Chapter 4 - The Safe
Daniel called the police before leaving the hospital.
Clara protested when he told her he was going home.
"You shouldn't leave Noah."
"I'll take him to the nursery."
"No."
"Clara."
She looked frightened.
Not for herself.
"For you."
Daniel paused.
"Why?"
"Because your mother isn't stupid."
He stared at her.
"She knows exactly what she's doing."
The statement stayed with him during the entire drive home.
Marcus waited on the sidewalk.
Police lights flashed across the Carter house.
Evelyn's car was gone.
So was the black Mercedes.
An officer approached Daniel.
"Mr. Carter?"
"Yes."
"Officer Brennan."
Daniel shook his hand impatiently.
"Did you stop them?"
"No. They left before we arrived."
Daniel cursed under his breath.
Marcus walked over.
"I took pictures."
He showed Daniel his phone.
Image one: Evelyn carrying a cardboard archive box.
Image two: Marjorie holding another.
Image three: the small gray fireproof safe from Daniel's home office.
Daniel stared.
"That's mine."
Officer Brennan nodded.
"What was inside?"
"Birth certificates. Insurance documents. My father's papers. Tax records."
"Cash?"
"No."
"Firearms?"
"No."
"Any valuable property?"
Daniel thought.
"My father's will."
The officer made a note.
"Anything else?"
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
A brown leather folder.
His father had handed it to him three weeks before dying.
Daniel had never opened it.
At the time his father had been undergoing chemotherapy and taking powerful pain medication.
"Keep this," Thomas Carter had said.
"For what?"
"Later."
Daniel had placed the folder in the safe.
Then forgotten it.
Until now.
"My father gave me something."
Officer Brennan looked up.
"What?"
"I don't know."
"You never opened it?"
"No."
The officer raised an eyebrow.
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"I know how that sounds."
He entered the house.
The first thing he noticed was the kitchen.
Someone had cleaned the broken plate from the floor.
The counters were wiped.
The pans washed.
Evelyn had erased the scene.
Daniel moved upstairs.
The bedroom drawer stood open.
The black notebook was gone.
The bank statements were gone.
The flash drive was gone.
The envelope was gone.
He took photographs.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, silence.
Then Evelyn spoke.
"You called the police on your own mother."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You stole my safe."
"I protected family property."
"You entered my bedroom."
"Your wife has been collecting private financial information."
"You took Clara's recordings."
Silence.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Daniel heard it.
"You found them," he said.
Evelyn's voice hardened.
"Your wife has been spying on me."
"You nearly put her back in the hospital."
"She put herself there."
"Where's my safe?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I have photographs."
Another silence.
Then Evelyn laughed softly.
"Be careful, Daniel."
He stared at the bedroom wall.
"Is that a threat?"
"No. It's advice."
"Bring back my property."
"Ask your wife what she was planning to do with those documents."
"I already did."
That seemed to surprise her.
"What did she tell you?"
"Enough."
Evelyn breathed slowly.
"You have no idea what you've married."
Daniel almost shouted.
Instead, he spoke calmly.
"You're not coming back into this house."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm changing the locks."
"I am your mother."
"Then you should have behaved like one."
Her voice sharpened.
"Your father would be ashamed of you."
Daniel flinched.
Evelyn knew exactly where to cut.
She always had.
"My father wouldn't have left me an envelope in a safe if he trusted you."
Silence.
This silence was different.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
"What envelope?"
Daniel knew.
That was the moment.
His mother hadn't known about it.
"Goodnight."
"Daniel."
He ended the call.
Officer Brennan stood in the doorway.
"Everything okay?"
"No."
Daniel looked toward the empty safe cabinet.
"Nothing about this is okay."
Twenty minutes later, Marcus helped him install a temporary lock.
Daniel returned to the hospital shortly before midnight.
Clara was awake.
"Did you get it back?"
"No."
She closed her eyes.
"The drive?"
"Gone."
"The notebook?"
"Gone."
She nodded weakly.
Daniel sat beside her.
"Clara, my father left something in that safe."
Her eyes opened.
"What?"
"An envelope or folder. I don't know what was inside."
"When?"
"Before he died."
Clara stared at him.
"Daniel..."
"What?"
She looked toward the door.
"Your father called me once."
Daniel froze.
"When?"
"Three days before he died."
"Why?"
Clara hesitated.
"He told me never to let your mother control Noah."
Daniel's breathing stopped.
"We didn't have Noah."
"No."
"Clara, Noah wasn't even conceived."
"I know."
"Then what exactly did my father say?"
Clara looked at him.
"He didn't say Noah."
May you like
She swallowed.
"He said, 'When you finally give Daniel a child, don't let Evelyn get her hands on the trust.'"
