Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE WITH NO LIGHTS
Doreen’s house stood completely dark when the deputies arrived.
The front door was unlocked.
That frightened Abram more than if it had been barricaded.
Doreen locked everything.
Cars.
Windows.
Medicine cabinets.
Guest-bedroom closets.
She had once installed a lock on the pantry because she believed neighborhood children were stealing bottled water.
An unlocked front door meant she had left quickly.
Or deliberately.
Abram remained behind the police line.
Morgan had ordered him not to enter.
Felix stood beside him.
Dana waited in the car because Celia had asked her to return to the hospital.
Two deputies moved room to room.
Flashlights passed behind the windows.
Abram stared at the kitchen.
Six days.
Celia had been forty yards away.
He could see the shed from here.
He imagined his wife scratching at the wood while Doreen calmly made coffee.
The image nearly broke him.
Felix spoke quietly.
“You can hate me.”
Abram did not look at him.
“I don’t have energy tonight.”
“I should have told you about Dad.”
“Yes.”
“I should have called you from Lake Briar.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid.”
Abram finally looked at his brother.
“So was Celia.”
Felix swallowed.
“And she still fought.”
Abram turned back toward the house.
A deputy appeared at the doorway.
“Morgan.”
Deputy Morgan entered.
She returned three minutes later.
Her expression had changed.
“Abram.”
He stepped closer.
“What?”
“Did your mother keep a firearm?”
“One pistol.”
“Location?”
“Bedroom safe.”
“It’s gone.”
Felix cursed.
Morgan continued.
“Her passport is also gone.”
Abram stared at her.
“Can she leave the country?”
“We’re flagging it.”
A second deputy appeared.
“We found the vehicle.”
Morgan turned.
“Where?”
“Detached garage.”
“Cold engine.”
Morgan frowned.
“So someone picked her up.”
Abram knew who.
“Martin.”
Morgan looked toward him.
“Possibly.”
Felix stared toward the road.
“They won’t go far together.”
Abram laughed without humor.
“You sound very confident for someone who kept Dad’s fake death secret seven years.”
Felix took the blow.
“I deserve that too.”
Morgan’s phone rang.
She stepped away.
Abram paced beside the cruiser.
He received a message.
Celia.
Dana is here.
Baby looks good.
Please come back when you can.
Abram stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
This one came from an unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
Abram opened it.
His blood froze.
The picture showed Celia sleeping in her hospital bed.
Taken through the partially open door.
The timestamp was eight minutes earlier.
Underneath it was one sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT YOUR FAMILY OUT OF THIS.
“Abram?”
Felix approached.
Abram showed him the phone.
Felix’s face changed.
“Morgan!”
The next ten minutes moved fast.
Hospital security locked down Celia’s floor.
Dana moved Celia to another room.
Two deputies were posted outside.
Security footage was pulled.
Abram drove back with Morgan following.
He called Celia from the car.
She answered immediately.
“I’m okay.”
“Do not open the door for anyone.”
“There are two deputies outside.”
“Dana stays with you.”
“She is.”
Abram gripped the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“All of it.”
“Abram.”
“I should have believed something was wrong sooner.”
“You did believe something was wrong.”
“I believed you left.”
“Because someone used my phone.”
“I should have known you wouldn’t leave like that.”
Celia was silent.
Abram felt the truth hurt before she spoke.
“I was angry with you before you went away.”
“I know.”
“We barely spoke the night before your trip.”
“I know.”
“That is why the message worked.”
Abram closed his eyes briefly.
Doreen had used the fracture already present in their marriage.
Celia continued.
“She knew we were fighting.”
Abram opened his eyes.
“How?”
“I told her.”
He almost missed the curve.
“What?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“You told my mother?”
“I was upset.”
“Why would you tell her?”
“Because she called me.”
Celia’s voice weakened.
“She was kind.”
Abram understood the trap.
Doreen had collected vulnerability the way other people collected recipes.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“She fooled all of us.”
Celia was quiet.
Then she said,
“Not all of us.”
Abram frowned.
“What?”
“Your father knew.”
The hospital corridor was nearly empty when Abram arrived.
Dana opened Celia’s new room.
Her face looked furious.
“Someone came dressed like hospital maintenance.”
Abram stared.
“What?”
“Security found him on camera.”
“Martin?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“They’re running facial recognition.”
Abram entered.
Celia was awake.
He crossed the room and hugged her carefully.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Dana held up a plastic evidence bag.
“This was under Celia’s old bed.”
Inside was a folded note.
Abram read it.
ONE WARNING.
DESTROY THE CLOUD COPY.
Abram looked at Celia.
“They know.”
Celia nodded.
“What cloud copy?”
“The deed photographs.”
“Anything else?”
Celia hesitated.
Abram saw it.
“What?”
“I recorded a video before I came to Doreen’s house.”
His heart jumped.
“What video?”
“I explained what I found.”
“Where is it?”
“Same folder.”
“Can you access it?”
“Yes.”
Dana moved toward the laptop.
Celia stopped her.
“There’s more.”
Abram waited.
“I copied files from Doreen’s computer.”
Abram stared.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why were you in her computer?”
“I wasn’t snooping.”
“She asked me to print invitations for her charity luncheon.”
“A folder opened automatically.”
“It was labeled FAMILY TRUST.”
Celia looked embarrassed.
“I saw your name.”
“So I opened it.”
“What was inside?”
“Scans.”
“Bank transfers.”
“Medical forms.”
“Copies of signatures.”
“Did you save them?”
“Yes.”
Abram stared at her.
“How much?”
“Almost four gigabytes.”
Dana whispered.
“Jesus.”
Abram sat beside Celia.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were already fighting with her about the land.”
“I wanted to know what I had before I accused her.”
Celia’s eyes filled.
“And then I saw the deed.”
Abram looked toward Dana.
“That is why they are threatening her.”
Dana nodded.
“The cabinet is bad.”
“But Celia’s files may show everything.”
They opened the cloud folder.
Celia entered the password.
A loading icon appeared.
Then an error message.
ACCOUNT ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Celia frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
She tried again.
Same message.
Dana pulled out her phone.
“Check your email.”
Celia opened it.
Three security alerts waited.
Someone had tried to reset the cloud password forty-three times.
Then a fourth email appeared.
PASSWORD RESET SUCCESSFUL.
Celia stared at the screen.
“I didn’t do that.”
Abram felt his stomach drop.
“Can they delete everything?”
“Yes.”
Dana immediately called Morgan.
Celia refreshed the folder.
Empty.
Everything was gone.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Then tears filled her eyes.
“No.”
Abram took her hand.
“No.”
“They got everything.”
Dana remained on the phone.
“We have the video from the shed recorder.”
“We have the cabinet.”
Celia shook her head.
“The cloud files were bigger.”
“How much bigger?”
“Years.”
Abram looked at her.
“What did you see?”
Celia struggled to breathe steadily.
“Payments to Martin.”
“Transfers from Elias’s accounts.”
“Insurance documents.”
“Something about Felix’s debt.”
Dana looked up.
Celia continued.
“And something labeled A.M. guardianship.”
Abram felt cold.
“A.M.?”
“You.”
Then Celia suddenly stopped.
Her eyes widened.
Abram followed her gaze.
A new file had appeared in the supposedly empty cloud folder.
Just one.
A video.
No filename.
Abram clicked it.
Doreen appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in the back seat of a moving car.
Her face was illuminated by passing streetlights.
Martin Vale sat beside her.
Doreen looked directly into the camera.
“If you are watching this, Celia, then you were smart enough to make a backup.”
Celia stared.
Doreen smiled.
“But you were not smart enough to understand what you copied.”
Martin said something from beside her.
Doreen ignored him.
“You think those records prove I stole from my husband.”
Her smile disappeared.
“They prove something much worse.”
Abram leaned closer.
Doreen continued.
“And if Abram learns what Elias did before he died, he will wish that shed door had never been opened.”
The video ended.
Dana whispered.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Abram did not answer.
Celia looked toward him.
Then the hospital room phone rang.
No one moved.
It rang again.
Abram slowly picked it up.
“Hello?”
A man spoke.
Not Martin.
Not Doreen.
An older voice.
“You don’t know me.”
Abram gripped the receiver.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Leonard Price.”
Abram waited.
The man continued.
“I was your father’s accountant.”
Abram stood.
“Where are you?”
“Driving.”
“Why are you calling?”
“Because I saw your mother’s face on the news.”
Abram’s pulse quickened.
Leonard inhaled.
May you like
“And because seven years ago, your father gave me instructions for exactly this moment.”
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