We left the underground room before sunset.
Robert insisted that we not remove the ledger.
He photographed every page and secured the cabinet.
I kept thinking about the missing sheets.
Someone had entered that chamber before us.
Someone had known about the hidden room.
Someone had searched the ledger.
The question was no longer whether Ethan had lied to us.
The question was how much he knew.
That evening, the doorbell rang.
I expected Robert.
Instead, Ashley stood on the porch.
She looked exhausted.
Her hair was pulled back carelessly, and she had dark circles beneath her eyes.
“Can I come in?”
I opened the door.
She stepped inside.
Linda appeared from the kitchen.
When Ashley saw her, she stopped.
“I know I shouldn't be here.”
Linda didn't answer.
Ashley looked at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I closed the door.
“Is Ethan with you?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
That answer immediately worried me.
“What happened?”
She sat down.
For several seconds, she stared at her hands.
Then she said, “Ethan didn't tell me everything.”
Linda sat across from her.
“Neither did he tell us.”
Ashley nodded.
“He told me the house was going to be his.”
I remained standing.
“Why?”
“He said your father had promised it to him.”
I frowned.
“My father died years before Ethan started talking about the house.”
“I know.”
“Then why would Ethan say that?”
“I don't know.”
Linda looked at her.
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
Ashley swallowed.
“He had documents.”
“What documents?”
“I don't know exactly. Old copies. He kept them in a box.”
“Where?”
“He wouldn't tell me.”
I looked at Linda.
The hidden chamber came immediately to mind.
“Did Ethan ever mention an underground room?”
Ashley looked up sharply.
“No.”
Her reaction seemed genuine.
I sat down.
“Then tell us what you do know.”
She nodded.
“About six months ago, Ethan started receiving calls from a man named Victor.”
“Victor what?”
“I don't know his last name.”
“What did he want?”
“Money.”
I stared at her.
“From Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said Ethan owed him.”
“From the business?”
“I think so.”
“Think?”
Ashley looked miserable.
“I stopped asking questions because every time I did, Ethan became angry.”
Linda's voice softened.
“You were afraid of him.”
Ashley nodded.
“Sometimes.”
That word changed the room.
Linda leaned forward.
“What happened today?”
Ashley looked at me.
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
“After your meeting with us?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“He said he had to retrieve something.”
My stomach tightened.
“From where?”
“He didn't say.”
I knew.
Or at least I suspected.
The hidden chamber.
The missing pages.
Ashley reached into her purse.
She pulled out an envelope.
“I found this in his car.”
She placed it on the table.
My name was written on the front.
My full name.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a photocopy of an old property document.
Robert's name appeared nowhere.
Neither did Ethan's.
But my father's name did.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
The original agreement must be found before the property changes hands.
I looked at Ashley.
“When did Ethan receive this?”
“I don't know.”
“Who wrote it?”
“I don't know.”
Linda touched the paper.
“What agreement?”
Ashley shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I believed her.
At least I believed she was telling us what she knew.
I called Robert.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
When he saw the document, he went quiet.
“Where did this come from?”
“Ashley found it in Ethan's car.”
Robert studied the copy.
“This isn't a normal property agreement.”
“What is it?”
“It's an acknowledgment.”
“Of what?”
He pointed to a paragraph.
“Your grandfather apparently entered into a private arrangement involving the land.”
“With whom?”
Robert shook his head.
“The name has been blacked out.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
He examined the paper more closely.
“There may be an original somewhere.”
“Where?”
“That is the question.”
I thought about the ledger.
The missing pages.
The underground chamber.
The family agreement.
Then something occurred to me.
My father had left instructions.
Not directly.
He had scattered them.
The old letter.
The attic box.
The sentence about looking at the land.
The hidden chamber.
He had known there was something I would eventually need to understand.
But why hadn't he simply told me?
Robert looked at me.
“Your father may have been trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Possibly from the people connected to this agreement.”
Linda's face tightened.
“People who are still alive?”
“Maybe.”
The phone on the table rang.
It was Ethan.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
There was heavy breathing.
“Dad.”
“Where are you?”
“I need you to listen.”
“What happened?”
“I went back to the property.”
My heart stopped.
“What property?”
“The house.”
I looked toward the windows.
The yard was dark.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“You're not here.”
“I was.”
I stood.
“Why?”
“Because I needed something from the cellar.”
My eyes moved to Robert.
“What did you take?”
“Nothing.”
“Ethan.”
“I couldn't find it.”
“What are you looking for?”
He went silent.
Then he said, “The pages.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What pages?”
“The ones Grandpa removed.”
I felt a chill.
“How do you know about them?”
“Because he told Dad.”
“Who told you?”
“My father.”
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Linda.
She was staring at me.
Ethan continued.
“Dad, you don't understand what those pages contain.”
“Then explain.”
“I can't over the phone.”
“Where are you?”
“I'll come home.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“You come here with Robert.”
“Why?”
“Because I think someone else is looking for the same thing.”
The line went silent.
Then Ethan added one sentence.
“They're closer than you think.”
The call ended.
Ashley began crying.
Robert stood.
“Lock the doors.”
I moved toward the front window.
Across the street, a dark vehicle was parked beneath a tree.
Its headlights were off.
I couldn't see the driver.
Then the engine started.
The vehicle pulled away.
I watched until it disappeared.
Robert came beside me.
“Did you recognize it?”
“No.”
Ashley looked toward the window.
“I did.”
We turned.
She was trembling.
“That car belonged to Victor.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: Victor’s Arrival Turned Our Family Secret Into a Present Threat, and Ethan Returned With the One Piece of Evidence That Could Explain Everything
When I Found My Wife Outside Our Own Gate, I Realized Our Son Had Crossed a Line None of Us Could Pretend Was Accidental
Part 7 of 20
