were struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStruggling?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes lifted.<\/p>\n
I kept my voice level.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou live in a four-bedroom house. You both earn good salaries. Your children have never wondered whether there would be dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen choose your words carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with wanting more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I started thinking you had more, so maybe I should have more.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was closer to the truth.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apology landed quietly.<\/p>\n
I believed him.<\/p>\n
Believing someone was sorry, I had recently learned, did not require pretending the damage had never happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He seemed surprised I did not immediately forgive everything.<\/p>\n
Perhaps I surprised myself too.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
The Willow Creek security system had restored connection.<\/p>\n
A camera at the rear entrance came online first.<\/p>\n
Empty patio.<\/p>\n
Then the driveway.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s car remained there.<\/p>\n
Renee\u2019s SUV was beside it.<\/p>\n
A third vehicle, black and unfamiliar, sat near the curb.<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has to be Bell\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kitchen camera remained offline.<\/p>\n
So did the front hall.<\/p>\n
Then the living-room camera appeared.<\/p>\n
No one was visible.<\/p>\n
But one of my side tables had been knocked over.<\/p>\n
A lamp lay on the floor.<\/p>\n
The drawer beneath Harold\u2019s photograph stood open.<\/p>\n
Daniel swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same thing Victor has always been looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRedstone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of the gray metal case in Victor\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
He had taken it from my bedroom.<\/p>\n
That case contained copies of Harold\u2019s business files.<\/p>\n
Most were ordinary.<\/p>\n
Taxes.<\/p>\n
Old contracts.<\/p>\n
Insurance.<\/p>\n
Except Victor had spent seventeen years waiting for something.<\/p>\n
Whatever he wanted, I no longer believed it was merely money.<\/p>\n
A call came from the responding officer.<\/p>\n
They had arrived at Willow Creek.<\/p>\n
No one was inside.<\/p>\n
All three vehicles were gone.<\/p>\n
No obvious forced entry.<\/p>\n
Several rooms had been searched.<\/p>\n
A metal document case appeared to be missing.<\/p>\n
Nothing else immediately looked stolen.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n
The officer had not found her.<\/p>\n
Daniel called again.<\/p>\n
Straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
He stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine did not stop him this time.<\/p>\n
Neither did I.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his mouth.<\/p>\n
I raised a hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy house was searched. My husband\u2019s records were stolen. I\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine gathered Harold\u2019s ledger, letters and cassette.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese stay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Victor has already removed one set of records from Margaret\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
She placed them in her briefcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m making copies and putting the originals somewhere neither of you can casually access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under different circumstances, I might have been offended.<\/p>\n
Instead, I felt relieved.<\/p>\n
The drive to Willow Creek passed in near silence.<\/p>\n
A patrol car waited outside.<\/p>\n
Neighbors watched from porches.<\/p>\n
My beautiful new house had become a spectacle before I had owned it a month.<\/p>\n
Inside, the damage was smaller than I feared.<\/p>\n
Nothing smashed.<\/p>\n
Nothing vandalized.<\/p>\n
Drawers opened.<\/p>\n
Cabinets searched.<\/p>\n
Mattress shifted.<\/p>\n
Closet boxes disturbed.<\/p>\n
Someone had been methodical.<\/p>\n
That was worse.<\/p>\n
People who destroy a room are angry.<\/p>\n
People who search one know what they want.<\/p>\n
An officer asked whether anything besides the gray case was missing.<\/p>\n
I checked jewelry.<\/p>\n
Cash.<\/p>\n
Electronics.<\/p>\n
All untouched.<\/p>\n
Daniel went upstairs.<\/p>\n
A moment later he called my name.<\/p>\n
I found him in the window-seat bedroom Sophie loved.<\/p>\n
The cushion had been removed.<\/p>\n
The wooden panel beneath it stood open.<\/p>\n
I had not known it opened.<\/p>\n
Inside was an empty compartment.<\/p>\n
Daniel pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas anything in there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
He crouched.<\/p>\n
Dust lined most of the space.<\/p>\n
Except one rectangle.<\/p>\n
Something had rested there recently.<\/p>\n
Maybe a box.<\/p>\n
Maybe a book.<\/p>\n
Maybe an envelope.<\/p>\n
My house had belonged to someone else until weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
Had Victor known the compartment existed?<\/p>\n
Had Bell?<\/p>\n
Or had the previous owners left something behind?<\/p>\n
Daniel photographed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho owned this place before you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan will know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called her.<\/p>\n
The answer made me sit down.<\/p>\n
The Willow Creek house had been owned for twenty-three years by a company.<\/p>\n
Not a family.<\/p>\n
Not an individual.<\/p>\n
A corporate entity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cRedstone Residential Properties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel heard.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
The house had not been merely the home he and Renee wanted.<\/p>\n
It was connected to Redstone.<\/p>\n
Harold\u2019s hidden investment.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s obsession.<\/p>\n
The company apparently worth more than forty million dollars to me.<\/p>\n
The property had been placed on the market after Redstone began selling older residential assets.<\/p>\n
Daniel sank onto the window seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad owned part of this house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndirectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we almost bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
I had purchased Willow Creek because Daniel and Renee once wanted it.<\/p>\n
Someone else had allowed the property to appear in our family story long before then.<\/p>\n
Coincidence was becoming difficult to believe.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Renee.<\/p>\n
Daniel lunged for it.<\/p>\n
I put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee?\u201d<\/p>\n
Breathing.<\/p>\n
Nothing else.<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned close.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice sounded strained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean you don\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Bell?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know he would be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was not an answer.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n
It became harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you known Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
She started crying.<\/p>\n
I watched my son\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
He did not soften.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnswer me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Samuel Kerr had told the truth about that part.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said your father had hidden money from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
Renee continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew things about Harold. Business things. He said Margaret would inherit everything and you\u2019d never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My son\u2019s jaw clenched.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave him information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI answered questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat questions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSchedules. Documents. Things Harold talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you photograph Harold\u2019s medication?\u201d<\/p>\n
Renee went silent.<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face lost color.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I didn\u2019t change it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you at the pharmacy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor said there might be proof Harold was hiding something in the prescription records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stood motionless.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you touch Dad\u2019s medicine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw him do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer was not enough.<\/p>\n
My son knew it.<\/p>\n
So did I.<\/p>\n
A sound came through the phone.<\/p>\n
A door.<\/p>\n
Then Renee spoke quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in a motel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Outside Phoenix, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at something. A sign. A receipt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey?\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
Daniel immediately called police.<\/p>\n
Elaine called while he was speaking.<\/p>\n
Her researcher had found something.<\/p>\n
Raymond Bell and Victor Hale had not simply known one another.<\/p>\n
They had shared an attorney seventeen years ago.<\/p>\n
During the same period Harold and Victor dissolved their construction partnership.<\/p>\n
The attorney\u2019s name was Leonard Shaw.<\/p>\n
Elaine had also found that Shaw helped create Redstone Development Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho owned Redstone originally?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat problem?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe earliest ownership records were shielded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of Redstone\u2019s early investors was a medical holding company connected to Raymond Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Bell and Dad were business partners?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe indirectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Victor may have believed he deserved part of that transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the hidden compartment under the window seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Harold buy into a company tied to the doctor who fathered his son?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
That was the question.<\/p>\n
The obvious explanation would have been revenge.<\/p>\n
Blackmail.<\/p>\n
Payment.<\/p>\n
But Harold was not a man who spent seventeen years quietly sitting on a revenge scheme worth forty million dollars.<\/p>\n
There was something else.<\/p>\n
We returned downstairs.<\/p>\n
Police wanted Daniel to meet them regarding Renee\u2019s call.<\/p>\n
He hesitated at the front door.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost did.<\/p>\n
Then I looked around my house.<\/p>\n
My opened drawers.<\/p>\n
My displaced furniture.<\/p>\n
My husband\u2019s photograph turned facedown.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou find Renee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat will you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to find out why this house belonged to Redstone.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll call if anything happens?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd don\u2019t let anyone in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m seventy-one, not seven.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time all day, the corner of his mouth moved.<\/p>\n
Then he left.<\/p>\n
I called Susan.<\/p>\n
She dug through the listing file while I waited.<\/p>\n
The property had been transferred into Redstone\u2019s residential division twenty-three years earlier.<\/p>\n
Before that, it belonged to a private owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret, this is strange.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe owner was Raymond Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bell had once owned my house.<\/p>\n
Long before Daniel and Renee tried to buy it.<\/p>\n
Long before I won the lottery.<\/p>\n
Long before I knew Redstone existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did he sell it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe transferred it into Redstone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked toward the window-seat room.<\/p>\n
Something had been hidden there.<\/p>\n
Something somebody returned for today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho lived here when Bell owned it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can try to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Then I heard a sound upstairs.<\/p>\n
A floorboard.<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
The police had searched the house.<\/p>\n
Everyone had left.<\/p>\n
Another sound.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Careful.<\/p>\n
Coming from the room with the hidden compartment.<\/p>\n
I picked up the heavy brass fireplace poker.<\/p>\n
Then I climbed the stairs.<\/p>\n
The bedroom door stood partly open.<\/p>\n
I pushed it wider.<\/p>\n
Nobody.<\/p>\n
But the wooden panel beneath the window seat was open again.<\/p>\n
Inside, where the compartment had been empty minutes earlier, sat a small black envelope.<\/p>\n
My name was written across it.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
Fresh ink.<\/p>\n
Someone had been inside the house while police were downstairs.<\/p>\n
I did not touch it.<\/p>\n
I called the officer.<\/p>\n
Then my phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
One text.<\/p>\n
HAROLD WAS NOT WARNING YOU ABOUT VICTOR.<\/p>\n
A second followed.<\/p>\n
HE WAS WARNING YOU ABOUT BELL.<\/p>\n
Daniel grabbed his keys before the black security screen had finished refreshing. \u201cI\u2019m going back.\u201d Elaine stepped between him and the conference-room door. \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cMy wife is in that house.\u201d … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18801","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\/18801","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=18801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18836,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18801\/revisions\/18836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}