Mara stared at the ceiling.
Jason's footsteps stopped directly above them.
“Come out,” he called. “We need to talk.”
Daniel shook his head.
Evelyn whispered, “How did he find us?”
Mara answered before Daniel could.
“My father.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Maybe.”
She shook her head.
“No. Dad knew where I was going.”
A floorboard creaked overhead.
Jason spoke again.
“Mara, I'm not here to hurt you.”
She almost answered.
Daniel caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
Jason continued.
“You don't understand what Daniel is hiding.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
He remained silent.
“You're making this worse,” Jason called.
Then he added something that made Daniel's expression change.
“Arthur never trusted him.”
Evelyn looked startled.
“That isn't true.”
Jason heard her.
“You brought Evelyn too?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“How does he know who's here?” Mara whispered.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Because he knew we'd come.”
The answer settled heavily between them.
Mara looked at the evidence box.
Someone had expected them to find it.
The photographs.
The cassette.
The records.
The entire trail could have been planted.
Daniel seemed to reach the same conclusion.
He closed the box.
“We're leaving through the other side.”
“There is no other side,” Evelyn whispered.
“There is always another side.”
They moved deeper into the basement.
At the far wall, Daniel found a narrow service passage.
It was barely wide enough for one person.
Mara went first.
They emerged behind the warehouse near an old drainage ditch.
Rain had begun again.
Jason was nowhere in sight.
Daniel looked back toward the building.
“He let us leave.”
Mara turned.
“You think he could have stopped us?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he?”
Daniel looked toward the road.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn pulled out her phone.
Three missed calls.
All from Henry Bennett.
Mara's father.
Evelyn answered.
“Henry?”
His voice was urgent.
“Is Mara with you?”
“Yes.”
“Put her on.”
Evelyn handed over the phone.
“Dad?”
“Get away from Daniel.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I finally know what he did.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What did he do?”
Her father answered before she could ask.
“He lied about the night Arthur disappeared.”
Mara frowned.
“You told me he was there.”
“He was.”
“Then what did he lie about?”
A long silence.
“He wasn't protecting Arthur.”
Mara's breathing stopped.
“What?”
“He was protecting someone else.”
“Who?”
Her father's voice broke.
“Richard.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Mara stared at him.
“You knew Richard?”
“Yes.”
“You worked for him?”
“No.”
“Then why is Dad saying this?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because your father believes Richard was innocent.”
Mara felt caught between two versions of the same night.
Her father's voice came through the phone.
“Daniel was there when Richard escaped.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened,” Mara said.
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
She stepped forward.
“Tell her.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Richard was already gone when I arrived.”
Mara's father shouted through the phone.
“That's a lie!”
Daniel's voice remained calm.
“I saw him leave.”
Mara looked from the phone to Daniel.
“Then you did see him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“Because he was holding something.”
“What?”
“A folder.”
“What was in it?”
Daniel looked away.
“I never found out.”
Her father interrupted.
“You're lying again.”
The call ended.
Mara lowered the phone.
“Who do I believe?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Neither of us deserves that question.”
They returned to the car.
Jason's vehicle was parked nearby.
Its driver's door was open.
No one was inside.
Mara looked through the window.
On the passenger seat sat an envelope.
Her name was written on it.
She opened the door.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Don't.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because it could be a trap.”
“Everything is a trap now.”
She took the envelope anyway.
Inside was a photocopy of a bank transfer.
The account belonged to Bennett Holdings.
The recipient was Daniel Reed.
But the transaction date was twelve years old.
Mara looked at Daniel.
“This is impossible.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't have that account.”
“No.”
The account number was unfamiliar.
Then she noticed the signature approving the transfer.
Henry Bennett.
Her father's signature.
Mara stared.
“Dad paid you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never received that money.”
“Then who did?”
He took the document.
His face changed.
“This account wasn't mine.”
“What do you mean?”
“The name was.”
She looked closer.
The account holder read:
Daniel Reed.
But the birth date was wrong.
The identification number was wrong.
Someone had created a financial identity using his name.
Mara whispered, “How long?”
Daniel answered.
“Twelve years.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“That means whoever built this identity started before you disappeared.”
Mara looked at her.
“Before Daniel became a security guard.”
“Yes.”
Daniel folded the paper.
“We need to find the original account.”
“How?”
“Your father.”
Mara looked at her phone.
She dialed.
No answer.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
Then Jason called.
Mara answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice was quiet.
“Not far.”
“Why did you leave your car?”
“Because I saw someone following you.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Jason, tell me the truth.”
A pause.
Then he said something that chilled her.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if they know I warned you, Dad will be next.”
The call ended.
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Jason is afraid.”
Daniel nodded.
“For good reason.”
A dark SUV appeared at the end of the road.
It stopped.
The rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't carrying a weapon.
He simply stood there.
Then he lifted his hand.
In it was a photograph.
Daniel stared.
Mara couldn't see the image from that distance.
But Daniel could.
His face went completely still.
“Who is that?” Mara whispered.
Daniel answered.
“Arthur.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Photograph Proved Arthur Was Alive, but the Person Standing Beside Him Made Mara Question Whose Side Her Father Was On
She Married the Man Everyone Dismissed, Then One Phone Call Made Her Family Question Everything They Knew
Part 6 of 20
One Comment on “PART 6 – Jason Arrived With a Story That Sounded Plausible Until One Small Detail Exposed What He Had Come to Take”