Chapter 3 - A Message From the Dead)
Grace stared at the letters until they blurred.
DP.
Daniel Parker.
Her first husband.
The man she had buried four years ago.
The man who had never met Richard.
Or so she had believed.
Detective Bennett noticed her expression.
"Those initials mean something."
"My husband."
"Richard?"
"No."
Grace shook her head.
"My first husband. Peter's father."
Peter leaned closer.
"Dad?"
Grace pointed.
"Daniel Parker."
Bennett studied the address.
"You said this is your parents' old house?"
"Yes."
"Did Daniel ever use it?"
"Sometimes."
Grace struggled to remember.
"After my parents moved to Arizona, Daniel kept some documents there. Old tax records. Tools. Things he didn't want taking up space at home."
"Did Richard know about the property?"
"He shouldn't."
Peter suddenly spoke.
"He did."
Grace turned.
"What?"
Peter looked uncertain.
"Richard took me there once."
The words landed like a physical blow.
"When?"
"Last summer."
"Why?"
"He said he needed to check a pipe."
Grace stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought you knew."
Of course he had.
Children assumed adults shared important information.
Adults assumed children would mention anything unusual.
Between those assumptions, secrets survived.
Detective Bennett stood.
"We're going there."
The house was thirty-five minutes away.
By the time they arrived, sunset had turned the sky orange.
Police had already secured the property.
Grace stepped from Bennett's car and stared at the faded blue house where she had spent her teenage years.
Nothing had changed.
The porch still leaned slightly.
The oak tree still split the driveway.
But the front door had fresh scratches around the lock.
Someone had entered recently.
Inside, the air smelled of dust.
Officers moved room to room.
Peter stayed beside Grace.
"Where did Richard go when you came here?" Bennett asked him.
"The basement."
The basement door creaked open.
They descended.
Grace remembered Daniel's workbench.
His boxes of fishing equipment.
Her father's old shelves.
Most of it remained.
But in the far corner stood a steel cabinet that had not been there when Grace was younger.
An officer checked it.
Locked.
Bennett authorized them to open it.
The latch broke.
Inside were three cardboard boxes.
The first contained old financial records.
The second contained Daniel's possessions.
Peter gasped.
"Dad's jacket."
Grace touched the familiar brown leather sleeve.
She had donated that jacket after Daniel died.
At least she thought she had.
Underneath it was a portable hard drive.
A sealed envelope.
And a small digital recorder.
The envelope had Grace's name on it.
She recognized Daniel's handwriting immediately.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Grace,
If you are reading this, something has gone wrong.
Detective Bennett watched her carefully.
Grace unfolded the letter.
Daniel had written it seven weeks before his death.
He explained that a client at his accounting firm had asked him to examine irregular transfers connected to a small investment company called Northstar Strategic Holdings.
Daniel had discovered shell companies.
Fraudulent insurance claims.
False identities.
Several payments connected to the estates of recently deceased women.
At first he believed it was financial crime.
Then he found photographs.
Marriage records.
And a name.
Thomas Hale.
Grace looked at Evelyn's daughter's wedding certificate.
Thomas Hale.
Richard.
Daniel's letter continued.
I do not know who this man really is. I only know he has been married at least four times under different identities. Two of the women are dead. One is missing. One survived a house fire and vanished afterward.
I reported what I had to a federal investigator.
Three days later, someone broke into my office.
Grace could barely continue reading.
Peter watched her.
"What does it say?"
Grace did not answer.
She forced herself onward.
If something happens to me, do not assume it was random.
Trust no one connected to Northstar.
Especially anyone who approaches you after my death claiming coincidence brought you together.
Grace's hands began shaking.
Richard had met her sixteen months after Daniel died.
At a charity auction.
He had spilled champagne on her dress.
He had apologized.
He had made her laugh.
Coincidence.
She had believed it for almost three years.
Bennett took the letter after Grace finished.
"This changes everything."
Peter pointed to the recorder.
"What's on that?"
An officer inserted fresh batteries.
The tiny speaker crackled.
Then Daniel's voice filled the basement.
Grace stopped breathing.
"October 14. I met with Rebecca Hart this afternoon."
Evelyn's daughter.
Peter looked at his mother.
Daniel continued.
"She is alive."
Grace stared at Bennett.
The recording kept playing.
"Rebecca says Thomas Hale did not kill her, but he tried. She escaped after discovering he had taken out two insurance policies in her name. She believes he has help inside financial institutions and possibly law enforcement. She gave me copies of records showing he moves between identities every few years."
A pause.
Then Daniel said something that chilled everyone in the room.
"He knows I found him."
Grace closed her eyes.
Daniel's voice became quieter.
"If he cannot destroy the evidence, he may come after my family."
The recorder clicked off.
Peter whispered, "Dad knew Richard?"
Grace turned toward him.
"I don't know."
But she did.
Somewhere deep inside, she already understood.
Richard had not met Grace by accident.
He had found her.
Because Daniel Parker had discovered him.
An officer called from the other side of the basement.
"Detective."
Bennett walked over.
Behind a shelf, officers had discovered a newer section of drywall.
It was cleaner than the wall around it.
Someone had sealed something behind it.
They cut through.
Inside the narrow cavity was a black duffel bag.
The zipper opened.
Bundles of cash.
A handgun.
Three burner phones.
And photographs.
Grace picked up the first photograph.
It showed her walking Peter to school.
Another showed Grace leaving work.
Another showed her grocery shopping.
Then Peter found one taken through the window of their living room.
It had been taken almost two years before Grace officially met Richard.
On the back was a date.
Grace's legs nearly gave out.
Richard had been watching them months before he introduced himself.
Bennett reached for the final photograph.
It showed Daniel standing beside his car.
May you like
The picture had been taken three days before his fatal collision.
Across Daniel's face someone had drawn a red X.
