The man across the road lowered the photograph.
“Daniel,” he called.
Daniel did not move.
Mara watched him carefully.
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Arthur's driver.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“What was his name?”
“Caleb.”
The man smiled faintly.
“Still remember me.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“How?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Caleb crossed the road.
He stopped several feet away.
“Arthur wants to see you.”
Mara felt a chill.
“He's alive?”
Caleb nodded.
“Very much.”
“Where is he?”
“I can't tell you.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Then why come?”
“Because he wants Mara brought to him.”
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Caleb sighed.
“He knew you'd say that.”
“Then he knows me.”
“He knows you better than anyone.”
Mara looked at Caleb.
“Why does Arthur want me?”
Caleb studied her.
“Because your father has been lying to you.”
Mara's face hardened.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Daniel moved between them.
“You don't get to use her.”
Caleb looked at him.
“Arthur specifically told me not to threaten her.”
“Then tell us what he wants.”
Caleb reached into his coat.
He removed another photograph.
This time he handed it to Mara.
She stared.
Arthur stood in front of a small house.
Beside him was her father.
And between them stood Richard.
All three men were alive in the photograph.
The date was six months earlier.
Mara's hands began to shake.
“Richard is alive.”
“Yes,” Caleb said.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Arthur took this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Caleb looked at Mara.
“That your family never ended the way you were told.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, Caleb said, “Ask your father why Richard disappeared.”
Mara's phone rang.
Her father's name.
She answered immediately.
“Dad, where are you?”
No answer.
She heard breathing.
Then another voice.
Richard.
“Mara.”
She froze.
The voice was older, rougher.
But she remembered it.
She had been nine years old when Richard disappeared.
He used to bring her books.
He always smelled faintly of tobacco and cedarwood.
“Uncle Richard?”
Daniel stared at her.
Richard laughed softly.
“You remember me.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere your father will never look.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Because your father asked me to.”
Mara's heart pounded.
“That isn't true.”
“It is.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what was coming.”
She looked at Daniel.
Richard continued.
“Your father didn't betray me, Mara.”
“Then who did?”
A pause.
“Arthur.”
Mara frowned.
Daniel shook his head.
Richard said, “Ask Daniel what he was paid to do that night.”
The line went dead.
Mara stared at her phone.
Caleb watched her.
Daniel spoke.
“Richard is trying to manipulate you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know him.”
“You just said you didn't know where he was.”
“I don't.”
“Then how do you know what he's doing?”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“Because I knew him before he disappeared.”
Mara's voice softened.
“You were friends.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Richard asked me to help him leave.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered he had been stealing from the company.”
Mara stared at him.
“But Arthur said Richard was the thief.”
“I never said Richard wasn't.”
Evelyn stepped between them.
“This is getting us nowhere.”
She turned to Mara.
“We need to find Arthur.”
Mara looked at Caleb.
“Take us to him.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Then why show up?”
“To give you this.”
He handed Mara a key.
It was old, brass, and engraved with the same three-line symbol from the warehouse.
“What does it open?”
“A safety deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Central Station.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
He immediately understood.
“Arthur's old account.”
Caleb nodded.
“Inside you'll find the truth.”
Mara closed her fingers around the key.
“Why not give it to Arthur?”
“Because he wants you to decide whether you still trust your father before you meet him.”
Mara felt anger rising.
“Everyone thinks I'm some piece on a board.”
Caleb looked at her.
“You're the reason they built the board.”
He turned toward the SUV.
Daniel called after him.
“Caleb.”
The man stopped.
“Who is watching us?”
Caleb looked back.
“Not the police.”
“Who?”
“The people who benefited when Arthur disappeared.”
He entered the SUV.
Before the vehicle drove away, Caleb lowered the window.
“One more thing.”
Mara waited.
“Don't let Jason come to the station.”
The SUV disappeared.
Mara turned to Daniel.
“Why?”
Daniel's expression had changed.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying again.”
He looked at her.
“I know Jason has been in contact with someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew enough to warn me.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me everything.”
Daniel looked toward the road.
“I saw Jason meet Richard three months ago.”
Mara stared.
“You what?”
“I followed him.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't sure what it meant.”
“And now?”
“Now I'm sure it means something.”
Mara looked down at the brass key.
“We go to the station.”
Daniel nodded.
“But we don't tell Jason.”
She looked at him.
For the first time since they married, Mara understood that trust could not be restored by demanding honesty.
It had to be tested.
And she was about to find out exactly how much Daniel's was worth.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: The Deposit Box Contained a Record of the Past, but Its Final Page Named the Person Who Had Been Watching Mara All Along
She Married the Man Everyone Dismissed, Then One Phone Call Made Her Family Question Everything They Knew
Part 7 of 20
