Chapter 3 - The Photograph from Twenty Years Ago
Nathaniel ran downstairs.
The front hall was empty.
He reached the front door just as headlights disappeared beyond the gates.
“Who left?”
Vanessa stood near the dining room.
She looked startled.
“I thought Andrew did.”
Nathaniel turned.
“Where is Andrew?”
Caroline appeared behind her.
“He went home.”
“When?”
“A minute ago.”
Nathaniel held up the photograph.
“Did he leave this?”
Caroline’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But Nathaniel saw it.
“You know this picture.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Nathaniel—”
“Who was supposed to die?”
Vanessa quietly stepped backward.
Caroline noticed.
“Go home, Vanessa.”
Vanessa didn’t argue.
Within moments, the front door closed again.
Caroline faced her brother.
“You’re making conclusions based on scraps of paper and Rebecca’s paranoia.”
Rebecca came down the stairs.
Nathaniel watched Caroline’s expression harden.
That was enough.
“Stop calling my wife paranoid.”
Caroline laughed bitterly.
“You have no idea what she’s been doing.”
“What has she been doing?”
“Digging through Dad’s things. Questioning Mother. Accusing this family of crimes she doesn’t understand.”
Rebecca’s voice remained quiet.
“I never accused anyone.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Nathaniel held up the photograph.
“Then explain this.”
Caroline looked away.
“You should ask Mother.”
“I intend to.”
“Not tonight.”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“Why?”
Caroline’s eyes met his.
“Because she’ll lie.”
Nathaniel stopped.
Rebecca did too.
Caroline seemed to realize what she had admitted.
Nathaniel lowered the photograph.
“What do you know?”
For a long moment, Caroline said nothing.
Then she walked to the bar and poured water.
Her hand trembled.
“I was seventeen when Hale collapsed.”
Nathaniel waited.
“Dad was never home. Mother was constantly angry. There were phone calls at night.”
“From Daniel Hale?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Thomas Miller?”
Caroline looked at Rebecca.
“I heard the name.”
Rebecca’s breath caught.
“When?”
“The night Dad came home with blood on his shirt.”
Silence.
Nathaniel felt as though the room shifted beneath him.
“What?”
Caroline closed her eyes.
“He said there had been an accident.”
“What accident?”
“I don’t know.”
“Caroline.”
“I was seventeen!”
Her voice cracked.
“I heard them arguing. Dad said Thomas had gone too far. Mother said Daniel was going to police. Dad said everything would be over if they didn’t fix it.”
Rebecca slowly sat down.
Nathaniel remained standing.
“What happened next?”
“The next morning, Dad left before sunrise.”
“And?”
“Two days later, Hale Manufacturing announced financial insolvency.”
Rebecca looked sick.
“My father died that same week.”
Caroline nodded once.
Nathaniel stared at his sister.
“You knew this for twenty years?”
“No.”
“You just told me—”
“I knew pieces.”
“Enough pieces.”
“I was a kid.”
“You’re forty now.”
Caroline flinched.
Nathaniel had never spoken to her that way.
He didn’t care.
Rebecca asked, “Why were you trying to stop me?”
Caroline looked at her.
“Because Mother told me what would happen if you kept looking.”
“What?”
“She said Nathaniel would lose everything.”
Nathaniel laughed without humor.
“Apparently everyone has been protecting me from my own life.”
Caroline’s expression softened.
“You don’t understand the scale of this.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Before she answered, Nathaniel’s phone rang.
MOTHER.
He looked at Caroline.
She had not touched her phone.
Nathaniel answered.
“Mom.”
Margaret Carter’s voice was calm.
“You came home early.”
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
A pause.
“Andrew called.”
Of course.
“We need to talk.”
“I agree.”
“Come to my house.”
“Rebecca’s coming.”
“No.”
Nathaniel glanced at his wife.
“Yes.”
Margaret’s tone sharpened.
“This concerns our family.”
Nathaniel said, “Rebecca is my family.”
Another pause.
Then Margaret whispered, “Not in the way you think.”
The call ended.
Rebecca stared at him.
“What did she mean?”
Nathaniel didn’t answer.
He didn’t know.
They drove to Margaret’s estate thirty minutes later.
Caroline followed in her own car.
Andrew’s vehicle was already outside.
Margaret was waiting in the library.
At seventy-two, she still carried herself with intimidating control.
Silver hair.
Perfect posture.
Pearls.
She looked at Rebecca first.
Then Nathaniel.
“You shouldn’t have brought her.”
Nathaniel placed the photograph on the desk.
“You shouldn’t have lied to me.”
Margaret looked at it.
Her face revealed nothing.
“Where did you get this?”
“Who was supposed to die?”
Margaret sat down.
Caroline entered.
Andrew stood beside the fireplace.
Nobody spoke.
Nathaniel looked around at his family.
“Interesting.”
“What?” Andrew asked.
“I’m the only person in the room who doesn’t know what’s happening.”
Margaret sighed.
“Nathaniel, your father made mistakes.”
“Did he kill Thomas Miller?”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Margaret looked at her.
“No.”
Rebecca exhaled.
Nathaniel asked, “Did he have anything to do with his death?”
Margaret did not answer.
Nathaniel leaned forward.
“Mom.”
“Thomas Miller was involved in criminal activity.”
Rebecca stood.
“My father was an accountant.”
“He was also stealing.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
Margaret opened a drawer and removed a photocopied document.
She placed it on the desk.
Bank transfers.
Thomas Miller’s name appeared beside several deposits.
Rebecca stared.
Nathaniel examined the page.
“Where’s the original?”
“Gone.”
“Convenient.”
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
“You think I fabricated this?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
Rebecca studied the numbers.
Then she frowned.
“These dates are wrong.”
Margaret looked at her.
“What?”
Rebecca pointed.
“This transfer supposedly went into my father’s account on November third.”
“So?”
“He was already dead.”
Silence.
Nathaniel looked at Margaret.
Margaret’s expression finally cracked.
Rebecca continued.
“And this one lists an account at Federal East Bank.”
Nathaniel knew what was coming.
“That bank didn’t exist under that name until years later.”
Andrew looked toward Margaret.
Caroline whispered, “Mother…”
Nathaniel slid the paper back.
“This is fake.”
Margaret stood.
“You don’t understand.”
“No. I understand one thing perfectly.”
He pointed at the document.
“You just tried to frame a dead man in front of his daughter.”
Margaret’s composure disappeared.
“I was trying to keep you alive!”
Nobody moved.
Nathaniel stared at her.
“What?”
Margaret seemed to regret the words instantly.
Nathaniel stepped toward her.
“Who wants me dead?”
She shook her head.
“Mom.”
“You should leave.”
“Who wants me dead?”
Rebecca suddenly looked at Andrew.
He had gone completely pale.
Nathaniel followed her gaze.
“Andrew?”
Andrew backed toward the fireplace.
Nathaniel noticed something sticking from his jacket pocket.
A small black notebook.
Rebecca gasped.
“The ledger.”
Andrew ran.
Nathaniel lunged after him.
Andrew reached the hallway.
Caroline screamed his name.
The front door opened.
Andrew stopped dead.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Soaked from the rain.
Rebecca stared at him as if she were seeing a ghost.
The stranger looked directly at her.
May you like
Then he said the words that made her knees buckle.
“Rebecca… your father didn’t die that night.”
