Chapter 7 - Grandpa Henry
Leo hit the door with both hands.
“Grandpa!”
Three more knocks.
Rachel searched the frame.
“It’s locked.”
Victor arrived behind them, blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
“Move.”
He grabbed a rusted shovel and struck the lock.
Once.
Twice.
The third hit broke it.
The door flew open.
The smell hit them first.
Medicine.
Sweat.
Cold metal.
Rachel raised the flashlight.
An old generator sat against the wall.
Beside it was a narrow cot.
A man lay beneath two gray blankets.
Thin.
Unshaven.
Weak.
But alive.
“Dad.”
Rachel’s voice cracked.
Henry Caldwell opened his eyes.
Leo had never seen Grandpa look small.
At seventy-eight, Henry had always seemed permanent.
Like the house.
Like the oak trees.
Like gravity.
Now his face looked hollow.
His lips were dry.
One wrist was chained to a steel pipe.
Leo ran to him.
“Grandpa.”
Henry stared as if he was seeing a ghost.
Then his mouth formed the smallest smile.
“You broke the portrait.”
Leo started crying.
“How did you know?”
“Because I know you.”
Rachel dropped beside the cot.
“Dad, who did this?”
Henry looked at Victor.
Victor lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Henry’s eyes turned cold.
“You should be.”
“Dad—”
“You told her.”
“I thought I could fix it.”
“You always think that.”
Rachel interrupted.
“Who chained you here?”
Henry swallowed.
“Not Elaine.”
Everyone froze.
Victor stared.
“What?”
Henry coughed.
“She’s guilty of theft. Forgery. Plenty more. But she didn’t put me here.”
“Then who did?”
Henry looked toward the window.
“We need to leave.”
“Dad.”
“Now.”
Leo heard an engine outside.
Headlights swept through the trees.
More vehicles.
Victor rushed to the window.
“Two SUVs.”
Henry’s face tightened.
“They found me.”
Rachel grabbed the broken chain.
“We need bolt cutters.”
Henry pointed weakly toward the generator.
“Toolbox.”
Leo ran.
Inside he found heavy cutters.
Victor snapped the chain.
Rachel and Melissa lifted Henry.
They moved toward the back door.
Then Henry grabbed Leo’s sleeve.
“My coat.”
“What?”
“Pocket.”
Leo grabbed the old brown coat hanging beside the cot.
He reached inside.
His fingers closed around a flash drive.
Henry whispered, “Everything is on that.”
“What everything?”
“The accounts. The recordings. The names.”
Victor opened the rear door.
“Move!”
They slipped into the woods as car doors slammed near the front.
Men shouted.
Leo helped support Grandpa.
Branches tore at his jacket.
Behind them, someone yelled.
“There!”
A flashlight beam swept past.
Rachel pulled Leo behind a tree.
Victor whispered, “They’ve cut us off from the house.”
Henry pointed deeper into the woods.
“Old boathouse.”
Melissa stared.
“That’s half a mile.”
Henry nodded.
“There’s a truck.”
They moved.
Leo kept the flash drive inside his fist.
Then his phone vibrated.
One text.
Unknown number.
LEO, DON’T GIVE HENRY THE DRIVE.
HE’S LYING TO ALL OF YOU.
Leo stopped.
May you like
Another message appeared.
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
