Chapter 7 - Someone Entered Mrs. Gable's House
Lucas did not go rushing into Mrs. Gable's home.
Every instinct told him to.
But Gracie needed him alive, rational, and present.
He contacted emergency services and provided the message.
Police reached Mrs. Gable quickly.
The broken glass came from a side window.
Mrs. Gable was found locked safely in an upstairs bathroom.
She was shaken but physically unharmed.
No intruder remained inside.
Lucas spoke with her later.
"What did you see?"
"A woman."
Lucas frowned.
"Who?"
"I couldn't see her face."
"Why did you text 'not Peter'?"
"Because the person was smaller."
Mrs. Gable rubbed her hands together.
"And I heard her speak."
"What did she say?"
"She called my name."
Lucas stared at her.
"Did you recognize the voice?"
Mrs. Gable hesitated.
"I thought I did."
"Whose?"
Before she could answer, an officer approached with an evidence bag.
Inside was a key.
Mrs. Gable looked confused.
"That's not mine."
Lucas recognized it.
A small brass key with a faded blue plastic tag.
It belonged to Lorraine.
He had seen it on her key ring dozens of times.
Mrs. Gable covered her mouth.
"Lorraine?"
Lucas refused to jump to conclusions.
A key could be stolen.
Planted.
Lost.
But when Lorraine couldn't be reached, concern grew.
By morning, she was located.
At home.
She denied entering Mrs. Gable's house.
Then investigators showed her the key.
Lorraine's composure collapsed.
"It was missing."
"Since when?" Lucas asked.
"Yesterday."
"Why didn't you report it?"
"I didn't know it was missing until last night."
"Who had access to your things?"
Lorraine looked toward the floor.
Lucas knew before she answered.
"Peter."
But Peter had reportedly been elsewhere during the break-in.
Someone else had used Lorraine's key.
Why?
Mrs. Gable's footage.
That was the obvious answer.
But the original footage was already copied.
Destroying her equipment wouldn't erase it.
Unless the intruder wanted something else.
Lucas asked Mrs. Gable to think carefully.
"What else do you have?"
"Nothing."
"Anything Sabrina gave you?"
"No."
"Anything Gracie gave you?"
Mrs. Gable paused.
Lucas saw it.
"What?"
"About two months ago, Gracie gave me a drawing."
"A drawing?"
"She said her mother was cleaning her room and she didn't want it thrown away."
"What was on it?"
Mrs. Gable stood.
She retrieved a box.
Inside were Christmas cards, photographs, letters.
Then she found the drawing.
Three houses.
Stick figures.
A large yellow sun.
At the bottom, Gracie had written:
MY FAMILY AND MRS GABLE.
Nothing unusual.
Then Mrs. Gable turned it over.
Taped to the back was a small folded note.
Lucas stared.
"Did you know that was there?"
"No."
He unfolded it carefully.
Childish handwriting.
Grandma said Mr. Peter knows Daddy's secret.
Lucas read it twice.
"What secret?"
Mrs. Gable shook her head.
Lucas asked Gracie.
Her answer surprised him.
"I don't know."
"Why did you write that?"
"Because Grandma said it."
"When?"
"A long time ago."
"What exactly did she say?"
Gracie thought.
"She said, 'Peter knows Lucas's secret.'"
"Was Mom there?"
"No."
"Who was Grandma talking to?"
Gracie's face changed.
"Grandpa."
Lucas froze.
Lorraine's husband, Charles, had died eighteen months earlier.
"Grandpa Charles?"
Gracie nodded.
Lucas immediately contacted Lorraine.
When confronted with the note, she became silent.
"What's my secret?"
"There isn't one."
"Then why did you say Peter knew it?"
"I wasn't talking about you personally."
"Then what?"
Lorraine sat down.
"Your father."
Lucas stared at her.
"My father has been dead for twelve years."
"I know."
"What did Peter know about him?"
Lorraine looked suddenly much older.
"Peter worked for him."
Lucas felt a cold pressure in his chest.
His father, Thomas Prescott, had built the company Lucas now ran.
Peter Vale had never appeared in any recent company records.
But old records were another matter.
"What did he do?"
"Finance."
"When?"
"Twenty years ago."
"Why have I never heard his name?"
"Because your father fired him."
"Why?"
Lorraine looked toward the window.
"Money disappeared."
Lucas went still.
"Peter stole from the company?"
"Your father believed so."
"Was he charged?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because Peter threatened to reveal something."
"What?"
Lorraine shook her head.
"I don't know."
Lucas didn't believe her.
"Lorraine."
"I swear Charles never told me."
"Charles knew?"
"Some of it."
"Why?"
"Because Charles was your father's attorney."
The room became very quiet.
This wasn't merely Sabrina's bad investment anymore.
Peter had chosen her.
He had targeted her because of Lucas.
Because of the Prescott company.
Perhaps because of something that had begun before Gracie was born.
Lucas contacted Natalie.
She began searching archived corporate records.
Hours later, she called.
"I found Peter."
"Where?"
"Old payroll records."
"And?"
"He worked under Thomas Prescott."
"I know."
"Lucas, there's a settlement agreement."
"What kind?"
"Confidential."
"Can we access it?"
"I'm looking at an authorized archive copy now."
Lucas waited.
Natalie stopped speaking.
"Natalie?"
"There's an attachment."
"What attachment?"
"A handwritten statement from your father."
Lucas stood.
"What does it say?"
"It's about missing company funds."
"And Peter?"
"Yes."
"What does my father say?"
Natalie inhaled.
"He says Peter wasn't acting alone."
Lucas closed his eyes.
"Who helped him?"
"There's a name."
"Tell me."
Before Natalie could answer, someone knocked on Lucas's door.
Three slow knocks.
Gracie looked up from the sofa.
Lucas checked the security feed.
A woman stood outside.
Sabrina.
She held an old cardboard file box.
Lucas opened the door only after confirming the circumstances were safe.
Sabrina placed the box on the floor.
"I found this in my mother's attic."
"What is it?"
"Charles's files."
Lucas looked at the box.
Sabrina swallowed.
"There's something inside about your father."
Lucas bent toward it.
A sealed envelope rested on top.
Across the front, in Thomas Prescott's handwriting, were five words:
FOR LUCAS, WHEN HE'S READY.
Lucas reached for the envelope.
Then Sabrina whispered:
"Before you open that, there's something you need to know about Peter."
Lucas stopped.
"What?"
May you like
She looked him directly in the eyes.
"Peter Vale isn't his real name."
