Chapter 14 - The Door Opens
The phone went silent.
Ethan stared at Vanessa.
“Who was that?”
She could barely speak.
“My uncle.”
Walter frowned.
“Which uncle?”
“Thomas.”
Walter's face changed.
Thomas Carter.
Richard's younger brother.
The accountant who had disappeared from company records after 1986.
Ethan remembered him.
Thomas had attended his graduation.
His wedding.
No one had suspected anything.
“He's alive?”
Vanessa nodded.
“He lives three states away.”
Walter shook his head.
“He was supposed to have left the country.”
“He came back years ago.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at Ethan.
“Because of you.”
Ethan felt sick.
“Why me?”
“Your inheritance.”
Walter stood.
“Where is the trust now?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Michael spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Michael reached into his coat.
He removed a small key.
“This opens a bank box.”
Walter stared.
“Where?”
“Downtown.”
Ethan took the key.
“What is inside?”
Michael looked at him.
“The truth.”
Before anyone could respond, headlights appeared at the end of the street.
A car approached.
Then another.
Walter's expression hardened.
“Get inside.”
Ethan moved toward the house.
Michael shook his head.
“Too late.”
The first car stopped.
Two men stepped out.
They did not approach.
They simply stood there.
Watching.
Then one of them raised a phone.
Walter's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Thomas's voice spoke.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Walter looked toward the street.
“Where are you?”
A laugh.
“You're looking in the wrong direction.”
Walter turned.
The second-floor window of his new house was open.
Someone was standing inside.
Walter's blood ran cold.
He had locked that room.
Ethan ran toward the house.
“Dad!”
Walter followed.
They entered through the front door.
The upstairs hallway was empty.
The room was empty.
But the metal box from the hidden room was gone.
So was the key to the bank box.
Ethan looked at Walter.
“They were here.”
Walter nodded.
Then he saw something on the floor.
A photograph.
It showed Ethan as a child.
On the back was a message.
You have until midnight.
Walter looked at the clock.
11:14 p.m.
Ethan whispered,
“What happens at midnight?”
Walter turned toward Michael.
May you like
Michael's face had gone pale.
“That's when they always make their move.”
