Chapter 3 - SOMEONE WAS STILL INSIDE THE HOUSE
Richard ordered everyone to stay in the study.
Nobody listened.
Ethan was already moving toward the hallway.
Richard caught his shoulder.
“Wait.”
“There’s someone in the house.”
“That is exactly why you wait.”
Ethan stared at him.
Richard released him.
The authority Ethan remembered from childhood had returned to his father’s voice.
Richard opened the desk drawer.
He removed a powerful flashlight.
Then he looked at Martin.
“Call the police from your mobile.”
Martin nodded.
Richard turned toward Natalie.
“Stay with Daniel.”
Natalie looked offended.
“I’m forty-five.”
“And Daniel is seventeen.”
“That doesn’t make me helpless.”
“No.”
Richard looked at the dark hallway.
“It makes you his mother.”
Natalie immediately took her son’s hand.
Ethan looked at Sophia.
“Who else came with Mason?”
Sophia shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You just said he wasn’t supposed to come inside.”
“I knew he might be outside.”
“Why?”
She stayed silent.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Why?”
Richard intervened.
“Later.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“You’ve both been saying that all night.”
Richard met his eyes.
“One of them lied to destroy me.”
He looked toward Sophia.
“The other is trying to keep you alive.”
That stopped Ethan.
Richard led the way downstairs.
Ethan followed.
Martin came behind them despite Richard telling him to remain upstairs.
The mansion was almost completely dark.
Only red emergency lights illuminated the corridors.
Richard knew every corner of the house.
Ethan had grown up there.
Yet tonight it felt unfamiliar.
Every shadow looked occupied.
Every creak sounded deliberate.
They reached the main foyer.
Broken glass covered the marble floor.
The narrow window beside the rear entrance had been shattered.
Ethan pointed.
“He came through there.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The glass is outside.”
Ethan looked closer.
Richard was right.
Most of the broken pieces lay on the patio beyond the door.
“Someone broke it from inside.”
Martin whispered.
“To make us think somebody entered.”
Richard nodded.
“Or left.”
Ethan’s phone vibrated.
He nearly dropped it.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
DON’T TRUST YOUR FATHER.
Beneath the words was a photograph.
Ethan opened it.
His breathing stopped.
The photograph showed Richard standing beside a much younger man near a dock.
The date in the corner was seventeen years earlier.
The younger man was Ethan’s uncle Thomas Reed.
Alive.
Ethan enlarged the picture.
A third person was partly visible inside a car behind them.
Ethan looked at Richard.
“What is this?”
Richard’s face tightened.
“Not now.”
Ethan shoved the phone toward him.
“You keep saying that.”
Martin looked over Ethan’s shoulder.
His expression changed.
“Thomas.”
Richard took the phone.
The message disappeared automatically.
Then another arrived.
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED AT LAKE VERNON.
Ethan stared.
Richard handed the phone back.
“Mason is trying to divide us.”
“He doesn’t need much help.”
Richard flinched.
Ethan regretted the sentence immediately.
Before either could respond, a sound came from the library.
A drawer sliding shut.
Richard raised the flashlight.
Martin reached for the light switch.
“Don’t.”
Richard whispered.
They moved quietly.
Ethan’s heart pounded.
The library door was open two inches.
Richard pushed it slowly.
Nothing.
He swept the flashlight across the room.
Bookshelves.
Desk.
Sofa.
Fireplace.
Empty.
Then Ethan noticed movement behind the curtains.
He crossed the room.
Richard grabbed him.
But Ethan pulled free.
He tore the curtain aside.
A woman screamed.
Ethan stumbled backward.
Their housekeeper, Anna Morales, collapsed against the window.
Her hands were trembling.
“Anna?”
She could barely breathe.
Richard hurried toward her.
“What happened?”
Anna pointed toward the servants’ corridor.
“A man.”
“Mason?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall.”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
“Gray hair.”
“He came through the kitchen.”
Ethan crouched.
“Was he alone?”
Anna looked at him.
Then her eyes shifted toward Sophia, who had appeared in the library doorway.
Anna’s face changed instantly.
Fear.
Pure fear.
Sophia noticed.
“So now you’re going to accuse me too?”
Anna said nothing.
Richard looked between them.
“Anna.”
The housekeeper swallowed.
“I saw Mrs. Whitmore with him before.”
Ethan froze.
Sophia laughed.
“That’s a lie.”
Anna flinched.
“When?”
Richard asked.
Anna hesitated.
Sophia stepped into the room.
“You should think carefully.”
Richard turned.
“What did you just say?”
Sophia folded her arms.
“I said she should think carefully before accusing me.”
Anna began trembling harder.
Ethan noticed.
He moved between the women.
“When did you see Sophia with Mason?”
Anna looked at him.
“Last Thursday.”
Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
Anna continued.
“Near the old greenhouse.”
“I was in New York last Thursday.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“You told me you were in New York.”
“I was.”
Anna shook her head.
“I saw you.”
Sophia stepped toward her.
“You’re mistaken.”
“I am not.”
“You’re sixty years old and you refuse to wear your glasses.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“Enough.”
Anna looked at Richard.
“They were arguing.”
“About what?”
“I could not hear everything.”
Sophia’s breathing changed.
Anna looked down.
“I heard Mrs. Whitmore say something about papers.”
Ethan stared at his wife.
“What papers?”
Anna shook her head.
“And I heard the man say…”
She stopped.
Sophia interrupted.
“This is absurd.”
Richard raised one hand.
“Let her finish.”
Anna’s eyes filled with tears.
“He said if Richard found the real signature, everything was over.”
Richard’s face changed.
Ethan noticed immediately.
“What signature?”
Richard turned away.
Sophia moved toward the door.
Ethan blocked her.
“Not this time.”
“Move.”
“No.”
Sophia looked up at him.
“You’re frightening me.”
Ethan nearly laughed.
“You spent the last hour frightening everyone else.”
She glared.
Richard suddenly left the library.
Ethan followed.
“Dad?”
Richard crossed the foyer.
He headed toward a portrait hanging beside the staircase.
Behind the portrait was an old concealed cabinet Ethan had seen only twice.
Richard unlocked it.
He removed a narrow metal box.
Sophia stopped walking.
Richard placed the box on the console table.
Inside were old legal documents.
Photographs.
Letters.
And a sealed envelope marked:
VICTOR KLINE — ORIGINAL.
Sophia stared.
Richard opened it.
Empty.
He looked stunned.
“No.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“What was supposed to be there?”
Richard searched the box.
“The authorization form.”
“For what?”
“The transfer that started the entire Kline investigation.”
Sophia remained silent.
Richard looked toward her.
“The original had Victor’s signature.”
Ethan frowned.
“Didn’t the court have it?”
“A copy.”
“Why do you have the original?”
Richard’s eyes darkened.
“Because Thomas gave it to me.”
Ethan stared.
“Mom’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard hesitated.
“Because he was Victor Kline’s silent partner.”
Nobody spoke.
Martin cursed under his breath.
Natalie had entered behind them.
“Uncle Thomas worked with Sophia’s father?”
Richard nodded.
“For almost six years.”
Sophia smiled strangely.
“You really kept them ignorant.”
Richard ignored her.
Ethan’s anger returned.
“You let us believe Thomas barely knew Victor.”
“I was protecting your mother.”
“From what?”
Richard closed the metal box.
“From learning that her brother helped build Victor’s scheme.”
Natalie looked horrified.
“You said Uncle Thomas was a witness.”
“He was.”
“To his own crime?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stared.
Sophia stepped forward.
“And Richard offered him immunity.”
Richard turned sharply.
“I did not control the prosecution.”
“You gave them Thomas.”
“I convinced Thomas to cooperate.”
Sophia’s eyes flashed.
“And then you helped him disappear.”
Richard shook his head.
“I helped him survive.”
Ethan looked sick.
“What does that mean?”
Richard took a long breath.
“Victor learned Thomas was cooperating.”
Silence.
“Two men followed Thomas home.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
Richard continued.
“The prosecutor believed Thomas was in danger.”
“So he went into witness protection?”
Ethan asked.
Richard hesitated.
“Not officially.”
Sophia laughed.
“There.”
Richard ignored her.
Ethan looked increasingly angry.
“What do you mean, not officially?”
“Thomas refused.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother was dying.”
Natalie’s eyes filled.
Their mother, Margaret Whitmore, had battled cancer during the final years of the Kline investigation.
Richard continued.
“Thomas wanted to remain close enough to see her.”
“So you hid him?”
“Yes.”
“At Lake Vernon?”
Richard nodded.
Ethan looked at his phone.
The message suddenly made sense.
“What happened there?”
Richard’s expression became haunted.
Before he could answer, Anna gasped.
Everyone turned.
A small red light was blinking inside the metal box.
Richard reached down.
Buried beneath the papers was another listening device.
Sophia stepped back.
Ethan grabbed the device.
A tiny screen showed an active connection.
Someone was listening to them right now.
Richard snatched it from Ethan.
He crushed it beneath his shoe.
Immediately Ethan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Mason?”
A man laughed.
Older.
Rougher.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan’s entire body went rigid.
Richard stepped closer.
Mason continued.
“You always were impatient.”
“Where are you?”
“Close enough.”
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You broke into my father’s house.”
“Your father broke into someone else’s life first.”
Ethan glanced at Richard.
Mason laughed again.
“Ask him about the lake.”
Richard grabbed the phone.
“Mason.”
The laughter stopped.
Richard’s voice hardened.
“If you come near my family again—”
“Your family?”
Mason sounded almost amused.
“Still claiming ownership of people, Richard?”
Richard tightened his grip.
“What do you want?”
“The original authorization.”
“It’s gone.”
“I know.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Mason paused.
“Because Sophia took it three weeks ago.”
Everyone looked at her.
Sophia’s face drained of color.
Mason continued.
“But she made one mistake.”
Ethan stared at Sophia.
“What mistake?”
“She thought it proved her father was innocent.”
Sophia whispered.
“Stop.”
Mason heard her.
His voice became colder.
“Hello, Sophia.”
She looked terrified for the first time.
Richard stared at her.
Mason continued.
“You should have told them.”
Sophia backed away.
“Hang up.”
Ethan held out a hand.
“No.”
Mason chuckled.
“You still haven’t told your husband what was on the back of that document?”
Sophia shook her head desperately.
Ethan looked at her.
“What was on it?”
Mason answered.
“Another signature.”
Richard suddenly closed his eyes.
Ethan looked toward him.
“Whose?”
Mason said the name slowly.
“Margaret Whitmore.”
Nobody moved.
Natalie whispered.
“Mom?”
Mason continued.
“Your mother signed the transfer too.”
Ethan stared at Richard.
Mason’s final sentence came almost gently.
“And if the original document is genuine, Ethan, your father spent fifteen years letting the world blame Sophia’s father for a crime your own mother helped commit.”
The call ended.
Ethan slowly lowered the phone.
Sophia looked at Richard.
Richard looked older than seventy-five now.
Ethan’s voice broke.
“Tell me that isn’t true.”
Richard stared at his son.
Then he said the one answer Ethan had not expected.
May you like
“I don’t know.”
And somewhere outside the mansion, a car engine started.
