Chapter 7
Nathan remembered the road before they even reached it.
Pine trees.
Sharp turns.
A narrow bridge.
Rain.
He sat in the passenger seat of Mason’s SUV while police vehicles followed at a distance.
Emily sat behind him beside Anna.
Charles had given officers the location.
Then he was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
Susan’s phone had last connected to a tower near the mountain property.
The cabin belonged to a shell company.
Naturally.
Everything in Robert’s life seemed to belong to something that pretended to be something else.
Nathan stared through the windshield.
His head hurt.
“I’ve been here.”
Mason glanced at him.
“As a kid?”
Nathan nodded.
Anna leaned forward.
“Do you remember what happened?”
“Pieces.”
He closed his eyes.
A blanket.
His father shouting on the phone.
A fireplace.
A woman crying somewhere far away.
Then Dr. Hayes arriving.
Nathan opened his eyes.
“He brought Hayes here.”
Anna whispered, “Why?”
“I don’t know.”
They reached a police barricade two miles from the cabin.
The lead officer approached.
“Mr. Cole, you stay here.”
Nathan laughed.
“No.”
“This could be dangerous.”
“My mother was taken from me at that cabin. My mother-in-law may be inside. I’m not sitting in a car.”
Emily got out.
“Neither am I.”
The officer looked frustrated.
Anna stepped out too.
Mason followed.
The officer rubbed his forehead.
“Fine. You remain behind us. If we tell you to stop, you stop.”
They moved through the trees.
The cabin appeared ahead.
No lights.
No vehicles.
The front door was unlocked.
Police entered.
Empty.
Nathan followed after being cleared.
The smell hit him.
Cedar.
Dust.
Old smoke.
Memory slammed into him.
He gripped the wall.
Emily caught him.
“Nate?”
He stared at the fireplace.
“I slept there.”
Anna covered her mouth.
Nathan walked toward a hallway.
He knew the second door before opening it.
A small bedroom.
Blue walls.
He remembered sitting on the bed.
Robert kneeling in front of him.
Your mother had an accident.
She’s gone.
Nathan stumbled backward.
Anna moved toward him.
He looked at her.
“He told me here.”
She started crying.
“He told me you died in this room.”
Anna wrapped her arms around him.
Nathan froze.
For one second, he was five again.
Then he hugged her.
Hard.
His face pressed into her shoulder.
Anna sobbed against him.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You didn’t do it.”
“I should have found you.”
“You tried.”
“I should have tried harder.”
“You tried.”
For the first time, he believed those words completely.
An officer called from another room.
“We found something.”
They broke apart.
Behind a bookshelf was a steel door.
A hidden room.
Inside were filing cabinets.
Boxes.
Computer drives.
Old tapes.
Nathan stood in the doorway.
Robert’s private archive.
Mason whispered, “This is everything.”
Anna walked to one cabinet.
Labels covered the drawers.
LEGAL.
FINANCE.
PERSONAL.
WHITMORE.
MERCER.
COLE.
Nathan opened MERCER.
Inside were photographs of Anna.
Medical records.
Copies of letters.
Court files.
And a small bag containing a green scarf.
Anna gasped.
“My scarf.”
Nathan remembered it.
The baseball field.
She touched the fabric with shaking fingers.
“He kept it.”
Nathan’s stomach turned.
Emily opened WHITMORE.
Inside were Susan’s medical records.
Private notes.
Photographs.
Charles’ business dealings.
Robert had kept leverage on everyone.
“He didn’t have friends,” Emily whispered.
“He had files.”
Mason opened COLE.
The first folder had Nathan’s name.
Inside were school reports.
Medical documents.
Emails.
Photographs.
Then Mason stopped.
“Nathan.”
He held up a DNA test.
Nathan stared.
His heart dropped.
Anna saw it.
“So that’s what he did.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You know?”
“He accused me once.”
“Of what?”
“Having an affair.”
Nathan took the report.
Paternity probability: 99.99%.
Robert Cole was his biological father.
Nathan released the breath he had been holding.
Mason looked at him.
“Good news, in the worst possible room.”
Nathan almost laughed.
Then Emily called from the opposite wall.
“There’s a safe.”
The police opened it after photographing everything.
Inside were cash bundles.
Passports.
A gun.
And a red suitcase.
Anna screamed softly.
“My suitcase.”
Nathan opened it.
The original custody documents were there.
So was the blue ledger.
Anna touched it.
Twenty-four years of fear centered around one ordinary blue book.
Nathan opened the first page.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Payments.
Judge Malcolm Reeves.
Dr. Samuel Hayes.
Leonard Price.
Private investigators.
Attorneys.
Then Charles Whitmore.
Emily stared.
Payment after payment.
Her father hadn’t merely known.
He had profited.
She turned away.
Nathan kept reading.
Then stopped.
A familiar name.
Diane Cole.
Anna saw it.
“How much?”
Nathan looked at the number.
“Two hundred thousand.”
Anna stared.
Diane had claimed Robert blackmailed her over stolen money.
But the ledger suggested he had also paid her.
Nathan felt numb.
Mason said, “Maybe there’s an explanation.”
Nathan closed the book.
“There is always an explanation.”
His phone rang.
Diane.
Nathan stared at it.
Then answered.
“Where are you?”
Diane was crying.
“Nathan, listen to me.”
“Did Robert pay you?”
Silence.
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
“I took the money after your grandmother got sick.”
“For what?”
“To keep quiet.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Nathan continued.
“So Dad didn’t just blackmail you.”
“No.”
“You let me believe you helped him because you were afraid.”
“I was afraid.”
“And paid.”
Diane sobbed.
“Yes.”
Nathan ended the call.
His hands shook.
Anna gently took the ledger from him.
“Not every betrayal needs to be solved today.”
Nathan looked at her.
“How did you survive this?”
She gave him a sad smile.
“Badly.”
A noise came from beneath them.
Everyone froze.
A thump.
Then another.
One officer raised his hand.
The room went silent.
Another sound.
From below the floor.
Police searched.
A rug covered a trapdoor.
They opened it.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
“Police!”
No answer.
They went down.
Thirty seconds later:
“We found someone!”
Emily ran forward.
Nathan grabbed her before she reached the steps.
An officer appeared.
“There’s a woman down here.”
“Mom?”
Emily pushed past him.
Susan sat on the basement floor.
Her wrists were tied.
Alive.
Emily dropped beside her.
“Mom!”
Susan began sobbing.
Anna helped remove the rope.
Nathan looked around.
“Where’s Robert?”
Susan stared at him.
“He left.”
“When?”
“Maybe twenty minutes ago.”
“Why did he bring you here?”
Susan looked at the blue ledger in Anna’s hands.
“He wanted me to tell him where that was.”
Nathan frowned.
“But it was already here.”
Susan shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone went still.
Anna looked down at the ledger.
Susan continued.
“Robert thought Anna still had the real one.”
Nathan’s pulse stopped.
He opened the book again.
Mason examined it.
Then looked at Anna.
“This could be a copy.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
She flipped pages.
Her expression changed.
Then she went faster.
“No.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“What?”
Anna reached the final section.
Several pages were missing.
Carefully cut out.
She looked at Nathan.
“The last four years.”
Nathan stared.
Robert had taken the newest pages.
Susan whispered, “He said those pages would destroy people who were still powerful enough to destroy him.”
Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Robert.
“Nathan.”
“Where are you?”
“Congratulations. You found the museum.”
“You kidnapped Susan.”
“She came willingly.”
Susan shouted, “Liar!”
Robert ignored her.
Nathan gripped the phone.
“You’re done.”
“No.”
Robert almost sounded amused.
“You still think this is about Anna.”
Nathan looked at his mother.
“What is it about?”
“Control.”
“At least you finally admit it.”
Robert laughed softly.
“You believe you’re different from me?”
“Yes.”
“You took control of a company this afternoon without even noticing.”
Nathan frowned.
Robert continued.
“The trust transfer completed at four.”
Nathan checked the time.
4:17.
“The proxy?”
“Frozen.”
Mason looked up from his phone.
He had just received a message.
“Court order,” he whispered. “Our attorney got an emergency injunction.”
Nathan smiled.
“Looks like you lost.”
Robert remained calm.
“No.”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
Robert said, “I lost the company.”
A pause.
“But you are about to lose something more important.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“What?”
“Ask Anna what happened to your little sister.”
The world stopped.
Nathan looked at Anna.
Her face went completely white.
Robert ended the call.
Nathan lowered the phone.
He stared at his mother.
“My what?”
Anna began shaking.
Emily whispered, “Anna?”
Nathan stepped toward her.
“My little sister?”
Anna closed her eyes.
Nathan’s voice broke.
“I have a sister?”
Anna started crying.
“I had a daughter.”
Nathan stared at her.
“When?”
“Two years after I lost you.”
“Where is she?”
Anna couldn’t answer.
Nathan grabbed the edge of the table.
“Where is she?”
Anna opened her eyes.
May you like
And whispered:
“I don’t know.”
