Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GONE
No one moved after Sophia said Mason Vale’s name.
Richard remained beside the open safe.
Ethan still held the gold key.
Natalie stood near the study door.
Sophia’s expression had changed completely.
The frightened woman from the hallway was gone.
For several seconds, Ethan felt as though he were looking at someone he had never met.
“Who came back for Dad?”
Ethan asked.
Sophia’s eyes remained on Richard.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You just did.”
“I said Mason came back.”
“You said he came back for him.”
Sophia gave a tiny shrug.
“Maybe I misspoke.”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“You staged an attack accusation twenty minutes ago.”
She pointed toward the destroyed study.
“And now Dad’s financial records are missing.”
Sophia looked at her.
“You should be careful what you accuse me of.”
Natalie stepped closer.
“That warning might have worked an hour ago.”
“It wasn’t a warning.”
“What was it?”
Sophia’s smile disappeared.
“Advice.”
Richard shut the safe.
The metal door slammed loudly.
Everyone flinched except Sophia.
Richard stared at her.
“How long have you been speaking to Mason?”
Sophia crossed her arms.
“I haven’t.”
Richard held up the strip of black plastic.
“Then explain this.”
“I can’t explain something I’ve never seen.”
Ethan spoke quietly.
“Your father trusted Mason.”
Sophia turned toward him.
“My father trusted many people who betrayed him.”
Richard stiffened.
There it was.
The first real glimpse of motive.
Ethan heard it too.
He stepped closer.
“This is about your father?”
Sophia laughed.
“You think everything is about money.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
She looked at Richard.
“This isn’t only about money.”
Richard studied her.
“Sophia.”
Her eyes became wet again.
This time she did not seem to be acting.
“My father died believing you destroyed him.”
Ethan frowned.
“Your father died from a heart attack.”
“After losing his company.”
Sophia pointed at Richard.
“After losing his reputation.”
“Victor stole from investors.”
Richard’s voice was calm.
Sophia exploded.
“You testified against him!”
The sudden shout echoed through the study.
Daniel stepped backward.
Natalie instinctively moved in front of her son.
Ethan stared at Sophia.
In eight years of marriage, she had almost never mentioned the court case.
Her father, Victor Kline, had been a wealthy financial adviser.
Fifteen years earlier he had been convicted of orchestrating a complicated investment fraud.
Richard Whitmore had been one of the witnesses.
Sophia had always claimed she accepted what her father had done.
Apparently she had lied about that too.
Richard’s face hardened.
“I testified because your father used the Whitmore pension account without authorization.”
“He asked you for help.”
“He asked me to lie.”
“You abandoned him.”
“He stole twelve million dollars from people who trusted him.”
Sophia stepped toward Richard.
“Those people got their money back.”
“Not all of them.”
“My father lost everything.”
“So did the families he defrauded.”
Sophia’s jaw clenched.
Ethan watched his wife carefully.
“You told me you stopped blaming Dad years ago.”
Sophia looked at him.
“I told you what you wanted to hear.”
That sentence landed harder than Ethan expected.
“What else did you tell me because it was what I wanted to hear?”
Sophia said nothing.
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
Richard walked toward his desk.
He picked up the house phone.
Sophia’s attention snapped toward it.
Richard noticed.
“So you are afraid of something.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Then you will not mind if I call the police.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“Richard.”
Ethan turned.
She had not called him Dad.
She rarely did.
But the way she said his first name carried something almost threatening.
Richard held her gaze.
Sophia lowered her voice.
“Think carefully before you do that.”
Richard stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because once people start investigating this family, they may find things you would rather keep buried.”
Natalie frowned.
“What things?”
Richard remained silent.
Sophia smiled.
Ethan looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Richard’s expression revealed nothing.
Sophia saw Ethan’s uncertainty.
She seized it immediately.
“Ask him.”
“Sophia.”
“Ask him why your mother almost left him in 1998.”
Richard’s face changed.
Natalie inhaled sharply.
Ethan stared at his father.
“What?”
Sophia continued.
“Ask him about the apartment on Briar Street.”
Richard stepped toward her.
“Enough.”
Sophia smiled.
“There he is.”
Ethan looked between them.
“What apartment?”
Richard’s voice was tight.
“Something completely unrelated.”
“Then explain it.”
“Not now.”
Sophia laughed.
“That’s exactly what he always says.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Not now.”
She pointed at Natalie.
“Not here.”
Then at Richard.
“Not in front of the family.”
Richard’s face became stern.
“Do not confuse privacy with guilt.”
Sophia crossed her arms.
“Then call the police.”
Everyone stared at her.
Five seconds earlier she had tried to stop him.
Now she appeared almost eager.
Richard noticed too.
He slowly lowered the receiver.
Sophia smiled.
“You changed your mind?”
“No.”
Richard looked at Ethan.
“I want everyone out of this room.”
Sophia spoke immediately.
“Why?”
“Because whoever opened that safe knew exactly where the audit report was.”
Richard turned toward the wall.
“And whoever entered this room may have left something else behind.”
Natalie looked around nervously.
“What do you mean?”
Richard pointed toward the smoke detector above the bookshelves.
“It is crooked.”
Everyone looked up.
Ethan frowned.
“Hasn’t it always been?”
“No.”
Richard walked beneath it.
“I changed the battery Monday.”
He pulled a chair beneath the detector.
Ethan grabbed his arm.
“I’ll do it.”
Richard looked at him.
For a second, neither man spoke.
Ethan’s eyes dropped toward the red mark on his father’s cheek again.
“Please.”
Richard stepped aside.
Ethan climbed onto the chair.
He twisted the smoke detector.
Something black fell from behind it.
Natalie gasped.
Ethan caught it.
It was no larger than a shirt button.
A tiny camera.
Nobody spoke.
Sophia stared at it.
Richard’s face went still.
“Hidden camera.”
Ethan stepped down.
He held the device beneath the desk lamp.
A microSD card protruded from the side.
Natalie looked toward Sophia.
“You put that there?”
Sophia shook her head.
“I’ve never seen it.”
Richard examined the device.
“This is not part of my security system.”
Martin finally spoke.
“Then whoever searched this room wanted to watch Richard.”
Sophia’s face tightened.
Richard turned toward his computer.
“The device may have wireless storage.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Can we access it?”
“Possibly.”
Sophia suddenly started toward the hallway.
Natalie blocked the door.
“Move.”
“No.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed.
“You have no right to keep me here.”
Natalie folded her arms.
“And you had no right to frame my father.”
Sophia took another step.
Natalie did not move.
For a terrifying second Ethan thought his wife might strike his sister.
Instead Sophia laughed.
“You’re all going to regret this.”
Richard looked toward her.
“Maybe.”
Then he held up the hidden camera.
“But first we are going to find out who was watching me.”
Richard connected the memory card to his computer.
There were dozens of video files.
The earliest had been recorded eleven days earlier.
Richard opened one.
The study appeared on screen.
Empty.
He clicked another.
Richard entered the room.
He sat at his desk.
Nothing unusual happened.
The next file showed Richard speaking on the phone.
The next showed him reviewing paperwork.
Sophia watched silently.
Ethan watched her rather than the screen.
Richard opened a file from three nights earlier.
At 1:13 a.m., the study door opened.
A figure entered.
The person wore dark clothing.
A hood covered most of the face.
The figure moved directly toward Richard’s desk.
No searching.
No hesitation.
The person knew exactly where to go.
The figure opened the bottom drawer.
Removed a folder.
Photographed several documents.
Then replaced everything.
Ethan leaned closer.
“Can you see the face?”
Richard paused the recording.
The hooded person had turned slightly.
Only the jaw was visible.
Natalie whispered.
“That could be anyone.”
Richard advanced the video.
The intruder reached toward the safe.
One sleeve pulled upward.
A tattoo appeared on the wrist.
Three thin black lines crossing a circle.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Sophia looked down.
Ethan slowly turned toward her.
“I’ve seen that tattoo.”
Sophia did not answer.
Ethan walked toward her.
“Mason had it.”
Sophia swallowed.
“You haven’t seen Mason in fifteen years.”
“I remember.”
“It could be anyone.”
Richard enlarged the image.
The resolution was poor.
But the tattoo was unmistakable.
Martin whispered.
“My God.”
Ethan continued staring at Sophia.
“When did you speak to him?”
“I didn’t.”
Richard opened another file.
This one was dated yesterday.
2:06 p.m.
The study was empty.
Then the door opened.
Sophia entered.
Ethan felt his stomach drop.
On screen, his wife closed the door behind herself.
She walked directly toward the hidden camera.
She looked straight into the lens.
Then she smiled.
Present-day Sophia shut her eyes.
Video Sophia spoke.
The audio was quiet.
Richard increased the volume.
Sophia’s recorded voice filled the study.
“He still has it.”
A man’s voice came from somewhere off camera.
“Where?”
“In the safe.”
Ethan turned toward Sophia.
Video Sophia continued.
“He’s getting suspicious.”
The male voice replied.
“Then accelerate the plan.”
Sophia nodded.
“What about Ethan?”
The man laughed quietly.
“Use him.”
Present-day Ethan looked devastated.
On screen, Sophia hesitated.
“He loves his father.”
The man responded.
“Then make him hate his father.”
The room went completely silent.
Richard stopped the video.
Nobody looked at Ethan.
He slowly sat down.
Sophia whispered.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Ethan laughed once.
His voice sounded broken.
“I watched you say it.”
“You don’t know the context.”
“What context makes that sentence better?”
Sophia stepped toward him.
“Ethan.”
He stood immediately.
“Don’t touch me.”
She stopped.
Richard looked at the screen.
“What does Mason want from my safe?”
Sophia did not answer.
Richard moved closer.
“What is he looking for?”
Nothing.
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
Then something occurred to him.
His face drained of color.
“The original deposition.”
Sophia looked at him.
That reaction was enough.
Ethan frowned.
“What deposition?”
Richard did not answer.
Sophia slowly smiled.
“You really never told them.”
Richard looked furious.
“Told us what?”
Natalie asked.
Sophia turned toward Ethan.
“The case that sent my father to prison was built around one witness.”
Richard said nothing.
Sophia continued.
“One witness who claimed he saw Victor Kline authorize the illegal transfers personally.”
Ethan glanced at Richard.
“And?”
Sophia’s smile widened.
“That witness disappeared six months after the trial.”
Richard spoke sharply.
“He did not disappear.”
Sophia looked at him.
“No?”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
Ethan stood.
“Where did he go?”
Richard hesitated.
Sophia’s eyes gleamed.
“Tell them.”
Richard looked at his children.
Then he said the name.
“Thomas Reed.”
Natalie’s face immediately changed.
Ethan noticed.
“You know him?”
Natalie stared at her father.
“Thomas Reed was Mom’s brother.”
Ethan froze.
His mother’s younger brother had supposedly died in Europe before Ethan finished college.
Richard looked suddenly older.
Sophia crossed her arms.
“Except Thomas Reed did not die in Europe.”
Ethan stared at his father.
“What is she talking about?”
Richard lowered his eyes.
Sophia delivered the answer.
“He disappeared because Richard paid him to disappear.”
Ethan’s voice became almost inaudible.
“Dad?”
Richard finally looked at his son.
“That is not what happened.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“Then tell them what happened.”
Richard’s phone rang.
The sound made everyone jump.
Richard looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Richard Whitmore.”
No one spoke on the other end.
Then a distorted male voice said four words.
“You should have stayed silent.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“Who is this?”
The line went dead.
Immediately afterward, the house lights went out.
Natalie screamed.
Daniel swore.
Ethan grabbed Sophia instinctively.
Richard shouted.
“Nobody move!”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Red illumination filled the study.
Then a violent crash came from downstairs.
Glass breaking.
A door slamming.
Richard looked toward the security monitor.
Every camera feed had gone black.
Except one.
The garage camera.
On the grainy screen, a man in a dark jacket was running toward a black sedan.
Richard enlarged the image.
The man turned his head.
Ethan stared.
Fifteen years had changed him.
His hair was gray now.
His face was thinner.
But Ethan remembered him.
“Mason.”
Sophia whispered something.
Ethan turned.
“What did you say?”
She looked toward the monitor.
“I said he wasn’t supposed to come inside.”
Nobody breathed.
Sophia realized too late what she had admitted.
Richard slowly looked at her.
“You knew he was here.”
Sophia backed away.
Ethan stared at his wife.
May you like
And downstairs, somewhere inside the dark mansion, another door quietly closed.
Mason Vale had not left alone.
