Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO DIED TWENTY YEARS AGO
The recording stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Nathan stared at the machine.
“Daniel is dead.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“That's what everyone believed.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
Nathan's voice was barely audible.
“Why would Claire say his name?”
Evelyn sat down.
“She discovered something.”
“What?”
“That Daniel never died.”
Nathan looked like he'd been struck.
“My father identified the body.”
“I know.”
“His funeral was real.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
Evelyn looked toward the twins.
“Claire believed your father helped him disappear.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“My father hated Daniel.”
“Maybe.”
The room became silent.
Nathan turned toward me.
“I need to know everything.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Claire found financial records showing payments made to a private account for twenty years.”
“Whose?”
“Daniel's.”
Nathan stared.
“Why would my father pay him?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where did the money go?”
“Several countries.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
“And Evan?”
“Evan was receiving money too.”
Laura looked at the records.
“That means the family connection isn't accidental.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“Then why the boys?”
Evelyn looked at Nathan.
“Because Claire discovered that the ventilation system was only one part of the plan.”
Nathan's eyes hardened.
“What was the other part?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“The medical records.”
Nathan went still.
“What about them?”
“They were being manipulated.”
Laura stepped forward.
“By whom?”
“Reeves.”
Nathan's face tightened.
“Why?”
“He was changing the boys' test interpretations.”
Laura looked stunned.
“That would explain the conflicting diagnoses.”
“Yes.”
“But why would he do it?”
Evelyn looked down.
“Because someone was paying him.”
Nathan slammed his palm onto the table.
“Who?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Marcus placed a folder in front of her.
“Is it Evan?”
“No.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn looked at Nathan.
“Your father.”
Nathan stopped.
“My father has been dead for twelve years.”
“I know.”
“Then who was paying Reeves?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your father's estate.”
That was the reversal.
Nathan had spent years believing his father left him a fortune.
Maybe he had also left behind a machine.
A system designed to continue without him.
Nathan sat down.
“My father built the foundation.”
Evelyn nodded.
“He also built the family trust.”
Nathan stared.
“Who controls it?”
“You do.”
“No.”
He looked at Marcus.
“Not entirely.”
Marcus checked his files.
“There is a second trustee.”
Nathan's face changed.
“Who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“An unnamed successor.”
Nathan stared.
“That's impossible.”
“The trust document says the identity remains sealed until the primary beneficiary dies or is declared incapacitated.”
Nathan went silent.
Laura asked, “Could someone be using that trust?”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at Nathan.
“If the successor is Daniel…”
Nathan didn't finish the sentence.
Then Jacob spoke.
“Daddy?”
Nathan turned.
“Why did Grandpa tell Mommy to leave?”
Nathan stared.
“What?”
Jacob looked confused.
“Grandpa told Mommy she should take us away.”
Nathan crouched.
“When?”
“Before he died.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“My father spoke to your mother?”
Jacob nodded.
“Mommy said Grandpa was sorry.”
Nathan looked at Evelyn.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Jonah spoke.
“He gave Mommy something.”
“What?”
“A key.”
Nathan stood.
“What key?”
Jonah pointed to the brass key from the greenhouse.
“That one.”
Nathan looked at it.
The key had been hidden under soil.
Why would his father have given Claire a key before his death?
Marcus examined it.
“There is an engraving.”
Nathan took it.
A number.
17-B.
Nathan looked at me.
“That's not a hotel room.”
“What is it?”
“The old family storage building.”
“Where?”
“Behind Harbor Crown.”
Nathan stood.
“We're going.”
Laura objected.
“Your children need to stay here.”
“I know.”
He looked at Marcus.
“Keep them safe.”
We left.
The old storage building was abandoned.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Nathan found a locked metal cabinet.
The brass key fit perfectly.
Inside was a stack of documents.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And one old watch.
Nathan picked it up.
It was identical to the one Claire had hidden the note beneath.
Except this one had Daniel's initials.
D.C.
Nathan stared.
Then he found a photograph.
His father.
Daniel.
Claire.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
I recognized her.
“That's Claire's sister.”
Nathan nodded.
“Rachel.”
“But I thought she died.”
“She didn't.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
Nathan's voice was hollow.
“My father told me Rachel died before Claire and I married.”
Marcus searched the documents.
“She changed her name.”
“To what?”
Marcus read the page.
“Laura Mercer.”
Everyone looked at Dr. Bennett.
She stared back.
“That isn't me.”
Nathan suddenly looked at the environmental specialist.
“Then who is Laura Mercer?”
Nobody answered.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“Me.”
We turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Older.
Elegant.
Holding a small black handbag.
Nathan's face went white.
“Rachel.”
She nodded.
“Hello, Nathan.”
He stared at her.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did everyone say you were dead?”
She looked at the documents.
“Because your father needed me to disappear.”
Nathan's voice hardened.
“Why?”
Rachel's eyes moved toward the photograph.
“Because I knew what Daniel had done.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“What did he do?”
Rachel's expression broke.
“He didn't die twenty years ago.”
Nathan stared.
“I know.”
Rachel shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“He didn't just disappear.”
A pause.
“He became the person controlling your father's trust.”
Nathan's face went cold.
“Where is he?”
Rachel looked toward the road.
Then she said:
May you like
“He's been inside your house for years.”
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