Chapter 5: The Photograph
Noah stared at the photograph.
His hands became cold.
Three days.
That was impossible.
Victor Shaw had supposedly been dead for four years.
Yet there he was.
Standing beside Evelyn.
Older, thinner, but unmistakably alive.
Daniel took the photograph from Noah.
“Where did you get this?””
“It was on the floor.””
Daniel turned it over.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“Why would someone write your name?””
Noah shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Let me see.””
Daniel handed him the photograph.
Marcus studied it.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“When did you see him?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
“When?””
“Three days ago.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
The truth seemed to hurt more each time it arrived.
“You met him here?””
“Yes.””
“In this house?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because he threatened me.””
Marcus shook his head.
“He threatened all of us.””
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew?””
“I suspected.””
“You knew she was meeting Victor?””
“No.””
Daniel pointed toward the photograph.
“You just recognized him.””
Marcus lowered his voice.
“I recognized the man.””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Noah noticed something on the photograph.
A reflection in the window behind Victor.
A vehicle.
Black SUV.
Its license plate was partially visible.
“Wait.””
Daniel looked.
“What?””
Noah pointed.
“That car.””
Marcus leaned closer.
He suddenly went pale.
“What?””
“That plate belongs to someone I know.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Who?””
Marcus swallowed.
“Your brother.””
Daniel went still.
“My brother died when I was seventeen.””
Marcus shook his head.
“Not that brother.””
Daniel's face tightened.
“I don't have another brother.””
Marcus stared at him.
“That's what I thought too.””
Before Daniel could respond, the basement door slammed shut upstairs.
Everyone looked toward the stairs.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Someone was walking across the floor above them.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Daniel raised a hand.
“Stay here.””
Noah followed.
They climbed the stairs.
The mansion was almost empty now.
Most guests had left.
Police officers were speaking quietly near the entrance.
Daniel walked into the reception room.
His father had once owned a massive oil painting that hung above the fireplace.
Tonight, it was slightly crooked.
Daniel stopped.
“My father.””
Noah looked at the painting.
“What about him?””
Daniel walked closer.
“He never smiled in photographs.””
Noah didn't understand.
“What?””
“My father always looked serious.””
Daniel reached behind the painting.
His fingers found a small metal latch.
He pulled.
The painting swung forward.
Behind it was a narrow safe.
Daniel stared.
“I didn't know this existed.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Maybe your father wanted you to find it.””
Daniel tried the keypad.
Nothing.
He entered his father's birthday.
Red light.
Incorrect.
He entered his own.
Red.
Then Evelyn whispered something.
“Try Mother's.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew about this?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Then why did you say that?””
“Because your father once told me there was a safe only your mother could open.””
Daniel entered the date.
Green.
The safe unlocked.
Inside was a single envelope.
Daniel removed it.
The front said:
*FOR MY SON, IF VICTOR EVER RETURNS.*
His hands trembled.
He opened it.
The letter was short.
Daniel read silently.
Then his face went white.
Noah watched him.
“What does it say?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Marcus took a step forward.
“Daniel?””
Daniel handed him the letter.
Marcus read it.
His eyes widened.
“No.””
Evelyn whispered, “What?””
Marcus looked at her.
“Your father knew.””
“About Victor?””
“About everything.””
Daniel snatched the letter back.
“What everything?””
Marcus pointed toward the last paragraph.
“Read that.””
Daniel did.
His father's handwriting filled the page.
It described money being stolen from the company.
False accounts.
Secret transfers.
Bribes.
And one name repeated throughout.
Victor Shaw.
But then Daniel reached the final sentence.
He read it twice.
Then a third time.
*Victor did not steal the money alone.*
Daniel looked up.
“Who helped him?””
The basement speaker crackled.
Everyone jumped.
Victor's voice came through again.
“Now you're asking the right question.””
Daniel looked around.
“Show yourself.””
“I don't need to.””
“You've been hiding for four years.””
“I was surviving.””
“You tried to kill me.””
“No.””
Victor's voice remained strangely calm.
“I didn't.””
Daniel looked toward the pitcher upstairs.
“Then who did?””
Silence.
Victor finally said:
“Your wife.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Daniel turned toward her.
Victor continued.
“She didn't poison you to get your fortune.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Then why?””
“Because she knew someone else was going to.””
Evelyn looked up.
“Victor…”
“Tell him.””
She shook her head.
Victor's voice became colder.
“You owe him the truth.””
Daniel stepped toward Evelyn.
“What truth?””
She backed away.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From whom?””
She said nothing.
“From whom, Evelyn?””
Her lips trembled.
“Your brother.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I don't have a brother.””
Evelyn looked directly into his eyes.
“You did.””
Daniel stopped breathing.
“His name was Michael.””
Marcus looked down.
Victor's voice came through one final time.
“Michael didn't die in an accident.””
Daniel's knees nearly buckled.
“What happened?””
The speaker went silent.
Then a text appeared on Daniel's phone.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
It showed a young man standing outside the Vale mansion.
Daniel stared at the face.
He knew it.
The resemblance was undeniable.
May you like
The message beneath the photo contained only six words:
*He has been watching you for years.*
