Chapter 6 - The Lake House
The lake house had been abandoned for years.
Richard had stopped going there after James died.
Daniel remembered the place differently.
It had once been where the family spent summers.
Where Rebecca and Richard had announced their engagement.
Where Emily had learned to swim.
Where Daniel had first realized that his father could be happy.
They arrived just before sunset.
The front door was unlocked.
Daniel pushed it open.
Dust covered the furniture.
But someone had been there recently.
Fresh footprints crossed the floor.
Richard followed them.
They led to the basement.
A metal cabinet stood against the wall.
Richard opened it.
Inside were old financial records.
Boxes of photographs.
A laptop.
And a notebook.
Daniel picked up the notebook.
Every page contained names.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Transfers.
The final page contained his own name.
Daniel froze.
Next to his name was a date.
Tomorrow.
Richard looked over his shoulder.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel opened the laptop.
It required a password.
Richard stared at the screen.
“Try James.”
Daniel did.
Wrong.
“Try Rebecca.”
Wrong.
“Your name?”
Wrong.
Daniel thought.
Then remembered something.
“Dad, what was Mom's middle name?”
Richard looked at him.
“Why?”
“Just answer.”
Richard told him.
Daniel entered it.
The laptop opened.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Most were encrypted.
One folder wasn't.
It contained photographs.
Daniel opened the first.
Rebecca.
Michael.
James.
Then Richard.
Then another photograph.
Daniel stopped.
It showed Richard standing outside a hospital.
Beside him was a woman Daniel had never seen before.
Richard looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Who is she?”
Richard did not answer.
“Dad.”
Richard whispered.
“She was James's wife.”
Daniel stared.
“James was married?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because she died before you were old enough to remember.”
Daniel opened another file.
A scanned birth certificate appeared.
His hands began to shake.
The child listed on the document had been born twenty years earlier.
The mother was James's wife.
The father was listed as unknown.
Richard suddenly shut the laptop.
“That's enough.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You know something.”
Richard looked away.
“I know more than I wanted to.”
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Then a noise came from upstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
