Chapter 9
Ethan left the room so fast the door hit the wall.
Daniel stopped.
"Ethan?"
"Stay away from her."
Claire stood immediately.
Lucy woke.
"What happened?"
Daniel raised his hands.
"What are you talking about?"
Ethan moved between him and Lucy.
"Why are you here?"
"Your mother called me."
Margaret stood.
"I did."
Ethan looked at her.
"Why?"
"He's family."
Daniel's face tightened.
"Ethan, Olivia died. I came because I thought you needed help."
Victoria was still on the phone.
Ethan lifted it.
"Tell him."
Daniel frowned.
"Who is that?"
Victoria's voice came through the speaker.
"Hello, Uncle Daniel."
Daniel's entire face changed.
"Hang up."
Ethan stared.
"Why?"
"Because she is manipulating you."
Victoria laughed softly.
"Ask him where he was the night your father died."
Ethan looked at Daniel.
"Where?"
Daniel said nothing.
"Where were you?"
"At home."
Victoria responded immediately.
"Liar."
Daniel lunged for the phone.
Ethan stepped back.
"Don't."
Daniel lowered his hand.
Victoria continued.
"He was at your father's house."
Margaret whispered,
"Daniel?"
Daniel looked at her.
"It's complicated."
Ethan felt rage rise.
"Everything is complicated with this family."
Daniel's shoulders dropped.
"I went to see him."
"The night he died?"
"Yes."
"You lied to police."
"I didn't lie."
"You told them you hadn't seen him in two days."
Daniel looked toward the floor.
Victoria said,
"Tell him why."
Daniel shouted at the phone.
"Shut up!"
Lucy moved closer to Ethan.
Victoria's voice remained calm.
"He found your father unconscious."
The hallway went silent.
Ethan stared at his uncle.
"Is that true?"
Daniel's face crumpled.
"Yes."
Margaret gasped.
"You found him?"
Daniel nodded.
"And you left?"
Another nod.
Margaret slapped him.
Hard.
"You left my husband dying?"
"I panicked!"
"You left him!"
"I thought he was already dead!"
Ethan grabbed Daniel's shirt.
"Why didn't you call 911?"
"Because the documents were everywhere."
"What documents?"
"Northstar. The loans. Everything."
"So you cleaned the office."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Ethan nearly hit him.
Lucy grabbed his sleeve.
"Dad."
That single word stopped him.
Ethan released Daniel.
Victoria said,
"He removed the records before the ambulance arrived."
Daniel shouted,
"You were there too!"
Silence.
Ethan slowly lifted the phone.
"What?"
Daniel pointed at it.
"She was there."
Victoria said nothing.
"When?"
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Now she doesn't want to talk."
Ethan's pulse hammered.
"Victoria?"
No answer.
Daniel continued.
"I went to your father's house because Richard called me. He said your dad was about to report us. When I arrived, Victoria's car was already there."
"Was she inside?"
"Yes."
"Did you see her?"
"No. But I saw her purse on the kitchen counter."
Victoria finally spoke.
"He's lying."
Daniel laughed.
"Tell him about the broken wineglass."
Victoria hung up.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Then at Daniel.
"What broken wineglass?"
Daniel rubbed his face.
"Your father was on the office floor. There was a glass near his desk."
"Wine?"
"I thought so."
"Did Dad drink wine that night?"
Margaret shook her head immediately.
"He couldn't with his medication."
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"What happened to the glass?"
Daniel looked ashamed.
"I took it."
"Why?"
"Because I was scared my fingerprints were on it."
"Why would your fingerprints be on my father's glass?"
"They weren't."
"Then why take it?"
"I wasn't thinking."
"Where is it now?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Storage."
Ethan stared.
"You kept it?"
"I couldn't throw it away."
"Where?"
"My warehouse."
Ethan turned to Claire.
"Stay with Lucy."
Lucy immediately protested.
"No."
"Yes."
"I'm coming."
"No."
She crossed her arms.
"You went into a burning house."
"And I learned from that mistake."
"No, you didn't."
Ethan looked at her.
She looked exactly as stubborn as he felt.
Margaret touched Lucy's shoulder.
"Stay with me."
Lucy looked toward Olivia's room.
Grief returned to her face.
Then she nodded.
Ethan crouched.
"I'll come back."
"You promise?"
"Yes."
"Don't promise if you're not sure."
He swallowed.
"I promise."
Daniel drove.
Ethan sat beside him.
Neither spoke for ten minutes.
Then Ethan said,
"Did you know Lucy was mine?"
Daniel gripped the wheel.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Six months."
"Who told you?"
"Richard."
"Why?"
"He wanted me to convince Olivia to give him the evidence your father sent her."
"Did you?"
"I tried."
Ethan turned sharply.
"You went to Olivia?"
"Once."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
"What did she say?"
"That she'd rather die."
The words landed heavily.
Daniel continued.
"She hated all of us."
"She had reason."
"Yes."
"Did Victoria know you saw her?"
"I don't know."
"You said Richard sent you."
"Yes."
"Why would Richard want the evidence?"
"Because he thinks it can put him in prison."
"And can it?"
Daniel looked straight ahead.
"Probably."
They reached an industrial warehouse near the river.
Daniel unlocked a side entrance.
Rows of old furniture and company records filled the space.
"My storage unit is upstairs."
Ethan followed.
Daniel opened a locked cage.
Inside were boxes labeled by year.
He pulled one down.
The year Ethan's father died.
Daniel opened it.
Old papers.
A leather briefcase.
A photograph frame.
Then a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a wineglass.
Ethan stared.
"You kept it in a bag?"
"I handled it with gloves after that night."
"Why?"
"I thought someday I might need to know what happened."
"And you waited seven years?"
"I was a coward."
At least he admitted it.
Ethan took the bag.
"We're giving this to police."
Daniel nodded.
Then a door slammed downstairs.
Both men froze.
"Did you lock the entrance?"
"Yes."
Footsteps.
Ethan pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Daniel whispered,
"Stay here."
"No."
They stepped into the hallway.
The warehouse lights went out.
Darkness.
Then something smashed downstairs.
Daniel cursed.
A flashlight beam appeared between the shelves.
Someone was searching.
Ethan moved backward.
His shoe hit a metal bar.
He picked it up.
The flashlight came closer.
A figure turned the corner.
Ethan raised the bar.
"Don't move."
The beam lifted.
Richard Hale stood there.
"Put that down."
Ethan stared.
"How did you find us?"
Richard looked at Daniel.
"Because my brother-in-law has never understood subtlety."
Daniel's face hardened.
"What do you want?"
"The glass."
Ethan laughed.
"That sounds guilty."
Richard ignored him.
"Victoria knows it exists."
"How?"
"Because I told her."
Daniel swore.
Ethan stepped closer.
"Why?"
Richard's expression was grim.
"Because I'm trying to keep my daughter alive."
Ethan stopped.
"What?"
Richard looked toward the warehouse door.
"Victoria didn't send me."
"Then who did?"
Richard's next words came quietly.
"The person who has been sending you those messages."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"You know who it is?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
"Who?"
Richard looked directly at Daniel.
"Your sister."
Ethan stared.
"My sister is at the hospital."
Richard shook his head.
"Not Claire."
Daniel suddenly looked terrified.
Ethan noticed.
"What does he mean?"
Daniel said nothing.
Richard reached into his coat and removed an old photograph.
He handed it to Ethan.
Ethan looked down.
His father.
Daniel.
And a teenage girl Ethan had never seen.
On the back, written in his father's handwriting:
SARAH — 1987.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
"Who is Sarah?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Richard answered for him.
"Your father's daughter."
Ethan felt the air leave his lungs.
"My father only had two children."
Richard shook his head.
"No."
May you like
Daniel whispered,
"He had three."
