Chapter 6 - THE MAN THEY BURIED
Nobody spoke.
Mason stared at the old man.
“You're Victor Vale.”
The man smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
Victor looked at him.
“You still hold a gun the same way your father did.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You killed him.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“You framed him.”
“No.”
“You destroyed his life.”
Victor looked tired.
“Your father destroyed his own life.”
Daniel took a step forward.
Mason stopped him.
“Why are you here?”
Victor looked at the ledger.
“Because your father left something unfinished.”
“You tried to poison me.”
Victor's face hardened.
“No.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“Then why was your watch found in the kitchen?”
“Because someone wanted you to believe I did it.”
Victor's eyes moved toward Claire.
Then Evelyn.
Then Daniel.
“Someone wants this family to destroy itself.”
Evelyn's voice was cold.
“Why should we believe you?”
“Because I could have killed Mason tonight.”
Victor looked directly at him.
“I didn't.”
Daniel raised the gun higher.
“Convenient.”
Victor sighed.
“You think I disappeared because I was guilty.”
“You disappeared because you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
That answer surprised everyone.
Victor continued.
“Your grandfather wanted me dead.”
Mason frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I discovered what he had done.”
“What?”
Victor looked at Evelyn.
She closed her eyes.
Victor said quietly,
“Your grandfather built the family's fortune through stolen wartime contracts.”
Mason stared.
“And my father?”
“Your father found out.”
“So did Richard Whitmore.”
Claire whispered.
Victor nodded.
“Richard tried to expose it.”
“But the ledger says my father paid him.”
“He did.”
“Why?”
“To buy his silence.”
Mason shook his head.
“You're saying my father was corrupt.”
“I am saying your father was desperate.”
Victor stepped closer.
“He wanted to protect you from becoming part of the same machine.”
Mason looked at the ledger.
“What happened to Margaret Reed?”
Victor's expression changed.
“She discovered the truth.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“What happened to my mother?”
Victor looked at her.
“She was supposed to leave the country.”
“She never did.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Victor hesitated.
“She came back for you.”
Hannah's eyes filled with tears.
“What happened?”
“She was killed.”
Evelyn looked away.
“By whom?”
Victor answered,
“I don't know.”
Daniel lowered his weapon slightly.
“Then why did you say she was supposed to leave?”
“Because I arranged it.”
Hannah stared at him.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“She trusted you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you protect her?”
Victor looked down.
“Because I trusted the wrong man.”
Mason asked,
“Who?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Lily.
The child stood beside Hannah, holding her doll.
Victor's face softened.
“You have her eyes.”
Lily frowned.
“Whose?”
“Margaret's.”
Hannah looked shocked.
“My mother knew Lily?”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not Lily.”
He looked at the doll.
“Your mother made that doll for you, didn't she?”
Hannah nodded.
“She made it before she died.”
Victor stepped closer.
“She hid the key inside it because she knew someone would search her house.”
Hannah looked at the doll.
“She knew?”
“She knew she was being watched.”
Mason looked at Evelyn.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Because I was afraid.”
Mason stared.
His mother rarely admitted fear.
Victor suddenly said,
“Evelyn wasn't the only one hiding things.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Ask him where he was the night Margaret died.”
Mason turned.
Daniel went completely still.
“Daniel?”
He didn't answer.
“Where were you?”
Daniel lowered his gun.
“With my father.”
“Where?”
“At the freight office.”
Mason's face hardened.
“Were you there when Margaret died?”
“Yes.”
Hannah gasped.
“You knew?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I was nineteen.”
“You knew what happened to my mother?”
“I knew she was attacked.”
“By whom?”
“I never saw the face.”
Victor interrupted.
“You saw enough.”
Daniel turned toward him.
“You weren't there.”
“I arrived afterward.”
“You arrived too late.”
Victor's expression darkened.
“Just like you.”
Daniel's hand tightened around the gun.
Mason stepped between them.
“Enough.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Tell me the truth.”
Daniel's eyes filled with something Mason had never seen before.
Shame.
“I was supposed to escort Margaret to the airport.”
“And?”
“I didn't.”
“Why?”
“My father ordered me to stay.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward the ledger.
“Because Richard Whitmore was coming.”
Claire whispered,
“My father.”
Daniel nodded.
“He wanted the ledger.”
Mason understood.
“Did he kill Margaret?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked at Victor.
Victor looked back.
Neither answered.
Suddenly, Lily spoke.
“The man who hurt my mom.”
Hannah froze.
“What?”
Lily looked at Victor.
“He had the same ring.”
Victor's face changed.
“What ring?”
Lily pointed toward Victor's hand.
“Not yours.”
She looked at Daniel.
“His.”
Daniel stared at his own hand.
A heavy signet ring rested on his finger.
Mason recognized it.
It belonged to Daniel's father.
Lily whispered,
“The old man in the kitchen had that ring.”
Daniel slowly removed it.
Then something fell from inside the ring.
A tiny folded photograph.
Mason picked it up.
The picture showed Margaret Reed standing beside a young Daniel.
On the back was a message.
Daniel knows the truth.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he whispered,
“I do.”
Mason stared at him.
“What truth?”
Daniel looked directly at Hannah.
“Your mother wasn't killed because she had the ledger.”
He paused.
“She was killed because she discovered who ordered the poisoning.”
Mason's blood ran cold.
“Twenty years ago?”
Daniel nodded.
“The first attempt wasn't against you.”
“It was against my father.”
Victor's expression darkened.
“And tonight's poison was made using the same method.”
Mason looked at the ledger.
Then at Daniel.
“Who ordered both?”
May you like
Daniel's voice broke.
“Someone who has been sitting at your family table for years.”
