Chapter 5 - Elaine’s Lie
“Elaine?”
Victor rushed back toward the tunnel.
Rachel grabbed him.
“Stop.”
“My wife is out there.”
“Your wife just vanished after Dad warned us about her.”
Victor pulled free.
“She’s scared.”
Leo shook his head.
“No. She knew where she was going.”
Victor looked at him.
“How would you know?”
“She didn’t ask where the tunnel went.”
Nobody spoke.
Leo continued.
“When we came in, Aunt Melissa kept looking around. Mom did too. Elaine didn’t. She walked like she’d been here before.”
Victor stared into the darkness.
Rachel whispered, “Leo’s right.”
The banging at the steel door stopped.
That frightened Leo more than the noise.
The men were no longer trying to break in.
Maybe Elaine had opened it for them.
Rachel grabbed the recorder.
“Play the rest.”
Grandpa’s voice returned.
“For twenty-three years, Caldwell Manufacturing has funded every branch of this family. Houses. Schools. Cars. Vacations. Most of you thought the money simply appeared.”
Leo had heard Grandpa talk like that at Thanksgiving.
Quiet.
Direct.
Never wasting words.
“But over the last four years, nearly fourteen million dollars vanished from private company accounts.”
Melissa gasped.
Victor looked sick.
“I discovered false vendors, forged signatures, and shell companies. The trail eventually led to someone close enough to copy my handwriting.”
The recording crackled.
“I told Victor because he was my oldest son.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“He begged me not to go to the police.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You protected Elaine.”
Victor said nothing.
“That’s what happened, isn’t it?”
“She told me she was being blackmailed.”
“By whom?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You believed her?”
“She was my wife.”
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“And Dad was your father.”
Victor flinched.
Leo listened to the recorder.
Henry continued.
“Victor agreed to help me gather evidence. Three days later, somebody tried to kill me.”
Everyone froze.
“The brake line on my car was cut. Two nights later, someone entered my bedroom while I slept. I decided the only way to learn who was behind it was to disappear.”
Rachel whispered, “The boat.”
“I staged the accident. Only one person knew the plan.”
Victor nodded.
“Me.”
The recorder continued.
“But Victor made one mistake.”
Victor looked confused.
Henry’s voice dropped.
“He told Elaine.”
Victor’s eyes closed.
Rachel stepped away from him.
“Oh my God.”
Suddenly the storage room lights came on.
Leo jumped.
A hidden speaker crackled.
Elaine’s voice filled the room.
“Thank you, Henry.”
Victor looked up.
“Elaine?”
“You always did love recording yourself.”
The steel door at the end of the tunnel opened.
Three men entered.
Elaine walked behind them.
She held a gun.
Victor whispered, “What are you doing?”
Elaine smiled sadly.
“What I should have done twelve days ago.”
May you like
She pointed the gun at Leo.
“Give me the recorder.”
