Chapter 4 - The Name My Sister Knew
Hale looked at me in the darkness.
I raised one finger.
Wait.
The person outside tested the door.
We had locked it after entering.
Good.
My phone was still connected to Skylar.
She whispered, “Who’s there?”
I muted her.
The man outside spoke again.
“Mara Collins.”
Not a question.
He knew.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
People who said that usually wanted cooperation before violence.
I scanned the unit.
One front door.
No rear exit.
Metal walls.
Toolbox near the cabinet.
Fire extinguisher.
Hale mouthed, Police?
I shook my head.
Not yet.
“Who are you?” I called.
“A friend of your father.”
“Dad had a lot of terrible friends.”
No answer.
Then metal scraped.
He was working the lock.
I opened my camera and switched to video.
If we did not leave safely, at least there would be evidence.
“What do you want?”
“The boxes.”
“Which ones?”
“All of them.”
“That sounds inconvenient.”
Hale almost smiled despite himself.
The man hit the door once.
Hard.
“You were warned.”
“By you?”
“No.”
That interested me.
“Then who?”
Silence.
The lock twisted again.
I looked at the ceiling.
Corrugated steel.
Ventilation opening near the rear.
Too small.
No escape.
But the side wall was thin metal.
The next unit might be empty.
I pointed to the heavy wrench in Dad’s toolbox.
Hale understood.
We moved silently.
The attacker hit the lock.
I swung the wrench into the wall seam.
Metal buckled.
Again.
Louder now.
The man outside stopped.
I struck a third time.
A gap opened between panels.
Hale pulled.
We forced enough space to crawl into unit 216.
The front door on 216 had no internal handle.
Of course.
But someone had stored furniture inside.
A wooden chair.
I smashed it against the latch assembly.
Once.
Twice.
The door burst outward.
“Run,” I said.
We came out one unit away.
A dark figure stood at 217.
He turned.
I saw only a baseball cap and dark jacket.
He ran toward us.
Hale sprinted for the car.
I shoved a rolling trash bin into the aisle.
The man collided with it.
I gained five seconds.
Enough.
We reached the sedan.
Hale started the engine.
A fist hit the passenger window.
I looked up.
The attacker’s face was inches away.
And I recognized him.
Deputy Travis Boone.
He had stood near my father’s casket.
He had directed traffic after the funeral.
Hale drove.
Boone disappeared behind us.
I unmuted my phone.
Skylar was screaming my name.
“I’m here.”
“Oh my God.”
“Who is Lena Ward?”
“Not over the phone.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Mara, please.”
“A deputy just tried to break into Dad’s storage unit.”
Silence.
“Which deputy?”
“Travis Boone.”
Skylar made a small sound.
“What?”
“Mara…”
“What?”
“You need to get out of Briar County.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Because Boone works for Vance.”
There it was.
“You knew.”
“I knew Boone did favors for him.”
“How?”
“Because he’s been to my apartment.”
Hale glanced at me.
“When?”
“A few times.”
“Why?”
“I can’t do this on the phone.”
“You’re doing it now.”
Skylar started crying.
Real crying.
I knew the difference.
“Mara, Dad made me promise.”
“Dad made everybody promise things except me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That phrase has officially expired.”
“I met Lena two years ago.”
My anger vanished beneath cold attention.
“Where?”
“At my apartment.”
“Why?”
“She came looking for Dad.”
“Why your apartment?”
“Because Dad owned it.”
“He owned it seven years.”
Skylar fell silent.
I continued.
“You told me he bought it last year.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you asking questions.”
“About what?”
“The apartment belonged to Lena before Dad.”
Everything shifted.
“What?”
“Not legally. The building was converted years ago. But she lived there when it was still old rentals.”
“And?”
“She hid something there.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Skylar.”
“I swear.”
“You know more.”
“I know she said Mom had been helping her.”
I closed my eyes.
“Helping her do what?”
“Collect evidence.”
Hale slowed at an intersection.
I stared out at the dark highway.
Skylar continued.
“Dad bought the apartment because Lena told him something was hidden inside the building. He never found it.”
“So he let you live there?”
“At first, yes.”
“Why leave it to you?”
“I thought because he loved me.”
Her voice broke.
“He left me a trap, didn’t he?”
I did not answer.
Maybe he had.
Or maybe the apartment and cabin were two halves of the same message.
“Where are you now?” I asked.
“At home.”
“Lock the door.”
“It’s already locked.”
“Do not open it for anyone.”
“Mara, Boone has a key.”
That stopped me.
“How?”
“He copied it once when he came with Vance.”
“Why were Vance and Boone in your apartment?”
Skylar did not respond.
“Skylar.”
“They were looking for the same thing Dad was.”
“And you let them?”
“I was scared.”
My jaw tightened.
“How long have you known Mom’s death wasn’t an accident?”
Silence.
Too long.
“Skylar?”
“Six months.”
I felt something tear inside me.
“You knew for six months.”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“You could.”
“Dad begged me not to.”
“You looked me in the face at the will reading and insulted me.”
“I needed you angry.”
“What?”
“I needed you to hate me enough to stay away.”
Hale looked over sharply.
Skylar was crying harder now.
“I thought if you hated me, you’d take the cabin, sell it, and leave. I didn’t know Dad had changed the will so you couldn’t sell immediately.”
“What do you mean I can’t sell?”
“Haven’t you read the trust condition?”
I looked at Hale.
He looked confused.
“What condition?”
Skylar whispered, “Mara, you have to keep the cabin for ninety days. Dad put it in the final amendment.”
Hale pulled onto the shoulder.
“That clause was not in the copy I read.”
A cold sensation moved through me.
Someone had altered the will.
“Skylar,” I said. “Get out of your apartment.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
A sound came through the line.
Three knocks.
Slow.
Skylar stopped breathing.
Another three knocks.
Then a man’s voice came from the other side of her door.
“Skylar? It’s Robert Vance.”
She whispered, “Oh God.”
“Do not open it.”
“I won’t.”
Vance knocked again.
“Skylar, your father asked me to check on you.”
I heard the lie through the phone.
Then something clicked.
A key entered her lock.
Skylar gasped.
“Mara…”
The deadbolt began to turn.
May you like
Someone had entered her apartment with a key.
And Skylar was still inside.
