Chapter 5 - The Son Anthony Hid
Charles stared at Marcus.
"Say that again."
Marcus shut the library door behind him.
"My mother told me Anthony Vance was my father."
Charles stood perfectly still.
Sofia looked between them.
"Did Anthony know?"
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"I spent thirty years wondering."
Charles's hand remained near his gun.
Marcus noticed.
"If I wanted you dead, you would've been dead years ago."
"Not reassuring."
"It's true."
"Was Robert Hale your father?"
"Legally."
"Biologically?"
"I don't know."
Charles turned the laptop.
"This drive says Robert betrayed Bellweather."
Marcus saw the file.
His face tightened.
"I know."
Charles felt another betrayal.
"How long?"
"Two years."
"And you didn't tell me."
"I was trying to verify it."
"Two years."
"My father was dying."
"So?"
"So I asked him."
Marcus's voice rose for the first time.
"He cried, Charles. I'd never seen that man cry. He said your grandfather threatened my mother and me. He gave him the address because he thought Bellweather was empty."
"It wasn't."
"I know."
Sofia spoke quietly.
"Samuel's son died."
Marcus looked at her.
"I know."
"And my mother nearly did."
His face changed.
"I know."
Charles walked toward Marcus.
"So you knew who Sofia was?"
"No."
"Her last name didn't mean anything?"
"Reyes is not exactly rare."
"Did you know Anthony was paying someone?"
"No."
"Did you know about Room 17?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Yes."
Charles's anger sharpened.
"Get out."
"Charles."
"Out."
Sofia stepped forward.
"Maybe hear him."
Charles looked at her.
"Everyone in this house seems to have a secret."
"So do you."
His eyes narrowed.
She did not retreat.
"You're pretending this is only about security," she said. "It's not. You're angry because every secret makes you question whether your father loved you the way you thought he did."
The words landed hard.
Marcus looked away.
Charles stared at her.
"You have known me three weeks."
"Twenty-two days."
Despite everything, Eleanor's correction echoed in his head.
Charles turned away.
"Tell me about Room 17."
Marcus exhaled.
"My father gave me coordinates before he died."
"Where?"
"Bellweather still exists."
Charles looked back.
"I thought it burned."
"Part of it."
"Why didn't you go?"
"I did."
Silence.
"When?"
"Eighteen months ago."
"What did you find?"
"Room 17 was sealed."
"Why?"
"Concrete."
Sofia took out the brass key tag.
"This?"
Marcus stared at it.
"I've never seen that."
Charles's phone rang.
Private hospital.
Samuel was awake.
Charles answered.
"Status?"
A doctor's voice.
"Stable. Bullet passed through the shoulder. He wants to speak with you."
"Put him on."
A pause.
Samuel's weak voice came through.
"Charles."
"Who shot you?"
"I don't know."
"Marcus is here."
Silence.
Then Samuel said, "Does he know?"
Charles looked at Marcus.
"Know what?"
"Who his mother was."
Marcus froze.
Charles put the phone on speaker.
"Talk."
Samuel breathed heavily.
"Evelyn Vale worked at Bellweather."
Marcus's face changed.
"My mother said she never knew Anthony until later."
"She lied."
"Why?"
"To protect you."
Marcus stepped toward the phone.
"Was Anthony my father?"
Samuel was silent too long.
"Samuel."
"I don't know."
Marcus closed his eyes.
Samuel continued.
"Anthony believed he might be."
Charles looked at the photograph of Evelyn holding the baby.
Samuel said, "But that's not why Evelyn mattered."
"Why did she matter?" Sofia asked.
"Because Evelyn knew who the second traitor was."
Charles said, "The person Eleanor trusted."
"Yes."
"Name."
Samuel coughed.
"Ask Eleanor about Richard Vale."
Charles frowned.
He had heard that name.
His mother's older brother.
Uncle Richard.
Dead twenty-three years.
Killed in a boating accident.
Charles looked toward the door.
"Richard was my mother's brother."
"Yes."
"And Evelyn?"
Samuel said, "His wife."
Marcus went pale.
"My mother was married?"
"Yes."
Sofia whispered, "Then Marcus is Eleanor's nephew."
Charles stared at Marcus.
Family.
Again.
Samuel continued.
"Richard discovered Gabriel Reyes was cooperating with investigators. He told Robert Hale."
"Why?" Charles asked.
"Money."
Marcus's jaw clenched.
"Then Richard was the second traitor."
"No."
Everyone froze.
Samuel's voice became faint.
"Richard was the one who exposed Robert afterward."
Charles frowned.
"Then who?"
"The second traitor was the person who convinced Anthony to burn Room 17."
Eleanor's voice came from behind them.
"Me."
They turned.
She stood in the doorway.
Charles felt as if the floor shifted.
"No."
Eleanor walked in.
"I told Anthony the evidence had to disappear."
Sofia stared.
"Why?"
"Because Gabriel's files did not only expose criminals."
Eleanor looked at Marcus.
"They exposed people inside law enforcement who were planning to kill every witness before the federal case could go public."
Charles said nothing.
She continued.
"I thought burning the files would remove the reason for anyone to hunt the families."
"But Daniel Crane was inside," Sofia said.
Eleanor's eyes filled.
"We didn't know."
Samuel's voice came through the phone.
"I believed you did."
Eleanor looked toward the phone.
"Samuel."
For decades of history, one word carried enough weight.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Samuel remained silent.
Eleanor continued.
"Anthony blamed himself. I blamed myself. You blamed Anthony. And meanwhile the people who truly ordered the attack were never exposed."
Charles looked at the drive.
"Who were they?"
"Most are dead."
"Most?"
His mother looked at him.
"One isn't."
"Name."
"I don't know."
Charles laughed without humor.
"Of course."
"But Anthony did."
Everyone looked at her.
"He told me two days before he died that he had finally found the last person."
Charles leaned forward.
"And?"
"He wouldn't tell me the name."
"Why?"
"Because he said the person was close to you."
Silence.
Marcus glanced toward Charles.
Sofia did too.
Charles's mind began producing names.
Business partners.
Old family associates.
Staff.
Attorneys.
Politicians.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
YOU'RE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTIONS.
Attached photo.
Charles opened it.
His mother asleep in her bedroom.
Taken last night.
Inside the mansion.
Another photo arrived.
Sofia in the kitchen that morning.
Another.
Marcus outside the greenhouse.
The final message appeared.
ROOM 17 OPENS TONIGHT.
Charles looked up.
"Nobody leaves this house."
Sofia read the screen.
"What does that mean?"
Before Charles could answer, the lights flickered.
Then the grandfather clock downstairs began chiming.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
It stopped.
Eleanor's face went white.
"That clock hasn't worked since Anthony died."
Charles slowly turned toward her.
She whispered, "He hid something inside it."
They rushed downstairs.
Charles opened the clock's wooden panel.
Inside was a small black recorder.
A red light blinked.
He pressed play.
Anthony's voice filled the room.
May you like
"Charles, if you're hearing this, the person I feared has already entered the house."
Then footsteps sounded from the floor directly above them.
