Chapter 5: Behind the Wall
David spun around.
“Ethan!””
He grabbed the nursery door.
Locked.
“Rosa!””
“I have him!””
David heard Rosa shouting from inside.
“David, we're okay!””
The stranger was already running down the stairs.
David chased him.
“Stop!””
The man didn't turn.
David reached the bottom just as the front door slammed.
He threw it open.
The black SUV was gone.
He stepped onto the porch.
Rain had begun falling.
Behind him, Rosa unlocked the nursery.
David rushed back upstairs.
Ethan ran into his arms.
“Daddy!””
David held him.
“Are you hurt?””
“No.””
“Did he touch you?””
Ethan shook his head.
“He opened the door and then ran.””
David looked at Rosa.
“What happened?””
Rosa was pale.
“He had a key.””
David stared at the metal key he'd seen in the man's hand.
“Did he say anything?””
Rosa shook her head.
“No.””
Ethan tugged David's sleeve.
“Daddy?””
“What?””
“He said something before he left.””
David crouched.
“What did he say?””
Ethan swallowed.
“He said, ‘Your mom shouldn't have trusted the housekeeper.’”
David looked at Rosa.
She went completely still.
“What does that mean?”” David asked.
“I don't know.””
David stared at her.
“Rosa, what did my wife tell you before she died?””
Rosa lowered her eyes.
“I promised her I wouldn't say.””
“She is dead.””
“I know.””
“She left me a message telling me to trust you.””
Rosa's eyes filled with tears.
“She knew this day might come.””
David's voice softened.
“Then tell me everything.””
Rosa looked toward Ethan.
“Not in front of him.””
Ethan spoke quietly.
“I want to know.””
Rosa knelt.
“Ethan, some things are frightening.””
“I already know frightening things.””
The words broke something in Rosa's expression.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
“Your mother was afraid someone wanted to hurt you.””
Ethan stared at her.
“Why?””
“Because of your father's money.””
David's face tightened.
“What money?””
Rosa looked at him.
“Your wife told me about the trust.””
“I didn't know.””
“She didn't want you to know until she had proof.””
David sat down.
“Why?””
“Because she believed someone close to you was manipulating the accounts.””
“Vanessa?””
Rosa nodded.
“She found papers in Vanessa's room.””
“What papers?””
“Copies of your signature.””
David frowned.
“My signature?””
“On documents you never signed.””
The room seemed to shrink.
David looked at the USB drive.
“Then what's on this?””
“Your wife told me it contained everything.””
“Everything?””
“Everything she found.””
David connected the drive to his laptop.
A folder appeared.
There were dozens of files.
Bank statements.
Scanned contracts.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
And one folder labeled:
*IF DAVID OPENS THIS*
David's hands trembled.
He clicked it.
A video file appeared.
He opened it.
His wife's face filled the screen.
She looked thinner than he remembered.
Exhausted.
But alive.
David stopped breathing.
“David,” she said in the recording, “if you're watching this, something happened to me.””
He covered his mouth.
Ethan moved closer.
“Mom?””
David nodded.
“Yes.””
His wife continued.
“I need you to believe me.””
The video showed her sitting at the same desk David now used.
“I was wrong about Vanessa at first. I thought she wanted you. I thought she wanted this family. But she doesn't.””
She looked directly into the camera.
“She wants Ethan.””
David's eyes hardened.
“Not because she loves him.””
His wife's voice dropped.
“Because of what he will inherit.””
A file appeared beside the video.
*Trust Amendment — Draft*
David opened it.
His name was typed at the top.
Ethan's name appeared underneath.
The document would transfer control of the trust to a new guardian if David became incapacitated.
The proposed guardian was Vanessa.
David stared at the screen.
“She was trying to make herself his guardian.””
Rosa nodded.
His wife continued speaking.
“I confronted her.””
David looked back at the video.
“She denied everything. Then she told me something that frightened me.””
His wife paused.
“She said, ‘If you keep digging, you'll find out what happened to the first wife.’”
David froze.
“What first wife?””
Rosa's face went white.
David turned toward her.
“Rosa?””
She whispered, “I never knew about a first wife.””
His wife's recording continued.
“I checked Vanessa's history. There was another man. Another family. Another child.””
David stared.
“Her previous husband died under suspicious circumstances.””
The video suddenly glitched.
David leaned toward the screen.
His wife's voice became distorted.
Then one clear sentence came through.
“Vanessa is not her real name.””
The screen went black.
Ethan whispered, “Daddy?””
David didn't answer.
A notification appeared on the laptop.
*NEW FILE RECEIVED.*
David clicked it.
A scanned driver's license appeared.
The woman's photograph was Vanessa.
But the name wasn't Vanessa.
It was *Claire Whitmore*.
David's stomach turned.
Underneath the license was another photograph.
A newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
*LOCAL MAN DIES AFTER FALL FROM BALCONY — WIFE CLEARED*
David stared at the photograph of the dead man.
Then at Claire.
Then at Ethan.
Rosa whispered, “There was a child in that family too.””
David looked up.
“What happened to the child?””
Rosa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
The laptop chimed again.
Another file appeared.
This one was labeled:
*CHILD — ETHAN'S AGE*
David clicked it.
A photograph loaded.
A little boy stood beside Claire.
Eight years old.
Same dark hair.
Same narrow face.
David stared at the screen.
Then he looked at Ethan.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Daddy…”
David couldn't speak.
At the bottom of the file was one sentence.
*The boy in this photograph is still alive.*
And beneath it was an address.
May you like
An address David recognized.
It was less than ten miles from their house.
