Eighteen months after I opened the Whitmore Music Room, a frightened teenage boy walked through its door carrying a guitar that had belonged to my father.
\nI recognized it before he opened the case.
\nBrown leather.
\nBrass corners.
\nA long burn mark near the handle where Dad had dropped it beside a campfire when he was twenty-one.
\nAccording to my father, that guitar had been sold before I was born.
\nBut on a stormy Saturday evening, a boy I had never met placed the case at my feet and said, \u201cMy mother told me to bring this to you if she didn\u2019t come home.\u201d
\nThe rain struck the garage roof hard enough to drown out the ticking clock.
\nI stared at him.
\n\u201cWhat is your name?\u201d
\n\u201cCaleb Reed.\u201d
\nHe looked about sixteen.
\nHis dark hair was soaked, his sweatshirt clung to his thin shoulders, and mud covered the bottom of his jeans.
\nHe kept glancing toward the driveway.
\nNot like someone waiting for a ride.
\nLike someone afraid he had been followed.
\n\u201cWho is your mother?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cRachel Reed.\u201d
\nThe name meant nothing to me.
\nBehind me, Mason was putting music stands into the storage closet.
\nHe stopped moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I know that look.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat look?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe look you had the morning you saw five black SUVs outside your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s hands tightened around the guitar case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have come.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached for it.<\/p>\n
I placed my hand over the handle.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came because your mother told you to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019re staying until we understand why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb looked at the wooden sign above the garage door.<\/p>\n
YOU BELONG HERE.<\/p>\n
For a moment, he appeared close to tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you last see your mother?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTuesday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you report her missing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried. The police said she left a note and took some clothes, so there was no evidence anyone hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did the note say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb pulled a folded page from his sweatshirt pocket.<\/p>\n
The paper had been opened so many times that the edges were beginning to tear.<\/p>\n
He handed it to me.<\/p>\n
Caleb,<\/p>\n
I need to take care of something that should have been finished years ago. Please do not follow me.<\/p>\n
If I am not home by Friday, take the brown guitar case to the Whitmore Music Room. Give it only to Ethan Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Do not open the envelope inside.<\/p>\n
Do not call Victor.<\/p>\n
Trust Ethan even if he does not believe you.<\/p>\n
I love you more than anything.<\/p>\n
Mom<\/p>\n
I read the note again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother\u2019s employer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is his last name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name struck something in my memory.<\/p>\n
Not a face.<\/p>\n
A voice.<\/p>\n
Dad speaking in his office years ago.<\/p>\n
Keep Mercer away from those files.<\/p>\n
I had been walking past the doorway when he said it.<\/p>\n
The moment meant nothing at the time.<\/p>\n
Now it returned with uncomfortable clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor Mercer,\u201d Mason repeated. \u201cThe property developer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb nodded.<\/p>\n
Mercer Development owned office buildings, hotels, and half the empty industrial properties near the river.<\/p>\n
Victor appeared on local news whenever he donated money to a school or opened another luxury apartment building.<\/p>\n
His photograph was often printed beside words like visionary and philanthropist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does your mother do for him?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe manages records for one of his companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. She never talked about work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she tell Victor where she was going?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me never to contact him outside the office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said he was dangerous when people disappointed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
A car moved slowly past the house.<\/p>\n
Caleb dropped to the floor.<\/p>\n
The reaction was so sudden that Mason and I both froze.<\/p>\n
Caleb crouched behind the piano, breathing hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you see?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cA black SUV.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason went to the window but stayed to one side.<\/p>\n
The vehicle continued past the driveway without stopping.<\/p>\n
Its windows were dark.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that who followed you?\u201d Mason asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you came by bus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did. The SUV was outside the station when I arrived. I saw it again two streets from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason reached for his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Caleb stood. \u201cIf the police contact Victor, he\u2019ll know where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is following you, they already know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
His face went pale.<\/p>\n
I closed the garage door and locked it.<\/p>\n
Then I closed the curtains Aunt Rebecca had sewn and checked the side entrance.<\/p>\n
The music room had always felt safe.<\/p>\n
That evening, for the first time, it felt exposed.<\/p>\n
Caleb pointed toward the guitar case.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother said everything you needed was inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
I carried it to the worktable.<\/p>\n
The brass latches were stiff.<\/p>\n
When I opened them, the smell of old wood and dust rose into the room.<\/p>\n
Inside lay a sunburst electric guitar.<\/p>\n
A deep scratch ran across its body.<\/p>\n
The silver tuning pegs were tarnished.<\/p>\n
Near the base, two initials had been carved into the wood.<\/p>\n
D.W.<\/p>\n
Daniel Whitmore.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
I had seen the guitar in photographs.<\/p>\n
In one, Dad stood beside his old truck with the instrument hanging across his chest. His hair reached his shoulders, and Mom stood behind him, laughing.<\/p>\n
He used to tell me that he sold it when he and Mom needed money for their first apartment.<\/p>\n
Later, he changed the story and said he sold it to pay one of Mom\u2019s hospital bills.<\/p>\n
I never questioned why the story changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did your mother get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Caleb said. \u201cIt was hidden behind a wall in our basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind a wall?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a loose wooden panel. Mom checked it every few months. She thought I didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lifted the guitar carefully.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was a sealed envelope.<\/p>\n
My name was written across the front.<\/p>\n
Ethan.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
My hands immediately began trembling.<\/p>\n
Every time I thought I had heard his final words, another piece of him found its way back to me.<\/p>\n
The envelope was dated six months before his death.<\/p>\n
I looked at Caleb.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother had this for more than two years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she bring it after Dad died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said your father told her to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Victor to make a move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason came closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat move?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside were four pages and a small brass key stamped with the number 214.<\/p>\n
Ethan,<\/p>\n
If Rachel\u2019s son has brought you this guitar, then something has happened that I hoped never would.<\/p>\n
Before you read the rest, understand one thing clearly:<\/p>\n
Rachel and I never had an affair.<\/p>\n
I blinked.<\/p>\n
Then I looked at Caleb.<\/p>\n
He was watching me carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would he begin with that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Caleb swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause people used to think I was his son.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His answer came quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother always said no. But Victor used to joke about it when I was little. He said your father paid for our apartment because he had something to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
Dad continued:<\/p>\n
Rachel worked for Whitmore Construction before Nora became our bookkeeper. She discovered that my business partner, Victor Mercer, had been moving money from employee retirement accounts into companies he secretly controlled.<\/p>\n
When Rachel confronted him, Victor threatened her and her unborn child.<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s father, Thomas Reed, worked as a site supervisor for us. He agreed to testify.<\/p>\n
He died before he could.<\/p>\n
The police ruled his death a workplace accident.<\/p>\n
Rachel never believed it was one.<\/p>\n
I helped her leave town because I believed Victor would target her next.<\/p>\n
The original financial ledger disappeared before investigators searched the office. Without it, the case collapsed.<\/p>\n
Victor blamed Rachel for starting the investigation.<\/p>\n
Rachel blamed me for failing to stop him sooner.<\/p>\n
Both of them were right.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father died at a construction site?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA steel beam fell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s letter suddenly felt heavier in my hands.<\/p>\n
I continued reading.<\/p>\n
Years later, Rachel contacted me.<\/p>\n
She had found the original ledger hidden among Thomas\u2019s belongings.<\/p>\n
It proves Victor took the money.<\/p>\n
It may also prove that the project where Thomas died used falsified safety reports approved by Victor himself.<\/p>\n
I asked Rachel to take the evidence to the authorities.<\/p>\n
She refused.<\/p>\n
She believed someone inside the investigation had warned Victor the first time.<\/p>\n
Instead, she hid the ledger and gave me the key to where it could be found.<\/p>\n
I wanted to tell you, Ethan.<\/p>\n
But by then, things at home had become difficult, and I had already allowed my failures to become your burden.<\/p>\n
I told myself I was protecting you by keeping this secret.<\/p>\n
Perhaps I was only protecting myself from another truth I was afraid to face.<\/p>\n
If Rachel has disappeared, use the key.<\/p>\n
William Harlow can help you locate the box.<\/p>\n
Nora will recognize the accounting records.<\/p>\n
Do not confront Victor.<\/p>\n
Do not speak to the Mercer Foundation.<\/p>\n
And do not assume that everyone who protected him the first time is gone.<\/p>\n
The final lines had been underlined twice.<\/p>\n
Victor believes the ledger was destroyed.<\/p>\n
If he learns it survived, he will come for it.<\/p>\n
Protect Caleb.<\/p>\n
He has already lost enough because of choices made by men before he was born.<\/p>\n
I failed to give you the protection you deserved while I was alive.<\/p>\n
I am asking you to give it to someone else now.<\/p>\n
Dad<\/p>\n
I lowered the letter.<\/p>\n
Caleb stood beside the piano, trying to read my expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother never told me any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was protecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople keep saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother said she was protecting me. Your father said he was protecting you. But all they did was hide things until those things became our problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could not argue with him.<\/p>\n
He was right.<\/p>\n
Secrets did not disappear.<\/p>\n
They waited for children to inherit them.<\/p>\n
Mason pointed toward the brass key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does 214 open?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA safe-deposit box,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said Mr. Harlow could locate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called him.<\/p>\n
He answered on the second ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to come to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA boy named Caleb Reed just brought me Dad\u2019s old guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know who he is,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ever tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel made me promise not to unless Rachel contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Rachel is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow exhaled slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cLock every door. Do not leave the house. I\u2019m calling Detective Ortiz.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the key open?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, listen to me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it open?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cA box at First National Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber 214?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said you could help me locate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI prepared the access documents, but Rachel kept the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Victor may know she gave it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, tires slowed on the wet street.<\/p>\n
Mason moved carefully toward the window.<\/p>\n
The black SUV had returned.<\/p>\n
This time, it stopped directly across from the house.<\/p>\n
Caleb backed away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you see the driver?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
A flash came from behind the windshield.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken a photograph.<\/p>\n
Mason immediately lowered the curtain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SUV pulled away before he finished dialing.<\/p>\n
Caleb stared at the locked garage door.<\/p>\n
\u201cI brought them here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cThey followed you here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Victor wants the key, he\u2019ll hurt everyone near me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about sleeping on Mason\u2019s floor.<\/p>\n
About five black SUVs outside Dad\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
About believing I had to face everything alone because asking for help made me weak.<\/p>\n
I placed the brass key in my pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe followed you to a house full of people who know how to keep records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason held up his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd cameras. I installed three after Cheryl\u2019s supporters started driving past.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened the security application.<\/p>\n
The SUV had been recorded entering the street twice.<\/p>\n
The license plate was visible in the second video.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow remained on the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, Detective Ortiz is on her way. Do not post anything publicly, and do not answer calls from unfamiliar numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone rang before he finished the sentence.<\/p>\n
UNKNOWN CALLER.<\/p>\n
All three of us stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t answer it,\u201d Caleb whispered.<\/p>\n
I pressed the speaker button.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds, no one spoke.<\/p>\n
Then a man\u2019s voice filled the music room.<\/p>\n
Calm.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Confident.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan Whitmore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have something that belongs to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the guitar, then at the key in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you mean my father\u2019s guitar, you\u2019re mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not care about Daniel\u2019s guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb went completely still.<\/p>\n
He recognized the voice.<\/p>\n
Victor Mercer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boy is frightened,\u201d Victor continued. \u201cHis mother filled his head with stories she could never prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Rachel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat depends on how cooperative you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb lunged toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do to her?\u201d<\/p>\n
I caught his arm before he could grab it.<\/p>\n
Victor remained silent.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cAsk William Harlow what happened the last time someone tried to expose me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow was still connected through my other phone.<\/p>\n
His voice came through the speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, get Caleb away from the windows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened last time?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will discuss it when I arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Tell me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then he answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last person who tried to give that ledger to the police was Caleb\u2019s father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father died before the ledger was found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what the official report says,\u201d Mr. Harlow replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you believe?\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence answered before he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Thomas Reed was killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s knees nearly gave out.<\/p>\n
I caught him and guided him into a chair.<\/p>\n
Police lights appeared at the end of the street.<\/p>\n
The music room filled with alternating flashes of red and blue.<\/p>\n
I closed Dad\u2019s guitar case.<\/p>\n
Cheryl had tried to steal my past.<\/p>\n
Victor Mercer was now threatening the future my father asked me to protect.<\/p>\n
But this time, I was not a grieving nineteen-year-old returning to a locked house with nothing except a duffel bag and a guitar.<\/p>\n
This time, I had the letter.<\/p>\n
The key.<\/p>\n
The recording of Victor\u2019s call.<\/p>\n
And people already coming through the storm to stand beside us.<\/p>\n
Dad had asked me to protect Caleb.<\/p>\n
Looking at the terrified boy sitting beneath the words YOU BELONG HERE, I made him a silent promise.<\/p>\n
Whatever waited inside box 214, we would face it together.<\/p>\n
Then Caleb looked through the small window in the garage door.<\/p>\n
His face went white.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He pointed toward the street.<\/p>\n
A second black SUV had stopped behind the police cars.<\/p>\n
The rear door opened.<\/p>\n
A woman stepped into the rain.<\/p>\n
Caleb stared at her as if he had seen a ghost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my mother,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
Rachel Reed was alive.<\/p>\n
And she had arrived in Victor Mercer\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
PART 5 \u2014 THE BOY WITH MY FATHER\u2019S GUITAR Eighteen months after I opened the Whitmore Music Room, a frightened teenage boy walked through its door carrying a guitar that … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4095"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4113,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095\/revisions\/4113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}