Chapter 8 - Beneath the Western Field)
The opening was larger than Rachel expected.
A section of earth nearly twelve feet across had collapsed behind what remained of the old oak tree.
Police tape surrounded the area.
Firefighters moved equipment across the grass.
Dean sat on the back of an ambulance with a blanket around his shoulders.
Rachel saw him before he saw her.
There was blood on his forehead from a shallow cut.
He looked exhausted.
When their eyes met, he stood.
Rachel did not approach.
Detective Morris went to him first.
"What happened?"
Dean glanced toward Rachel.
"I got a message."
"From whom?"
"Nathan."
Rachel's throat tightened.
"What did it say?"
"Come alone if you want to keep Rachel alive."
Rachel stared.
Dean continued.
"I thought he was threatening her."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because I don't know what Nathan wants anymore."
Morris asked, "How did you get into the chamber?"
Dean pointed toward the collapsed ground.
"There was an old access hatch under the roots."
"And the other man?"
"Nathan."
Rachel stepped closer.
"Where is he?"
Dean looked toward the emergency crews.
"Still inside."
"Alive?"
"When I last saw him."
Rachel's anger fought with something she did not want to name.
Hope.
She had spent nearly her entire life believing Nathan did not care enough to stay.
Now he might be trapped beneath her property.
"What happened?"
Dean rubbed his face.
"We went down a ladder. The chamber connects to a tunnel."
"What tunnel?"
"I don't know. Concrete walls. Old pipes. Nathan had a flashlight."
"Why did he bring you there?"
"He said the second ledger was already gone."
Rachel felt alarm.
"Someone found it?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"He wouldn't say."
"Then why contact you?"
Dean looked directly at her.
"Because he thinks Weller isn't the one in charge."
Rachel stared.
"What does that mean?"
Before Dean could answer, one of the firefighters shouted.
Everyone turned.
Two rescuers emerged from the opening carrying a stretcher.
An older man lay on it.
Nathan.
Rachel's legs nearly failed.
He was real.
Not a photograph.
Not a secret.
Not a story.
Her father.
Alive.
His silver hair was covered with dirt.
His face looked thin.
One arm hung awkwardly.
As the stretcher passed, Nathan opened his eyes.
He saw Rachel.
Everything around them seemed to disappear.
Nathan whispered one word.
"Rachel."
She could not answer.
He tried to lift his head.
A medic pushed him gently back.
Nathan struggled.
"The ledger."
Rachel stepped closer.
"What about it?"
"Don't let them find Emma."
Rachel's blood turned cold.
"What does Emma have to do with this?"
Nathan's eyes closed.
The stretcher moved toward the ambulance.
Rachel turned to Dean.
"What does Emma have to do with it?"
"I don't know."
"You've lied about everything else."
"I don't know."
Detective Morris watched both of them.
"We need everyone away from the site."
Rachel refused to leave until the search team brought up several objects from the chamber.
A rusted metal case.
Old tools.
A plastic evidence bag containing papers too damaged to read.
And one newer object.
A child's bracelet.
Pink beads.
Rachel recognized it immediately.
Emma had lost it three months earlier.
She grabbed Dean's arm.
"Why is Emma's bracelet down there?"
Dean stared at it.
"I don't know."
"She has never been in that field."
"I know."
"Then who put it there?"
Dean looked frightened.
"I don't know."
Rachel believed him.
That was almost worse.
Someone had entered Rachel's home.
Someone had taken something belonging to Emma.
Someone had carried it into a hidden chamber beneath the property.
The discovery changed everything.
This was no longer merely about an old ledger.
Someone was sending a message.
That night Nathan was admitted to the hospital with a broken wrist, dehydration and a concussion.
Rachel told herself she would not visit.
At eleven thirty, she went anyway.
He was awake.
A police officer stood outside the room.
Nathan looked toward Rachel as she entered.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Finally he said, "You look like Evelyn."
Rachel closed the door.
"You don't get to start there."
Nathan lowered his eyes.
"Fair."
"You let me think you were dead."
"I know."
"My mother lied because of you."
"Yes."
"You sent Dean into my life."
Nathan looked ashamed.
"Yes."
Rachel stepped closer.
"Why?"
"I needed someone near you."
"To protect me?"
"At first."
"That isn't an answer."
Nathan looked toward the window.
"I was dying."
Rachel froze.
"What?"
"Not anymore. But eight years ago I was diagnosed with lymphoma."
Rachel stared.
"I thought I had months."
"So you sent a stranger to spy on me?"
"I had been watching from a distance for years."
"That is not better."
"I know."
"Why Dean?"
"He worked security for a company I used."
Rachel's mind raced.
"I thought he was decent."
"He wasn't."
"He was, once."
"No. Do not defend him."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"I made a catastrophic mistake."
Rachel's voice trembled.
"You made thousands."
"Yes."
For the first time he did not argue.
Rachel sat in the chair beside the bed.
"Tell me about the chamber."
Nathan became still.
"Your grandfather found it while updating county utility maps."
"What is it?"
"Originally, storm infrastructure."
"Originally?"
"In the late eighties, several developers used abandoned access tunnels to move documents, cash and materials that they didn't want inspected."
"Richard Weller."
"His father first."
Rachel frowned.
"Weller's father?"
"Arthur Weller."
Nathan nodded.
"I worked for him."
"Doing what?"
"Buying land."
"Illegally."
"Sometimes."
Rachel looked at him with disgust.
Nathan accepted it.
"Your mother discovered enough to ruin several people."
"So why didn't she?"
"Because she was protecting you."
"From whom?"
"All of us."
Rachel's voice hardened.
"What second ledger?"
Nathan hesitated.
"The record of payments."
"Bribes?"
"Yes."
"To whom?"
"Officials. Inspectors. Attorneys. Contractors. Police."
Rachel stared.
"Police?"
"Thirty years ago."
"Is Detective Morris safe?"
"I don't know."
That was not the answer Rachel wanted.
"Who took the ledger?"
Nathan looked frightened.
"I don't know."
"You told Dean someone opened the chamber."
"Yes."
"Who?"
"I found the hatch disturbed two weeks ago."
"Why were you on my property?"
"I have watched the field for years."
Rachel laughed bitterly.
"Of course you have."
Nathan continued.
"The ledger was gone."
"And Emma's bracelet?"
Nathan's face changed.
"I didn't put it there."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Why tell me not to let them find Emma?"
Nathan looked toward the door.
Then back at Rachel.
"Because when your mother hid the ledger, she separated one page."
"What page?"
"The page containing account numbers."
"Where is it?"
Nathan's voice became barely audible.
"Evelyn put it somewhere no one would search."
Rachel waited.
Nathan looked directly into her eyes.
"With you."
Rachel frowned.
"I don't have it."
"You may not know you do."
"What does that mean?"
"Evelyn turned the numbers into something that looked meaningless."
"Where?"
Nathan whispered, "Your childhood things."
Rachel thought of boxes in the attic.
Drawings.
School papers.
Photographs.
Old toys.
"What does Emma have to do with that?"
Nathan's face tightened.
"Three months ago, I saw someone photographing her."
Rachel stopped breathing.
"Who?"
"I couldn't identify him."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought warning you would expose me."
Rachel stood.
"You protected your secret instead of my daughter."
"I followed him."
"Where?"
"To the house."
Rachel's anger vanished into fear.
"What?"
"He went inside."
"When?"
"When no one was home."
"Did he take the bracelet?"
"Maybe."
"Did he search the attic?"
Nathan nodded.
Rachel grabbed her phone.
She called Susan.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
Rachel ran from the hospital.
As she reached the parking lot, Susan finally called back.
Her voice was shaking.
"Rachel."
"What happened?"
"Someone broke into the house."
Rachel's heart slammed.
"Is Emma with you?"
"Yes."
"Are you both safe?"
"Yes."
"What did they take?"
Susan was silent.
"A box."
"What box?"
"Your childhood things."
Rachel closed her eyes.
May you like
The hidden page was no longer hidden.
And whoever had taken it had known exactly where to look.
