Chapter 4
I didn’t sleep that night.
Neither did Caitlyn.
Every sound frightened her.
The heating system clicked.
She sat upright.
A tree branch scraped the window.
She ran to my room.
At two in the morning, I stopped pretending either of us would rest.
I carried blankets downstairs.
We built a nest on the living room couch.
Rosa stayed in the guest room.
Two police officers remained outside.
Daniel refused to leave.
He sat at Dad’s old desk, making calls.
I watched him from across the room.
“You knew this could happen.”
He looked up.
“No.”
“You knew enough.”
“I knew your father was afraid.”
“You knew there were dangerous people involved.”
“Yes.”
“You let me live here with Caitlyn anyway.”
His expression tightened.
“Your father believed the danger ended years ago.”
“Then why hide evidence?”
“Insurance.”
“That isn’t reassuring.”
Caitlyn shifted beside me.
I lowered my voice.
“Who was on the phone?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could it be someone connected to Harbor Point?”
“Yes.”
“Could they have helped Melissa escape?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the dark television screen.
My reflection looked like someone else.
Exhausted.
Terrified.
Angry.
“Where would she go?”
Daniel closed the file in front of him.
“Not far if she wants the ledger.”
“She already has it.”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Margaret took the ledger from the hidden room, Melissa may not have received it.”
“Mom said Melissa knew.”
“She said Melissa knew where your father got the money. Not necessarily where the ledger is.”
I thought about the bracelet.
Mom had definitely been inside the hidden room.
But why leave the bracelet behind?
Had she been interrupted?
By me coming home?
By the firefighters?
Maybe she had hidden the ledger somewhere else.
“Can I speak to Mom?”
“She’s being questioned.”
“Call the station.”
Daniel did.
Fifteen minutes later, I was connected to a detective.
My mother agreed to talk.
Her voice sounded tired.
“Emma.”
“Where is the ledger?”
No greeting.
No argument.
I had no energy left for either.
Mom sighed.
“I don’t have it.”
“You were in the basement.”
“Yes.”
“You broke into Dad’s hidden room.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Melissa told me where it was.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
My grip tightened.
“Before she locked Caitlyn in that room?”
“Yes.”
“So you two planned this.”
“No.”
“You broke into my house while she distracted everyone.”
“I used my key.”
“That’s not better.”
“She told me she needed one book.”
“The red ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I thought it had proof your father stole from her.”
My voice rose.
“He stole from her?”
“That’s what she said.”
“She stole two million dollars from him!”
“You don’t know the whole story.”
“Then tell me.”
Silence.
“Mom.”
“Your father wasn’t innocent.”
“Stop repeating that and tell me what he did.”
“He used Melissa.”
“How?”
“When Harbor Point collapsed, she was twenty-three.”
I remembered.
Melissa had been wild in her twenties.
Parties.
Boyfriends.
Constant arguments with Dad.
“She worked briefly for one of the developers,” Mom continued.
“What?”
“She was an assistant.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“You were in college.”
“What did Dad make her do?”
“Get records.”
I felt sick.
“He used his own daughter to steal evidence?”
“He told her she was helping expose corruption.”
“Wasn’t she?”
“She didn’t know the people involved were dangerous.”
“Did Dad?”
“Eventually.”
I stared at Daniel.
He could hear enough to know what Mom was saying.
His face revealed nothing.
“What happened?”
“Melissa copied emails. Payment records. Inspection reports.”
“And?”
“Someone found out.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they do to her?”
Mom started crying.
“Mom?”
“They grabbed her after work.”
My stomach twisted.
“What do you mean grabbed her?”
“They kept her for one night.”
I closed my eyes.
“She came home the next morning and wouldn’t tell us what happened.”
A piece of the sister I remembered suddenly appeared.
Melissa at twenty-three.
Silent for weeks.
Moving back home.
Refusing to go out alone.
I had thought she was heartbroken over a boyfriend.
“Dad kept investigating after that?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why she hated him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why steal from his company years later?”
“Because she believed he owed her.”
Two million dollars.
Not revenge.
Not entirely greed.
Something more complicated.
I hated that.
I wanted Melissa to be simple.
A monster.
Instead, the past was becoming messy.
But none of it changed Caitlyn.
“Whatever Dad did fourteen years ago doesn’t excuse what Melissa did today.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Mom cried harder.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Where is the ledger?”
“I found it.”
My heart stopped.
“And?”
“I took it upstairs.”
“Where?”
“Your father’s study.”
“Why?”
“I heard sirens outside. I panicked.”
“Where did you put it?”
“In the old floor safe.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Dad had a floor safe?”
He stood instantly.
“Where?”
Mom gave me the location.
“Under the rug beside the bookshelf.”
Daniel moved.
I followed him into Dad’s study.
We rolled back the rug.
A square outline was cut into the hardwood.
Daniel knelt.
“There.”
The safe required a six-digit code.
“What’s the number?”
Mom whispered it through the phone.
“Emma’s birthday.”
My throat tightened.
Daniel entered the digits.
Click.
The safe opened.
Inside sat a red leather ledger.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Daniel lifted it out.
“Is it there?” Mom asked.
“Yes.”
She exhaled.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“Do not give it to Melissa.”
“You helped her find it.”
“I know.”
“Why change your mind?”
Her voice shook.
“Because I heard what she did to Caitlyn.”
Finally.
The words I needed.
“I defended her because I thought it was an accident. Then the detective told me they found the smoke device.”
I looked toward the living room where my daughter was sleeping.
“She knew exactly what she was doing.”
“I know.”
Mom whispered the next words.
“And Emma…”
“Yes?”
“Melissa didn’t do it because of the vase.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
My skin prickled.
“What do you mean?”
“She called me before the police arrived.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Caitlyn saw something.”
I stopped breathing.
“Saw what?”
“I don’t know.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“She said, ‘The kid saw me with him.’”
My eyes moved toward Daniel.
“With who?”
“I asked. She wouldn’t answer.”
I remembered Caitlyn telling me Melissa had put something under the bed.
The smoke device.
But what had happened before that?
I ended the call.
Then I rushed to the couch.
“Caitlyn.”
She blinked awake.
“Mommy?”
“I need to ask you something.”
Her face immediately tightened.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
I sat beside her.
“Before Aunt Melissa locked you in your room, did you see her talking to someone?”
Caitlyn looked toward the window.
Then back at me.
“Yes.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
“A man.”
“Do you know him?”
She shook her head.
“Where was he?”
“Grandpa’s office.”
Daniel went still.
“What did he look like?” I asked.
“Old.”
“How old?”
She thought.
“Like Grandpa.”
“Hair?”
“Gray.”
“What was he wearing?”
“A suit.”
“What were they doing?”
Caitlyn whispered.
“Aunt Melissa gave him a picture.”
“What picture?”
“One of Grandpa.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Did the man say anything?”
Caitlyn nodded.
“What?”
“He said Grandpa should have stayed quiet.”
No one spoke.
I forced my voice to remain calm.
“What happened then?”
“Aunt Melissa saw me.”
“And?”
“She grabbed me.”
My daughter’s eyes filled with tears.
“She said I was spying.”
I hugged her.
“You weren’t.”
“She pulled me upstairs.”
“Did the man follow?”
“No.”
“What happened to the picture?”
“She gave it to him.”
Daniel crouched.
“Caitlyn, sweetheart, did you hear his name?”
She shook her head.
Then paused.
“Maybe.”
My heart jumped.
“What name?”
“She called him Senator.”
Daniel turned pale.
I saw immediate recognition.
“You know who she means.”
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel.”
“There was only one senator named in your father’s Harbor Point files.”
“Who?”
“Thomas Vale.”
I knew the name.
Everyone did.
Former state senator.
Successful businessman.
Philanthropist.
A man whose face appeared at charity events and hospital openings.
He had spent decades building a spotless reputation.
“Dad had evidence against Thomas Vale?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Bribery.”
Daniel looked at the red ledger in his hands.
“And possibly conspiracy to cover up the Harbor Point deaths.”
A knock exploded against the front door.
Everyone jumped.
The officers outside shouted.
“Police! Stay inside!”
Then came the sound of tires screaming away.
One officer opened the door seconds later.
“There’s a package.”
A small cardboard box sat on the porch.
No return address.
The officer carried it inside only after checking it.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Taken two days before his death.
He was standing beside his car.
Someone had drawn a red X across his face.
Underneath was another photograph.
Caitlyn.
Taken that afternoon at the hospital.
My blood turned to ice.
May you like
On the back, five words had been written.
GIVE US THE LEDGER TONIGHT.
