Chapter 3 - The House Built on a Lie
Nora drove directly to Melissa’s apartment.
By the time she arrived, Chase’s black SUV was gone.
Melissa opened the door only after Nora knocked for several minutes.
Her face was pale.
“What did he want?” Nora asked.
Melissa glanced toward the parking lot.
“Come inside.”
Nora entered and locked the door.
Melissa’s living room looked disturbed. A chair had been moved away from the dining table, and several folders were scattered beside an open filing cabinet.
“Did he search your apartment?”
“No.”
“Melissa.”
“He said he was looking for Vanessa’s insurance documents. She listed my address years ago when they were moving.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“Did he touch your phone?”
Melissa looked down.
“Yes.”
Nora took a slow breath.
“Why did he come immediately after I asked you about the music box?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you tell Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Anyone else?”
Melissa shook her head.
Nora walked to the window and checked the parking lot.
“Tell me everything.”
Melissa sat on the sofa.
“When we found the music box, Vanessa wanted to keep it. She said it was probably valuable. Your mother came into the attic and saw us holding it.”
“What did she do?”
“She slapped Vanessa.”
Nora turned.
“Mom slapped her?”
“I had never seen Aunt Margaret hit either of you.”
“What did Vanessa say?”
“She asked who Evelyn was. Your mother said Evelyn was a dangerous woman who had tried to steal you.”
“Steal me?”
“She said Evelyn was obsessed with you.”
Nora’s pulse quickened.
“Why?”
“She wouldn’t explain.”
“Did Mom take the music box?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that?”
“Vanessa cried. Your father came upstairs. They argued behind the attic door.”
“About Evelyn?”
“I heard your father say, ‘You told me the documents were destroyed.’”
Nora stared at her.
“You remember the exact words?”
“I remember because Vanessa kept repeating them later.”
“Did she ask Richard what they meant?”
“She tried. He told us to forget everything.”
Nora sat beside her cousin.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Melissa’s eyes filled with regret.
“Because two days later, your mother told my parents that I had stolen jewelry from your house.”
Nora frowned.
“You were accused of stealing?”
“They grounded me for months. The jewelry appeared in my backpack.”
Understanding settled heavily over Nora.
“Mom planted it.”
“I couldn’t prove that. But after that, I stayed away from your house.”
Nora reached for Melissa’s hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“You were a child too.”
Nora’s phone rang.
Adrian Cole’s name appeared on the screen.
She answered immediately.
“We found Evelyn,” he said.
Nora stood.
“Alive?”
“We believe so.”
“Where?”
“A private assisted living facility outside Bellmere.”
“Why do you only believe it?”
“She is registered under a shortened version of her middle name. Evelyn Grace Vale became Grace Vance.”
“Who pays for the facility?”
“That’s where it becomes complicated.”
Nora moved away from Melissa.
“Tell me.”
“The payments come from a trust administered by a Holloway subsidiary.”
Nora felt the room tilt.
“Chase’s family has been paying to keep my grandmother hidden?”
“I cannot say that yet.”
“What else would you call it?”
“The facility has strict privacy controls. Before we visit, we need legal authorization.”
“I’m going today.”
“Nora, listen to me. If Evelyn is mentally competent, she can agree to see you. If someone has guardianship over her, they may block access.”
“Who has guardianship?”
“I’m checking.”
A knock sounded at Melissa’s door.
Both women froze.
“Who is it?” Nora called.
No answer.
She approached carefully and looked through the peephole.
A delivery envelope lay on the floor.
Nora opened the door only far enough to retrieve it.
The envelope was addressed to her.
Inside was a printed photograph of Nora entering the lake house the previous night.
A message had been written across the bottom.
YOU BOUGHT THE WRONG HOUSE.
Melissa covered her mouth.
“Who took that?”
Nora looked toward the stairwell.
No one was there.
She called Adrian again and described the photograph.
“Leave Melissa’s apartment,” he said. “Go somewhere secure.”
“The lake house has cameras.”
“Then go there. I’ll arrange additional security.”
Nora studied the photograph.
“Who knew I bought the property?”
“The seller, the brokers, the bank, the title company.”
“And the people monitoring the estate.”
“That is possible.”
Nora and Melissa left through the building’s rear entrance.
During the drive to Lake Bellmere, a silver sedan followed them for nearly twenty miles.
Nora changed lanes.
The sedan changed lanes.
She exited toward a shopping district.
The sedan followed.
Melissa twisted around in her seat.
“They’re still there.”
Nora called the police and read the license plate number.
The sedan immediately turned down a side road and disappeared.
At the mansion, Nora entered through the security gate and checked the camera system.
Nothing unusual appeared until she reviewed footage from the previous week.
At 2:13 a.m. on Tuesday, a figure had walked out of the trees near the western boundary.
The person wore a dark coat and carried a flashlight.
They approached the mansion but stopped before reaching the lawn.
Then they looked directly at the camera.
It was Margaret.
Nora replayed the footage.
Her mother stood outside the home Nora had never revealed to her family.
Margaret had known.
The next camera showed her walking toward the old stone boathouse.
She disappeared inside for seventeen minutes.
When she emerged, she carried a small wooden box decorated with blue birds.
The music box.
Nora rushed toward the boathouse.
The door stood locked.
She found the key in the kitchen drawer where the previous owner had left it.
Inside, the air smelled of damp wood and lake water.
Old paddles hung on the wall. Fishing equipment rested in dusty cabinets.
Nora searched beneath the workbench.
Nothing.
Melissa examined the floor.
“There are drag marks.”
Together, they pushed aside a heavy storage trunk.
A square metal hatch was hidden beneath it.
Nora lifted the hatch.
Stone steps descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a narrow underground room.
Shelves lined the walls.
Most were empty.
But one folder remained on a wooden desk.
May you like
On the cover, written in faded ink, were the words:
NORA MERCER CUSTODY AGREEMENT.
