Chapter 10 - The Lawyer Who Should Be Dead
The old office smelled exactly as Lena remembered.
Dust.
Leather.
Wood.
And the faint scent of her grandfather's cologne.
The key opened the door.
Inside, everything had been left untouched.
Lena walked slowly toward the desk.
Daniel followed.
Susan stayed outside.
“You're sure this is the right place?”
Lena nodded.
“My mother said the box was here.”
They searched for nearly an hour.
Then Daniel found a loose panel beneath the desk.
Behind it was a metal box.
Lena opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Letters.
Contracts.
And a cassette tape.
Daniel stared.
“That's old.”
Lena inserted it into the recorder.
Her grandfather's voice returned.
This recording was different.
He sounded angry.
“If Robert finds this, he will destroy it.”
A pause.
“I was wrong to trust Richard.”
Lena looked at Daniel.
Richard.
The dead lawyer.
Her grandfather continued.
“Richard has been working with Robert for longer than I realized.”
Another pause.
“They have created a structure designed to make Lena appear responsible for debts she never created.”
Lena's hands tightened.
Daniel whispered, “Keep listening.”
“I have evidence.”
The recording crackled.
“Richard has agreed to testify.”
Lena frowned.
“But he is afraid.”
A long silence.
“He told me Robert threatened his family.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“Your grandfather knew.”
The recording continued.
“If I die before this is resolved, the truth must be delivered to Lena.”
The tape ended.
Lena sat motionless.
Then Daniel noticed something inside the box.
A passport.
It belonged to Richard Hayes.
But the photograph was not the same man Lena had seen in old family pictures.
The passport was issued recently.
Two years ago.
Under a different name.
Daniel's face turned pale.
“He isn't dead.”
Lena stared.
“Then who is he?”
Daniel looked at the passport.
“Someone using Richard's identity.”
A noise came from the hallway.
They turned.
Susan was standing in the doorway.
Behind her was a man.
Older.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Calm expression.
Lena recognized him immediately.
She had seen him once before.
At her father's company.
He had introduced himself as a consultant.
But Daniel whispered the truth.
“That's him.”
Lena's heart began racing.
Richard Hayes smiled.
“You've grown up.”
Lena stepped backward.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Richard smiled again.
“That's what made the arrangement work.”
Daniel moved in front of Lena.
Richard didn't seem concerned.
“I didn't come here to hurt anyone.”
“Then why are you here?”
Richard looked at the box.
“Because your grandfather left something he should never have left.”
Lena tightened her grip.
“What?”
Richard's eyes moved to the final envelope.
“That.”
Lena looked down.
The envelope had one sentence written across it.
For Lena, when everyone tells her the same lie.
Richard's expression changed.
“Don't open it.”
Lena stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because once you do, there is no going back.”
Daniel said quietly:
“Open it.”
Lena broke the seal.
Inside was a single photograph.
She stared at it.
Then her face went white.
Because standing beside her grandfather was a young woman Lena recognized.
Her mother.
But the date on the photograph was impossible.
It was taken before Lena was born.
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And Susan was holding a newborn baby.
Not Lena.
