Chapter 4 - THE DEAD MAN
Evelyn demanded to see the photograph.
Marcus sent it through an encrypted message.
She stared at her father's face for nearly a minute.
Margaret stood beside the hospital bed.
Her reaction was immediate.
“Oh my God.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“That's him.”
Margaret touched the screen.
“That's Thomas.”
“The date says three days after the funeral.”
Margaret began crying.
Evelyn didn't.
Not yet.
She was too angry.
“If Dad survived, why didn't he come home?”
“I don't know.”
“Why was Daniel with him?”
“I don't know.”
“Why was Rosa there?”
“I don't know!”
Margaret covered her face.
Evelyn stared at the photograph again.
Something was wrong.
Her father wasn't smiling.
Daniel had one hand on his shoulder.
It looked friendly.
But Thomas's hands were positioned strangely.
Close together.
Evelyn zoomed in.
Her heart began pounding.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Look at Dad's wrists.”
Margaret leaned closer.
Bruises.
Dark marks circled both wrists.
“He was restrained.”
Margaret whispered.
Evelyn called Marcus.
“Dad was a prisoner.”
“I saw the marks.”
“So Daniel knew.”
“Yes.”
“My husband knew my father was alive.”
“It appears that way.”
Evelyn felt something inside her finally break.
For four years, Daniel had held her while she cried over her father's death.
He had attended the funeral.
He had carried the coffin.
He had stood beside Evelyn's mother.
He had whispered that Thomas would have wanted them to continue living.
All while knowing the truth.
“Find Daniel.”
“We're trying.”
Evelyn froze.
“What do you mean?”
“He left the mansion during the search.”
“You let him leave?”
“He wasn't under arrest.”
“Where is he?”
“We don't know.”
Evelyn hung up.
Then she noticed Margaret staring at the photograph.
“What?”
Margaret pointed toward the corner.
“That's not a warehouse.”
“How do you know?”
“The window.”
“What about it?”
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“At your grandfather's old hunting estate.”
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
“The abandoned house near Blackwood Lake?”
“Yes.”
Marcus was already driving when Evelyn called again.
“Blackwood Lake.”
“What?”
“The photograph was taken at my grandfather's estate.”
Marcus turned the car immediately.
Forty-five minutes later, police approached the property.
The basement was empty.
Rosa was gone.
Vanessa was gone.
Thomas was gone.
But someone had left a message on the wall.
Three words.
TRUST NO WHITMORE.
Marcus photographed it.
Then he noticed blood beneath the stairs.
Fresh.
A trail led outside.
Into the forest.
The tactical team followed.
Two hundred yards from the house, they found Vanessa.
Barefoot.
Shivering.
Her gray coat was torn.
Marcus knelt beside her.
“Where's Thomas Carter?”
Vanessa stared at him.
“He's alive.”
“I know.”
“He took Rosa.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened?”
Vanessa began laughing.
Marcus frowned.
“What's funny?”
“You think Thomas is the victim.”
“Isn't he?”
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“No.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Thomas Carter started all of this.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Explain.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I want immunity.”
“You pushed a pregnant woman down a staircase.”
“She grabbed me.”
“Twenty witnesses disagree.”
“I want a lawyer.”
Marcus stood.
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.
“Ask Evelyn about Project Willow.”
Marcus stopped.
“What?”
“Project Willow.”
“What is it?”
Vanessa smiled again.
“Ask her mother.”
At the hospital, Margaret dropped a glass when Evelyn repeated those words.
Project Willow.
The glass shattered.
Evelyn stared at her.
“You know what it is.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Mom.”
“Forget it.”
“No.”
“Evelyn, please.”
“What is Project Willow?”
Margaret looked toward the fetal monitor.
“You need rest.”
“Tell me.”
“I can't.”
Evelyn's voice hardened.
“My father may be alive.”
Margaret said nothing.
“My husband may have helped imprison him.”
Nothing.
“Vanessa tried to kill me.”
Margaret's shoulders shook.
“And now you're still protecting secrets?”
Margaret finally looked at her daughter.
“Project Willow was your father's greatest mistake.”
“What did he do?”
“He created a private investment network.”
“That doesn't sound criminal.”
“It wasn't supposed to be.”
“What happened?”
“Powerful people joined.”
“Who?”
“Politicians.”
Margaret swallowed.
“Judges.”
Another pause.
“Police.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“And?”
Margaret's voice became barely audible.
“Your father discovered someone was using the network to move money connected to organized crime.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Margaret's answer shocked her.
“Daniel's father.”
Evelyn knew Robert Whitmore had died ten years earlier.
At least, she thought he had.
“Dad tried to expose him?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Robert threatened us.”
“And Dad?”
“He refused to back down.”
Margaret sat beside Evelyn.
“Then Robert died.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Evelyn remembered.
A mountain road.
A burned vehicle.
No surviving passengers.
Margaret continued.
“Your father thought the problem was over.”
“But it wasn't.”
“No.”
“Because Daniel continued it?”
Margaret shook her head.
“Because Robert Whitmore wasn't the person running Project Willow.”
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
“Who was?”
Margaret looked at the door.
Then she whispered a name.
“Your father.”
Before Evelyn could respond, the lights went out.
The hospital room plunged into darkness.
The fetal monitor stopped.
Margaret screamed.
Evelyn reached for her phone.
Someone opened the door.
A shadow entered.
Evelyn couldn't see the person's face.
But she heard the lock click behind them.
Then a familiar male voice whispered through the darkness.
May you like
“I'm sorry, Evelyn.”
Daniel.
