Chapter 8 - Mrs. Howard’s Secret
Police searched the grounds for nearly two hours.
Mrs. Howard was nowhere inside the mansion.
Her car remained in the garage.
Her phone had been left in the library.
Richard stood beneath the front portico watching officers move through the rain.
He felt seventeen years old again.
That was how old he had been the first time he saw his father threaten his mother.
Charles Howard had slammed a crystal glass against the wall.
Then he had calmly told everyone the sound came from an accident.
Richard had believed him.
Children often accepted the explanations adults gave them.
Now he wondered how many accidents in his family had never been accidents.
At 2:41 a.m., Elena called.
“Check the greenhouse.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
“Your mother used to hide there when your father had guests.”
“How do you know that?”
“She told me.”
Richard and Ruiz crossed the rear gardens.
Behind the greenhouse, they discovered a narrow door almost completely hidden by ivy.
It opened into an old service tunnel.
The tunnel led beneath the east wing.
At the end stood a steel door.
Richard had lived in the mansion most of his life.
He had never seen it.
Inside was a small records room.
Mrs. Howard sat at a desk surrounded by boxes.
She looked up when Richard entered.
“I was going to come back.”
Richard stared at her.
“You disappeared from a police scene.”
“I needed these first.”
She pushed a stack of ledgers toward Ruiz.
Charles Howard’s name appeared across the covers.
Ruiz opened one.
Inside were coded payments.
Gerald Pike.
Private physicians.
Security firms.
Offshore companies.
Richard saw one entry dated two weeks before Daniel’s crash.
M. REESE - VEHICLE TRANSFER - $140,000.
Richard’s hands went cold.
“Who is M. Reese?”
Mrs. Howard looked at him.
“Daniel’s mechanic.”
Richard stepped away from the desk.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew something.”
“I suspected.”
“For seven years?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I was terrified.”
“Of Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Dad is dead.”
“But Gerald isn’t.”
Ruiz interrupted.
“Mrs. Howard, why did you write that note?”
She looked down.
“Because Charles started hiding evidence.”
“And you wanted to finish hiding it?”
“No.”
She raised her eyes.
“I wanted to finish what he failed to do.”
Richard frowned.
She pulled open a drawer.
Inside was a cassette recorder.
“My husband began recording Gerald during the final months of his life.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles finally became afraid of him.”
Ruiz inserted the oldest cassette.
Static filled the room.
Then Charles Howard’s voice emerged.
“If Daniel comes back, Gerald, everything collapses.”
Gerald answered.
“Then make sure he doesn’t.”
Richard gripped the table.
The recording continued.
Charles sounded angry.
“You said the Colorado solution was permanent.”
Gerald replied calmly.
“I said the car would disappear.”
“I never said your son was inside it.”
Nobody moved.
Richard felt the blood drain from his face.
Daniel had not died in that car.
Charles Howard had known.
Gerald Pike had known.
And someone had spent seven years keeping the truth buried.
Ruiz’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
“We found Pike’s vehicle.”
Richard turned.
“Where?”
“Airport parking.”
“Is he gone?”
“No.”
Ruiz looked at Mrs. Howard.
“He never entered the terminal.”
“He switched cars.”
Mrs. Howard whispered, “Then he’s going to Daniel.”
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
“You know where Daniel is?”
Mrs. Howard did not answer.
That silence was enough.
May you like
Richard stared at his mother.
“You’ve known all along.”
