Chapter 4: The Man Waiting at Midnight
Marcus read the message again.
*You have until midnight to bring me the original ownership certificate.*
He looked at the photograph of his father.
Richard Reed was sitting in a leather chair, wearing the navy suit Marcus had buried him in eleven months earlier.
The photograph looked recent.
There was a newspaper on the table beside him.
The date was visible.
November 2.
Yesterday.
Marcus felt his stomach twist.
His father hadn't just survived.
He had been alive all along.
“Daddy?””
Ava's small voice pulled him back.
Marcus quickly locked his phone.
“What's wrong, sweetheart?””
“Why are you shaking?””
He forced a smile.
“I'm just tired.””
Ava studied his face.
Then she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Can we go home?””
He looked at Claire.
She was still lying in the hospital bed, her face pale beneath the fluorescent lights.
“I need to get you both somewhere safe,” he said.
Claire shook her head.
“Marcus, don't go to that meeting.””
“I have to.””
“No. That's exactly what they want.””
“They threatened Ava.””
“And if you walk into a trap, who will protect her?””
Marcus had no answer.
Claire reached for his hand.
“Call the detective.””
“I will.””
“Promise me.””
He nodded.
Then he stepped into the corridor and dialed Detective Miller.
The detective answered on the second ring.
“Reed?””
“My father just contacted me.””
There was a brief silence.
“What did he say?””
“He wants the original ownership certificate. He's threatening my daughter.””
“Where are you?””
“Charleston Memorial.””
“Stay there. Don't move.””
“Detective, I need you to understand something. If that photograph is real, my father has been alive for eleven months.””
“We're aware of that possibility.””
“Then why haven't you found him?””
“Because someone has been protecting him.””
Marcus looked through the glass toward Claire's room.
“Vanessa?””
“Possibly. But there's another person we're investigating.””
“Daniel Pierce?””
“Yes.””
Marcus lowered his voice.
“I think my father is at the old lakeside house.””
Detective Miller paused.
“Why?””
“He sent a message about the original ownership certificate. My father used to keep important documents there.””
“Where exactly?””
“Blackwater Lake. The property was supposed to be sold after his death.””
“Mr. Reed, listen carefully. Do not go there alone.””
“I won't.””
“Good. I'll send officers to your location.””
Marcus ended the call.
He returned to Claire's room.
“I'm going to the police station. They'll move you somewhere secure.””
Claire looked worried.
“Marcus?””
“Yes?””
“Your father always had a second key.””
“To what?””
“The cellar beneath the house.””
Marcus frowned.
“I didn't know there was a cellar.””
“You were a child. He never let you go down there.””
A memory surfaced.
His father standing in front of a wooden door.
A warning.
Some rooms are better left closed, son.
Marcus swallowed.
“What was down there?””
Claire looked toward Ava.
“I don't know. But Vanessa asked me about it.””
“When?””
“Three weeks ago. She wanted to know whether I remembered the combination to the cellar lock.””
Marcus stared.
“Why would she ask you?””
“Because your father once gave me something.””
“What?””
Claire reached beneath her pillow and pulled out a small brass key.
“He told me to keep it safe.””
Marcus took it.
The key was old, worn around the edges.
On its handle were two engraved letters.
R.R.
Richard Reed.
“Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?””
“Because I didn't know what it opened.””
Claire squeezed his fingers.
“Now I think I do.””
At 10:15 p.m., Detective Miller arrived with two officers.
He examined the key.
“Where did you get this?””
Claire explained.
The detective turned it over in his hand.
“Interesting.””
Marcus frowned.
“What?””
“There's an address engraved on the back.””
Marcus leaned closer.
A tiny sequence of numbers had been scratched into the brass.
*17-04-91.*
“My father's birthday,” Marcus whispered.
Detective Miller looked at him.
“Then I think we should visit the property.””
“Now?””
“Now.””
Marcus glanced toward Ava.
“I can't leave her.””
“We'll arrange protection for both of them.””
A female officer approached Claire's bed.
“Mrs. Reed, we'll be transferring you to a secure medical unit. Your daughter can stay with you.””
Ava immediately grabbed Marcus's hand.
“Are you going somewhere?””
He crouched.
“I need to find out what's happening.””
“Will you come back?””
“Before breakfast.””
She looked uncertain.
Marcus removed his watch and placed it in her palm.
“Keep this for me.””
Ava examined the silver face.
“Grandpa's watch?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I want you to have something that reminds you how much I love you.””
She closed her fingers around it.
“Okay.””
Marcus kissed her forehead.
Then he stood.
Claire caught his sleeve.
“Don't trust anything your father tells you.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because he was never the man you thought he was.””
The drive to Blackwater Lake took forty minutes.
Rain had begun falling by the time Marcus and Detective Miller reached the property.
The house stood at the end of a narrow gravel road, surrounded by tall oak trees.
Its windows were dark.
The wooden porch sagged slightly.
Marcus hadn't visited in nearly two years.
He stepped out of the police vehicle.
The smell of wet earth brought back memories of childhood summers.
His father teaching him to fish.
His mother making pancakes in the kitchen.
His father carrying him on his shoulders after he fell off his bicycle.
For years, Marcus had believed that house represented the happiest part of his life.
Now it felt like the entrance to a nightmare.
Detective Miller raised his hand.
“Stay behind me.””
They approached the front door.
It was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and cigarette smoke.
Marcus stopped.
His father had quit smoking twenty years earlier.
“Someone's been here,” he whispered.
Miller nodded.
An officer moved toward the kitchen.
Another checked the staircase.
Marcus walked into the living room.
The old photographs were still hanging on the wall.
His graduation.
His parents' anniversary.
His first construction project.
And one picture of Richard holding baby Marcus.
Marcus touched the frame.
A voice came from the darkness.
“You always were sentimental.””
Marcus froze.
A lamp switched on.
A man sat in the leather chair.
The same chair from the photograph.
The same navy suit.
The same silver watch.
Richard Reed.
Older.
Thinner.
But alive.
Marcus took one step forward.
“Dad?””
Richard smiled.
“Hello, son.””
Marcus couldn't move.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then anger replaced disbelief.
“You let me bury you.””
Richard stood.
“I had no choice.””
“You let me stand beside your grave!””
“I know.””
“You watched me cry at your funeral!””
Richard lowered his eyes.
“Marcus, there are things you don't understand.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You're right. I don't understand why my father would fake his death.””
Detective Miller stepped forward.
“Richard Reed, we're going to need you to come with us.””
Richard glanced at him.
“Of course. The police.””
Then he looked back at Marcus.
“Did Vanessa send you?””
“No.””
Richard nodded slowly.
“Then she hasn't told you everything.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where is the ownership certificate?””
Richard's smile disappeared.
“So she sent you for it.””
“No. You threatened my daughter.””
Richard's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely surprised.
“Vanessa threatened Ava?””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Don't pretend you care about her.””
Richard turned toward the window.
“Your daughter is the reason I did all of this.””
Marcus felt his stomach turn.
“What?””
Richard walked toward a small cabinet.
He opened it and removed a thick envelope.
“Your mother died believing I was a decent man. I wanted to preserve that image.””
“What are you talking about?””
Richard placed the envelope on the table.
“Open it.””
Marcus looked at Detective Miller.
The detective nodded.
Marcus opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
Legal documents.
And a birth certificate.
He stared at the name printed on it.
Then he looked at his father.
“Who is this?””
Richard sat down.
“Your half-brother.””
Marcus looked again.
The certificate listed Richard Reed as the father.
But the mother's name was unfamiliar.
“Why am I seeing this?””
“Because Vanessa knows about him.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does Vanessa have to do with your other child?””
Richard leaned forward.
“Everything.””
Then he said something that made Marcus's blood run cold.
“Vanessa isn't trying to steal your company, Marcus.””
May you like
He pointed to the ownership certificate inside the envelope.
“She already owns it.””
