PART 6
The gun was pointed directly at my windshield.
For one second, I couldn’t hear anything.
Not the engine.
Not the traffic.
Not Lucy breathing beside me.
Not even the man shouting somewhere behind us.
All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.
My best friend stood in front of the car.
The man I had trusted for years.
The man who had listened to me complain about twelve-hour shifts in Canada.
The man who had encouraged me to send money home.
The man who had told me my mother was doing everything she could.
The man who had helped me contact the lawyer.
The man who had encouraged me to come home.
And now he was standing there with a gun.
His name was Marcus.
Marcus Reed.
We had met when we were nineteen.
He had been there when my father died.
He had helped carry the coffin.
He had stayed beside me after the funeral when I couldn’t speak to anyone.
He had told me that family was everything.
Now he was pointing a weapon at me.
I looked at Lucy.
She was staring at him.
Not with surprise.
With recognition.
I turned toward her.
“You know him.”
She didn’t answer.
“Lucy.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
“You’ve met Marcus before?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“Before we got married.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
She swallowed.
“Your father introduced us.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
I looked back at Marcus.
He lowered the gun slightly.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I laughed bitterly.
“You’re sorry?”
“I didn’t want it to happen this way.”
“You followed us.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened Lucy.”
His expression changed.
“I never touched her.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was sick.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what Theresa was doing.”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me break.
“You knew my wife was sleeping in a shed.”
Marcus looked away.
“I knew.”
“You knew she wasn’t getting treatment.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my money was being stolen.”
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I opened the driver’s door.
Marcus raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
I stepped out anyway.
“Put it down.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you found the box.”
I looked at the metal box sitting on Lucy’s lap.
“What is inside?”
“You already know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I know enough to know you’re afraid of it.”
Marcus looked toward Theresa.
She stepped forward.
“Nathan, give us the box.”
I stared at her.
“Us?”
She nodded.
“You don’t understand what you’re holding.”
“My father’s evidence.”
“You don’t know what he wrote.”
“I read enough.”
She took another step.
“Then you know what happens if those documents become public.”
I smiled.
“People go to prison?”
Theresa’s face hardened.
“People die.”
The sentence hung in the air.
Marcus looked at her sharply.
“You shouldn’t have said that.”
She ignored him.
I looked at Marcus.
“Is that what happened to my father?”
He didn’t answer.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you help?”
He looked down.
“I helped hide what happened.”
My chest tightened.
“That’s almost the same thing.”
“I didn’t know they were going to kill him.”
“Who did?”
Marcus looked at Theresa.
Then at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“I can’t say.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re still watching.”
I looked around.
The street appeared empty.
But suddenly every parked car looked suspicious.
Every dark window looked like an eye.
I lowered my voice.
“Who’s watching?”
Marcus said nothing.
Theresa stepped closer.
“Enough.”
She reached for the box.
I moved backward.
She stopped.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Nathan.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what your father was involved in.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked at Lucy.
“Ask your wife.”
I turned toward Lucy.
She was crying.
“Lucy?”
She looked at me.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why tonight?”
“Because I knew they would come.”
“Who?”
She looked at Marcus.
“Everyone.”
I felt a chill.
“Lucy, what did you know?”
She wiped her tears.
“Your father didn’t trust anyone.”
“Except you.”
She nodded.
“He trusted me because he knew I loved you.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was scared.”
“You watched me leave.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me send money.”
“Yes.”
“You watched my mother destroy you.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
“I thought I could survive long enough to tell you.”
I couldn’t speak.
Marcus suddenly stepped toward the car.
“Get in.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Get in the car.”
“Why?”
“Because they aren’t here for the box anymore.”
I glanced at Theresa.
She was smiling.
Then I heard a vehicle approaching behind us.
A black van turned the corner.
Marcus’s face changed.
“Get down!”
He fired.
The sound exploded through the street.
Lucy screamed.
I dropped beside the car.
Another shot cracked through the air.
The windshield shattered.
I covered Lucy with my body.
Marcus fired again toward the approaching van.
The van stopped.
Two men jumped out.
They weren’t police.
They were armed.
Theresa ran toward her own vehicle.
“Mom!” Brianna screamed from inside the SUV.
I looked toward the passenger seat.
Brianna was there.
She was crying.
She had been brought along.
Marcus shouted,
“Drive!”
I grabbed Lucy.
We scrambled into the car.
Marcus jumped into the driver’s seat.
I got into the back with Lucy.
The car accelerated.
Bullets struck the rear panel.
Lucy screamed.
I pulled her down.
“Stay down!”
Marcus drove like a man who had spent years preparing for this exact moment.
He turned sharply into a narrow street.
Then another.
Then another.
The black van followed.
“Who are they?” I shouted.
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Marcus!”
“People who want the box.”
“Who?”
“Not Theresa.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“They work for someone else.”
“Who?”
He glanced at me through the mirror.
“The person who controls the trust.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Theresa doesn’t control it?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Lucy suddenly spoke.
“Your father’s trustee.”
I stared at her.
“My mother is the trustee.”
“Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
She looked at Marcus.
He nodded.
“Your father changed the trustee before he died.”
I felt dizzy.
“To whom?”
Marcus said,
“Daniel.”
I stared at him.
“Daniel Morris?”
“Yes.”
Everything went silent.
Daniel.
The lawyer.
The man who had shown up at the hospital.
The man carrying my father’s folder.
The man who claimed to represent Theresa.
The man who had been connected to my father for twenty years.
He was the trustee.
My mother had spent four years pretending to control the money.
But someone else had been sitting behind her.
Someone with legal authority.
Someone who could access the trust.
Someone who had reason to want the evidence destroyed.
I looked at Marcus.
“Then why is Theresa involved?”
“She made a deal.”
“With Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“What deal?”
“She would get part of the money.”
“And Lucy?”
Marcus looked away.
“She was supposed to disappear.”
My blood went cold.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
I grabbed the back of his seat.
“What does that mean?”
He finally spoke.
“The original plan was to convince everyone Lucy died naturally.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
I looked at her.
“Did you know?”
She nodded.
“I knew they were planning something.”
“But you stayed.”
“I had nowhere to go.”
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
I remembered.
The phone call.
The message she had left.
I’m scared.
My mother had intercepted it.
My entire body went cold.
The van was still behind us.
Marcus took another sharp turn.
Then he suddenly slammed the brakes.
I looked ahead.
A police checkpoint.
Marcus swore.
“We can’t stop.”
“Why not?”
“Because they own the police.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Not all of them.”
“But enough.”
He turned the car into a parking garage.
We entered the dark underground structure.
The van followed.
Marcus killed the headlights.
“Everyone out.”
We ran.
Lucy could barely move.
I carried her.
We went down a concrete staircase.
Behind us, doors slammed.
Footsteps echoed.
Marcus whispered,
“They’re coming.”
We reached the lowest level.
There was a maintenance tunnel.
Marcus opened the door.
Inside was darkness.
“Where does this go?”
“Under the next block.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve used it before.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“To move evidence.”
My heart sank.
“You’ve been doing this for years.”
“Yes.”
“Against my family?”
“Sometimes.”
“With them?”
“Sometimes.”
I wanted to hit him.
But there was no time.
We entered the tunnel.
Marcus locked the door behind us.
For several minutes, we walked in silence.
Then Lucy stopped.
“I can’t.”
I turned.
“You can.”
“No.”
She touched her chest.
“I can’t breathe.”
I knelt beside her.
“Look at me.”
She tried.
“Breathe slowly.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
Marcus looked around.
“We need somewhere to hide.”
“There.”
I pointed toward a maintenance room.
We went inside.
It was tiny.
Dusty.
Cold.
But safe.
For the moment.
I set Lucy down.
Then I looked at Marcus.
“Start talking.”
He sat against the wall.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
He nodded.
“Your father discovered that Theresa had been moving money from the family trust.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
“Why didn’t he stop her?”
“He tried.”
“And Daniel?”
“Daniel was already involved.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was the trustee.”
“But my father appointed him?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he trust him?”
“He didn’t.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Your father appointed Daniel because he thought Daniel could be watched.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if you know the whole story.”
“Then tell me.”
Marcus took a breath.
“Your father suspected someone inside the family was working with Daniel.”
“Theresa?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he remove her?”
“He couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Theresa wasn’t the person controlling the money.”
I felt confused.
“Who was?”
Marcus looked at Lucy.
“She knows.”
I turned toward my wife.
“Lucy?”
She looked down.
“Your grandfather.”
I froze.
“My grandfather died years ago.”
“Exactly.”
I stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
“Your grandfather’s estate was never settled.”
“What?”
“He left money in an offshore trust.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
“Several places.”
“Who controls it?”
Lucy shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Marcus answered.
“Daniel.”
Again.
Daniel.
Always Daniel.
I stood.
“Then why is he trying to kill us?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Because the evidence in that box proves he stole from the trust.”
I looked at the metal box.
“How much?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Enough to ruin him.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-two million dollars.”
I stared at him.
Lucy covered her mouth.
Thirty-two million.
The number seemed unreal.
I had spent four years working twelve-hour shifts to send home a few thousand dollars every month.
Meanwhile, people I trusted were moving millions.
I looked at the box.
“What exactly is inside?”
“Bank records.”
“Anything else?”
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“Politicians.”
“Businessmen.”
“Bank executives.”
“Lawyers.”
“People who helped move the money.”
I swallowed.
“And my father?”
Marcus nodded.
“Your father was preparing to expose all of them.”
“That’s why he died.”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
Marcus looked at the floor.
“I don’t know.”
I stared at him.
“You said you knew.”
“I know who paid.”
“Who?”
He looked at Lucy.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus whispered,
“Your mother.”
I froze.
Lucy closed her eyes.
“No.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You knew.”
“I knew she gave them money.”
My voice cracked.
“You knew my mother paid someone?”
Lucy started crying.
“I didn’t know what would happen.”
“You didn’t know?”
“She wanted your father frightened.”
“What happened?”
Marcus said,
“They went too far.”
I stared at him.
“Who went too far?”
“Daniel.”
Silence.
“Daniel ordered it?”
Marcus nodded.
“But Theresa paid him.”
I couldn’t breathe.
My mother hadn’t directly killed my father.
But she had opened the door.
And Daniel had walked through it.
I sat down.
For years, I had defended her.
When people said she was controlling, I told them she was protective.
When Lucy complained, I told her my mother was under pressure.
When money disappeared, I told myself there must be a reason.
When my father died, I believed the official story.
Now every excuse had collapsed.
I looked at Lucy.
“You knew.”
She cried.
“I was trying to survive.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She looked at me.
“I watched your mother take everything.”
“What?”
“She took the house.”
“She took the money.”
“She took your father’s papers.”
“She took my medical records.”
“She took your calls.”
“She took your life.”
Lucy looked down.
“And I let her.”
I took her hand.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You didn’t let her.”
“You survived her.”
She cried harder.
Then Marcus suddenly stood.
“Quiet.”
We froze.
“What?”
He raised a finger.
Footsteps.
In the tunnel.
Someone was coming.
Slowly.
One step.
Then another.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
I moved Lucy behind me.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
Someone whispered.
“Nathan.”
My heart stopped.
It was Theresa.
“Nathan, it’s me.”
Marcus shook his head.
Don’t answer.
Theresa spoke again.
“I know you’re in there.”
Silence.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
I almost laughed.
My mother was standing outside a locked maintenance room after armed men had chased us through the city.
And she wanted me to believe I shouldn’t be afraid.
Then she said something that made me stop.
“Daniel has the original letter.”
I looked at Lucy.
She went pale.
“What letter?” I whispered.
Marcus shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Theresa continued.
“The one your father wrote before he died.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“You don’t have it,” she said.
“You have a copy.”
I looked at the box.
There was only one letter.
The one from my mother.
Not my father.
Theresa continued.
“The original is with Daniel.”
Marcus looked at me.
Then he whispered,
“That’s the piece we need.”
I stepped toward the door.
Theresa said,
“If you want the truth about your father’s death, come out.”
I didn’t move.
“If you want to know who ordered it…”
She paused.
“You’ll need the original.”
I looked at Lucy.
Her face was terrified.
I whispered,
“She’s telling the truth.”
Marcus nodded.
“But it’s a trap.”
“I know.”
Theresa continued.
“And Nathan…”
Her voice softened.
“There’s something else you don’t know.”
I waited.
“Your father didn’t leave you thirty-two million dollars.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He left you something much more valuable.”
Silence.
“What?”
Theresa laughed softly.
“The names.”
I stared at the door.
“What names?”
“The people who paid to make sure you disappeared too.”
My heart stopped.
“I never disappeared.”
“You did.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You weren’t supposed to return from Canada.”
The room went silent.
Lucy began shaking.
Marcus looked at me.
“What did she say?”
I couldn’t answer.
Theresa spoke again.
“Your plane ticket was not the first attempt.”
I felt cold.
“Someone tried to kill me in Canada?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three times.”
I stared at the door.
“Why didn’t I know?”
“Because they failed.”
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
“Who tried to kill me?”
A pause.
Then:
“Your best friend.”
I slowly turned toward Marcus.
He looked at me.
His face was expressionless.
I couldn’t tell if he was shocked.
Or guilty.
I whispered,
“Marcus?”
He didn’t answer.
Theresa laughed from the other side of the door.
“You finally understand.”
I stepped backward.
Marcus raised both hands.
“Nathan…”
“Don’t.”
“I can explain.”
“Don’t.”
“It wasn’t what you think.”
“You tried to kill me?”
“No.”
“Three times?”
“No.”
“Then why did my mother say it?”
“Because she wants you to believe I did.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I’m the only person who can expose her.”
I looked toward the door.
Then at Marcus.
Then at Lucy.
Three people.
Three stories.
And one truth.
Someone was lying.
Suddenly, the lights in the tunnel went out.
Total darkness.
Lucy screamed.
Marcus grabbed my arm.
“Don’t move.”
Then we heard a gunshot.
A body hit the floor outside the room.
Silence.
Marcus opened the door slightly.
A man was lying in the tunnel.
It wasn’t Theresa.
It wasn’t Daniel.
It was one of the men who had been chasing us.
Marcus stepped outside.
I stayed with Lucy.
Then Marcus shouted,
“She’s gone.”
“Who?”
“Theresa.”
I looked toward the tunnel.
She had disappeared.
But she had left something behind.
A small envelope.
Marcus picked it up.
He brought it to me.
There was writing on the front.
FOR NATHAN ONLY.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
I looked at it.
My father.
My mother.
Daniel.
Marcus.
And someone else.
Someone I didn’t recognize.
They were standing together outside a bank.
The date was exactly four years ago.
The day before I left for Canada.
I turned the photograph over.
There was one sentence.
The fifth person is the one who planned everything.
I looked at Marcus.
“Who is that?”
He stared at the photograph.
His face went white.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Who is he?”
He finally whispered,
“Your grandfather’s lawyer.”
I stared at the photograph.
My grandfather’s lawyer had been dead for twelve years.
Or so I thought.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
You should stop looking for dead people.
Another message followed.
Some of them are still alive.
Then the final message:
And one of them is standing behind you.
I froze.
Slowly, I turned around.
Lucy was staring at something behind me.
Her face was completely white.
I heard breathing.
Someone was standing in the darkness.
Then a familiar voice whispered my name.
“Nathan.”
It was my father.
Or at least…
it sounded exactly like him………..
