Chapter 4 - The Letter Henry Sent Before He Died)
Anna had kept the letter.
It was folded beneath the lining of a small jewelry box in her apartment.
Warren sent a security officer to retrieve it.
Thirty minutes later, Daniel sat alone in his office holding a cream-colored envelope.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Henry Carter.
The letter had been mailed six weeks before Henry died.
Dear Anna,
You do not know me, but I knew your mother, Catherine Bell.
There may come a time when my son needs someone near him who has not been bought, frightened, or compromised.
If you are willing, apply for the household position described in the enclosed document.
Do not tell Daniel that I contacted you.
Not yet.
Protect the child.
When Daniel begins asking questions, give him the truth slowly.
He will not believe everything at once.
Most importantly, if anyone asks about the gold key, tell them you have never seen it.
I am sorry for what happened to your mother.
I am sorrier for my part in it.
Henry Carter.
Daniel read it twice.
Then a third time.
Anna sat across from him.
“You knew my father.”
“No.”
“He knew your mother.”
“Yes.”
“Who was Catherine Bell?”
“My mother was a nurse.”
“At Bellhaven?”
Anna nodded.
Daniel leaned back.
“And you didn’t think this mattered?”
“I didn’t know what any of it meant.”
“My father secretly arranged for you to work inside my house.”
“Yes.”
“And told you to protect Noah.”
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“He didn’t say.”
Daniel stared at the letter.
“Why didn’t you show me this when you arrived?”
“He specifically told me not to.”
“He also said to tell me the truth when I started asking questions.”
Anna’s eyes dropped.
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Daniel laughed once, without humor.
“After my wife tied a rope around my son?”
“I didn’t know how far she would go.”
“You had videos.”
“I started recording because I thought she was being cruel. I didn’t understand why she kept asking about a key.”
Daniel stood.
“Everyone knew more about my house than I did.”
Anna flinched.
He immediately regretted the sharpness in his voice.
Not because it was inaccurate.
Because Anna had thrown herself between Evelyn and Noah.
Whatever she had concealed, she had protected his child.
Daniel pressed both hands against the desk.
“Where is the key?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Noah ever have it?”
“Yes.”
“When did you last see it?”
“The day after your father’s funeral.”
“Where?”
“In Noah’s room.”
“What happened?”
“Your father’s old valet came upstairs.”
“Samuel?”
“Yes.”
Daniel remembered Samuel Grant.
Seventy-two.
Worked for Henry for more than thirty years.
Retired immediately after the funeral.
“He saw Noah holding the key?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He became very upset.”
Daniel frowned.
“Upset how?”
“He told me never to leave Noah alone with it.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
“Where is Samuel now?”
“I don’t know.”
Warren entered.
“I do.”
Daniel turned.
“We ran the pension records.”
“And?”
“Samuel never retired.”
Daniel frowned.
“He did.”
“Officially, yes. But your father continued paying him through a private trust.”
“Where?”
“A property in northern Virginia.”
“What property?”
Warren placed a folder on the desk.
“Cedar Hollow.”
Daniel knew the name.
A remote estate once owned by his grandmother.
He believed it had been sold.
“Who owns it?”
“A holding company.”
“Which is owned by?”
“Another company.”
Daniel gave him a look.
Warren continued.
“And that company is controlled by the Carter Family Preservation Trust.”
Daniel stared.
“I have never heard of that trust.”
“You’re not the trustee.”
“Who is?”
Warren looked uncomfortable.
“Your father was.”
“He’s dead.”
“Control passed automatically.”
“To whom?”
Warren put a name on the desk.
Jonathan Vale.
The grey-haired attorney with the cane.
Daniel picked up his phone.
“Get Vale.”
Warren shook his head.
“We tried.”
“Try harder.”
“He left the country yesterday.”
“Where?”
“Zurich.”
Daniel turned toward Anna.
“Evelyn meets Vale. Vale controls a secret trust. My father tells you to protect my son. Everyone is looking for a gold key.”
Anna whispered, “What does the key open?”
Daniel looked at Henry’s letter.
“That is exactly what I’m going to find out.”
Warren’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face tightened.
“What?”
He ended the call.
“The lab tested those pills from Evelyn’s handbag.”
Daniel waited.
“They’re clonazepam.”
Daniel knew the medication.
Sedative.
Anti-anxiety.
“Prescribed to her?”
“No prescription information.”
“How strong?”
“Enough to cause significant drowsiness in a child.”
Anna covered her mouth.
Daniel’s voice became deadly calm.
“Was Noah drugged?”
“We need bloodwork.”
Daniel immediately called Dr. Hale.
The physician returned within twenty minutes.
Noah cried when the needle touched his arm.
Daniel held him the entire time.
The preliminary screen took forty minutes.
Positive.
Not only for clonazepam.
For another sedative.
Daniel sat very still.
“How long could this have been happening?”
Dr. Hale answered reluctantly.
“Potentially weeks. A more detailed analysis could tell us more.”
Daniel stared at Noah.
His son had been sleeping unusually long some afternoons.
Evelyn had said he was adjusting to a growth phase.
Daniel had believed her.
He had kissed Noah’s forehead and returned to conference calls.
The shame was almost unbearable.
Anna stood nearby crying silently.
Dr. Hale packed his bag.
“I recommend taking Noah somewhere else tonight.”
Daniel nodded.
“No one knows where.”
“Agreed.”
After the doctor left, Daniel looked at Warren.
“Prepare the safe house.”
“Which one?”
“None connected to the company.”
Warren nodded.
Daniel turned to Anna.
“You’re coming.”
She blinked.
“Sir?”
“If my father placed you here to protect Noah, you stay near Noah until I know why.”
“What about Evelyn?”
Daniel looked toward the dark windows.
“We find her.”
A security officer knocked.
He carried a small evidence bag.
“This was recovered beside the service gate.”
Inside was a broken earring.
Burgundy stone.
Evelyn’s.
Daniel examined it.
“Blood?”
“Small amount.”
“Her blood?”
“Unknown.”
“Anything else?”
The guard handed him a photograph.
It had been found face down in the mud.
Daniel looked at it.
Henry Carter stood beside Catherine Bell.
Anna’s mother.
They were much younger.
Behind them was Bellhaven Research Center.
On Catherine’s chest was an employee badge.
On Henry’s hand was a distinctive gold ring.
Daniel remembered that ring.
His father had worn it until the day he died.
On the back of the photograph, Catherine had written a sentence.
Henry,
If they ever restart Room Seven, we tell Daniel everything.
Daniel felt the room tilt.
Anna whispered, “What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
Then Warren’s radio crackled.
A voice came through.
“We have movement at the west gate.”
Everyone turned.
“What kind?”
“Vehicle approaching.”
Daniel walked toward the monitor.
A black sedan stopped outside.
The rear door opened.
A man stepped out slowly.
Grey hair.
Cane.
Jonathan Vale.
Daniel stared.
“He was supposed to be in Zurich.”
Warren reached for his weapon.
Vale approached the gate alone.
Then looked directly into the security camera.
His voice came through the intercom.
“Daniel.”
Daniel pressed the button.
“What do you want?”
Vale’s expression was exhausted.
“To stop you from making the same mistake your father did.”
“What mistake?”
“Trusting the wrong woman.”
Daniel looked at Anna.
Then back at the screen.
“Which woman?”
Vale lifted his eyes.
“Not Evelyn.”
A long silence followed.
May you like
Then he said the name Daniel least expected.
“Your mother.”
