Chapter 8: The Night Dad Died
Mom sat at the kitchen table, staring at nothing.
Richard lay on the sofa while I wrapped a towel around his shoulder.
The bleeding had slowed.
But his face was pale.
“Mom,” I said.
She didn't respond.
“Mom.””
She looked up.
“I remember the night your father died.””
Her voice was barely audible.
“He came home late.””
I sat across from her.
“What happened?””
“He was frightened.””
“Why?””
“He kept looking through the windows.””
I waited.
“He told me someone had followed him.””
Richard spoke from the sofa.
“Who?””
Mom shook her head.
“I didn't know.””
“What did Dad give you?””
“A black ledger.””
I leaned forward.
“What did it look like?””
“Small. Leather. About this thick.””
She held her fingers apart.
“Where is it?””
“I don't know.””
“Mom.””
“I don't!””
Her voice cracked.
“I haven't seen it since that night.””
I looked at Richard.
He slowly sat up.
“Your father wouldn't have left it somewhere obvious.””
“He gave it to her.””
“Then he probably told her where to hide it.””
Mom closed her eyes.
Then suddenly she stood.
“Wait.””
She walked toward the pantry.
We followed.
She moved several jars aside.
Behind them was a loose wooden panel.
She pulled it open.
Inside was a small cavity.
Empty.
Mom's hands began to shake.
“No.””
“What?”” I asked.
“He put it here.””
“When?””
“The morning after he died.””
She stared at the empty compartment.
“I remember putting something here.””
Richard looked at me.
“Someone took it.””
I felt a cold rush through me.
“Who had access to the house?””
Mom slowly turned.
“Stephanie.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“She came here.””
“When?””
“Two weeks before the wedding.””
“You told me she never came inside alone.””
“She didn't.””
Mom's expression changed.
“Richard was here too.””
I turned toward him.
He looked away.
“You both knew?””
Richard shook his head.
“I knew Stephanie was searching for something. I didn't know what.””
“That's a lie.””
“No.””
He stood.
“I was trying to stop her.””
“Then why did you help her?””
“Because your father told me to watch her.””
“You've been watching her for a year.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because she was trying to infiltrate the group behind Silver Meadow.””
I stared at him.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“You don't have to.””
He reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a photograph.
It showed Stephanie sitting across from three men in a restaurant.
One of them was her father.
The second was Richard.
The third was a man I didn't recognize.
On the back was a date.
Three months before my wedding.
Richard said, “Stephanie was negotiating with them.””
“For the farm?””
“No.””
“For me?””
“Yes.””
He placed another photograph on the table.
Stephanie stood outside a hospital.
Beside her was my father.
Alive.
I stared.
“That's impossible.””
The photograph was dated three days before Dad died.
I looked at Mom.
“Did you know he went to the hospital?””
“No.””
Richard nodded.
“He wasn't there as a patient.””
“Then why?””
“He was meeting someone.””
“Who?””
Richard hesitated.
“Stephanie.””
My head spun.
“Dad met Stephanie before I ever knew her?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because she was the daughter of the man your father suspected.””
“Her father?””
Richard nodded.
“Jonathan Ward.””
Stephanie's father.
I stood.
“So Dad knew her family.””
“He knew what they were capable of.””
“Then why did he tell me to trust Stephanie?””
Richard looked at me.
“Because he didn't.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“That recording was edited.””
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“You're saying my father's message was fake?””
“Not fake.””
“Then what?””
“Someone removed the middle section.””
My heart dropped.
“Who?””
“Stephanie.””
I stepped toward him.
“Why?””
“Because your father discovered she was planning to betray her own family.””
I shook my head.
“Then why would she humiliate my mother?””
Richard didn't answer.
“Why?”” I demanded.
“Because she needed everyone to believe the marriage had failed.””
I stared.
Richard continued.
“She needed to make the wedding look broken.””
“Why?””
“So the people watching would think you had separated from her.””
I remembered the ballroom.
Stephanie's insult.
Her cold expression.
Her words.
You'll regret this.
Could it have been an act?
“No.””
I shook my head.
“She called Mom a peasant.””
Richard looked at me.
“That part was real.””
I stopped.
He continued.
“Stephanie may have been trying to protect you, but she was also trying to save herself.””
“From her family?””
“Yes.””
I remembered the look on Stephanie's face when she saw Mom.
The disgust.
The cruelty.
The sudden panic when I took the ring.
Maybe it hadn't all been theater.
Maybe some of it had.
That uncertainty was worse.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Stephanie.
Charles, I'm coming to Willowbrook.
I typed:
Why?
Her answer came:
Because there's something I need to tell you in person.
Then another message:
Your mother is in danger.
Mom looked at me.
“What did she say?””
Before I could answer, every light in the house went out.
Richard stood immediately.
“They're here.””
A car door slammed outside.
Then another.
I looked through the window.
Three black vehicles were parked along the driveway.
Men stepped out.
One of them carried a rifle.
Mom whispered:
“Charlie…”
Richard grabbed my arm.
“There's a safe room.””
“Where?””
“Behind the library.””
We moved quickly.
I pulled a bookshelf aside.
A steel door appeared.
Richard entered a code.
The door opened.
Mom stepped inside.
I followed.
Richard shut it.
Through the tiny security monitor, I watched the men enter the house.
Then the front door opened again.
Stephanie walked inside.
She wasn't wearing makeup.
Her hair was disheveled.
She looked terrified.
One of the men grabbed her arm.
She fought him.
“Let me go!””
The man slapped her.
I clenched my fists.
Richard whispered:
“Don't move.””
Stephanie looked directly toward the hidden camera.
For one second, our eyes met through the screen.
Then she mouthed two words.
*Help me.*
A man turned her toward the hallway.
“Where is Charles?””
Stephanie stared at him.
“I don't know.””
The man raised his gun.
“You're lying.””
She closed her eyes.
Then she said:
“Ask his mother.””
Mom covered her mouth.
I looked at her.
The men began walking toward the kitchen.
Toward the hidden compartment.
Toward the place where the ledger had been.
Then Stephanie screamed:
“Charles!””
The security monitor went black.
May you like
And from the darkness outside the safe room came a single sentence.
“Come out, and we'll let your mother live.””
