Chapter 12: Beneath the Floorboards
The backyard was filled with police lights.
Rain had begun falling.
I stood beneath the porch roof while officers moved through the flower beds.
A forensic technician approached.
“Mrs. Hayes, do you recognize this jacket?””
He held up a photograph.
I stared at it.
“Yes.””
My husband stepped beside me.
“That's Raymond's.””
Raymond looked at the photograph.
His face went completely blank.
“That isn't mine.””
The technician frowned.
“The body was wearing it.””
Raymond shook his head.
“I gave that jacket to someone twenty years ago.””
“Who?””
He didn't answer.
I looked at him.
“Who?””
“My attorney.””
The officer wrote something down.
“Name?””
“Daniel Price.””
Lennox suddenly stood.
“Daniel?””
Raymond looked at her.
“You know him?””
She nodded.
“He was my uncle.””
My husband went pale.
“That's impossible.””
“Why?””
“Because Daniel died twelve years ago.””
Nobody spoke.
Then the forensic technician said quietly, “The body appears to have been buried recently.””
Raymond looked at me.
“They're sending us a message.””
“What message?””
“That they know we've found the evidence.””
I looked toward my house.
“Then we need to find it first.””
Inside, my husband led us to the kitchen.
He stood beside the refrigerator.
“Your father used to stand here every morning.””
I remembered.
Coffee.
Newspaper.
His old slippers dragging across the floor.
“He told me this was the safest room in the house.””
My husband crouched.
“That's because it was.””
He tapped the floor.
One board sounded different.
I knelt beside him.
“Here?””
He nodded.
The officer pried up the board.
Underneath was a metal box.
Terrence whispered, “That's it.””
The box contained cash.
A lot of it.
But the cash wasn't what made me stop breathing.
There was another envelope.
My name.
Again.
I opened it.
My father's handwriting filled the page.
*Margaret, if you've found this, then Raymond failed to keep his promise.*
I looked at Raymond.
He lowered his eyes.
The letter continued.
*Your husband did not abandon you willingly. I forced him to disappear.*
My hand shook.
*But I did not do it to protect you. I did it because Terrence was never supposed to inherit the trust.*
Terrence stepped closer.
“Keep reading.””
I did.
*Raymond wanted my son dead. Your husband wanted to expose him. I chose the only person I believed I could control: you.*
I stopped.
My husband whispered, “Margaret…”
I read the final paragraph.
*The money is bait. The evidence is the weapon. Whoever comes looking for this box is the person who ordered Raymond's death.*
A floorboard creaked behind us.
We turned.
Nobody was there.
Then Terrence's phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
*You found the money. Good. Now bring the evidence to the old church by midnight. Come alone.*
A second message arrived.
*If you bring the police, Margaret dies.*
Terrence's face drained.
“Mom…”
I took the phone from him.
“Don't answer.””
My husband stood.
“They know we're here.””
The officer shook his head.
“Then we're not going to the church.””
Raymond looked at him.
“They expect that.””
“Then we'll set a trap.””
Lennox laughed softly.
Everyone turned.
She was still handcuffed.
“You don't understand.””
The officer frowned.
“Understand what?””
“The message isn't from them.””
I looked at her.
“Then who sent it?””
She stared at Raymond.
“Ask him.””
Raymond's face changed.
“What are you talking about?””
Lennox leaned back.
“Your old church doesn't exist anymore.””
My husband looked at her.
“What?””
“It burned down fourteen years ago.””
The officer's phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
A photograph had arrived.
It showed me standing in my kitchen.
Taken from inside my house.
Taken only minutes earlier.
Beneath the photograph was a message:
*Midnight. Or she learns what really happened to her son.*
Terrence stared at me.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
Then my husband slowly turned toward Raymond.
“You never told them.””
Raymond looked away.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Told us what?””
My husband swallowed.
“The truth about Terrence's birth.””
I stepped toward him.
“What truth?””
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“Terrence wasn't born in a hospital.””
He paused.
“He was born in a house your father owned.””
May you like
Then Raymond whispered the words that shattered everything I thought I knew.
“And I wasn't the only man in that room.””
