Victor gave me the name again.
“Charles Yates.”
I stopped breathing.
Wyatt stared at me.
“No.”
Victor said nothing.
I gripped the phone tighter.
“My brother is dead.”
“I know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Charles had been my older brother.
He had died eleven years earlier in a boating accident on Lake Ozark. The official report said his boat had struck a submerged obstruction during heavy rain. His body had been recovered two days later.
I had attended the funeral.
I had identified his watch.
I had stood beside his coffin.
There was no question in my mind that Charles was dead.
Victor spoke again.
“Your brother survived the accident.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Wyatt reached for the edge of the desk.
“What did you say?”
Victor continued.
“He survived. Someone made sure everyone believed he didn't.”
I couldn't speak.
Thomas Reed looked at me.
He had heard enough from my expression to understand that something had changed.
“Where is he?” I finally asked.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“You don't have to.”
Victor paused.
“But ask yourself something.”
“What?”
“Why did your brother's death happen eleven years ago, just before the first attempt to take control of Heartland?”
I stared at the wall.
The timing.
The warehouse.
The forged signatures.
Harold.
Irving.
The trust.
Eleanor.
Everything seemed to reach backward.
Victor said, “Charles was the first person who understood what they were doing.”
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Charles made me promise.”
I almost shouted.
“My brother made you promise to let me believe he was dead?”
“He believed it was the only way to keep you alive.”
Wyatt looked at me.
“Dad.”
I turned toward him.
“I don't understand any of this.”
“Neither do I.”
Victor gave us an address.
A rural motel several hours away.
Then he said, “Don't bring police.”
Lewis immediately objected when we told him.
“I don't like it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then don't go.”
I looked at him.
“If Charles is alive, I need to know.”
Lewis rubbed his forehead.
“We'll follow you.”
Victor had specifically said not to.
But I wasn't going anywhere without protection.
We left before sunrise.
Frank insisted on coming.
Denise came too.
Wyatt stayed behind with Thomas.
His leg still wasn't strong enough for unnecessary travel.
Before I left, he caught my arm.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“If he's alive…”
He hesitated.
“What?”
“What does that mean for Mom?”
I had no answer.
“That,” I said, “is what we're going to find out.”
The motel was almost empty.
A bell hung above the reception desk.
The clerk looked at us without interest.
“Room?”
“Twenty-six.”
His expression changed.
“Are you expected?”
“Yes.”
He handed me a key.
“Back building.”
Frank checked the hallway before we approached.
The door to room twenty-six was slightly open.
I pushed it.
Nobody inside.
A chair had been overturned.
There was a cup of coffee on the table.
Still warm.
Frank examined the window.
“Someone left recently.”
Denise found a piece of paper beneath the bed.
A handwritten message.
You are closer than you think.
I stared at it.
Then the bathroom door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Thin.
Gray beard.
He looked at me.
I knew him immediately.
Not because he looked the same.
Because of his eyes.
“Abraham.”
My knees almost gave way.
“Charles?”
He nodded.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then I crossed the room.
I grabbed his shoulders.
“You're alive.”
“I am.”
I struck him once.
Not hard.
Just enough to make him understand how angry I was.
“You let me bury you.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“You let me mourn you for eleven years.”
“I know.”
“Eleanor died believing you were dead.”
His face broke.
“I know.”
That stopped me.
“You knew?”
He nodded.
“I spoke to her.”
“When?”
“Three days before she died.”
I stepped backward.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You did nothing?”
“I was trying to stay alive.”
He explained.
The boating accident had been staged.
Charles had been investigating irregularities at Heartland Freight.
He had discovered Harold was moving money.
He had also discovered Irving's network.
Then someone tried to kill him.
Charles survived.
A friend helped him disappear.
He believed the only way to protect me was to let everyone think he had died.
But Eleanor had discovered the truth.
“She found me,” Charles said.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because I begged her not to.”
I stared at him.
“She knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she tell me before she died?”
Charles looked away.
“She was planning to.”
“What stopped her?”
He didn't answer immediately.
“Harold.”
My hands tightened.
Charles explained that Eleanor had intended to expose everything.
She had copies of the records.
She knew Harold and Irving were working together.
She suspected Victor.
And she knew someone else was funding them.
“Who?”
Charles looked at me.
“I never learned the full identity.”
“Then why did Victor say you're the key?”
“Because I found the first payment.”
He opened a small envelope.
Inside was a bank record.
The same mysterious account we had discovered.
D.V.
But Charles had a second page.
The account had received money from a company registered overseas.
The company's director was listed as someone named Daniel Vale.
I looked at him.
“D.V.”
“Yes.”
“Who is Daniel Vale?”
Charles shook his head.
“A name used by someone else.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, headlights appeared outside.
Frank moved toward the window.
“Car.”
Charles stood.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they found me.”
The motel lights went out.
A gunshot cracked somewhere outside.
Denise pulled me to the floor.
Frank drew his weapon.
Charles moved toward the rear exit.
We followed.
The hallway was dark.
Another shot struck the wall behind us.
We ran.
Outside, snow covered the parking lot.
A black SUV accelerated away.
Frank fired once toward the tires.
The vehicle disappeared.
Charles leaned against the wall.
“They're not going to stop.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
He shook his head.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
He looked at me.
“The person behind this isn't trying to take Heartland Freight.”
“Then what does he want?”
Charles's answer was quiet.
“You.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Charles Finally Explained Why He Disappeared, but His Story Forced Me to Reconsider Everything I Believed About Eleanor
The Message Arrived Before Midnight, and Every Instinct I Had Told Me My Son Was Asking for Help
Part 13 of 20
