Chapter 13 - The Farmhouse)
Police told them not to go.
Brooke agreed.
Then she listened as Adam whispered with Parker about warrants, jurisdiction and probable cause.
By midnight, nobody had moved.
At 12:17, Ethan’s new tablet received a video call.
Unknown account.
Brooke answered before anyone could stop her.
Darkness.
Then a room appeared.
Old wooden walls.
A hanging light.
A man sat in a chair.
Alive.
Robert Vale.
The missing investigator.
His beard had grown.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
“Brooke?”
Adam moved beside her.
“Robert?”
The man’s eyes widened.
“Uncle Adam.”
Adam closed his eyes.
“You’re alive.”
“Not for long if you bring police.”
Parker leaned toward the screen.
“Robert, where are you?”
“You know.”
“The farmhouse?”
“Yes.”
“Who has you?”
Robert looked off camera.
“Not Gary.”
Brooke’s heartbeat accelerated.
“Michael?”
Robert did not answer.
“Is Michael alive?”
Robert whispered, “Your family needs to stop asking that question.”
Adam leaned closer.
“Robert.”
“You should be asking why he disappeared.”
“Why?”
Robert looked toward someone outside frame.
“Because he found out where the money actually came from.”
Brooke frowned.
“What money?”
“The money Gary stole.”
“We thought it came from the restoration company.”
Robert laughed weakly.
“Eight hundred thousand didn’t.”
Adam stared.
“What are you saying?”
“The company was used to move it.”
“Whose money was it?”
Robert’s expression filled with fear.
“Evelyn’s.”
Brooke felt cold.
“Grandma had eight hundred thousand dollars?”
“More.”
“How much?”
Robert started to answer.
A sound came from behind him.
He froze.
“Robert?”
“Listen carefully.”
Parker said, “We can protect you.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Who is there?”
Robert ignored her.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Brooke, your grandmother created the first trust before you were born.”
Brooke’s skin prickled.
“What?”
“It wasn’t created by Gary.”
The financial investigator looked stunned.
Robert continued.
“Gary changed it. Michael hid it. Evelyn tried to recover it.”
“Why was my name on it?”
“Because you were the beneficiary.”
“Before I was born?”
Robert nodded.
“That’s impossible.”
“Unless Evelyn knew exactly who you were going to be.”
Brooke stared.
Before she could ask, Robert looked sharply to the side.
“No.”
The screen moved.
Someone grabbed the device.
Brooke heard struggle.
Then darkness.
The call ended.
Parker immediately contacted officers.
Within twenty minutes, teams were moving toward the farmhouse.
Brooke was furious when Adam tried to leave.
“You’re staying.”
“He’s my nephew.”
“And you running into a house helps?”
“I can identify Michael.”
“Police have photographs.”
Adam looked at her.
Brooke folded her arms.
“You already disappeared once.”
That stopped him.
“I’m not doing it again.”
“Then stay.”
He stayed.
At 2:03 a.m., Parker received the first update.
Farmhouse empty.
No Robert.
No Michael.
But there was evidence someone had left recently.
Food.
Clothes.
Medical supplies.
A laptop burned in a metal barrel.
And one room covered with photographs.
Photographs of Brooke.
Ethan.
Laura.
Adam.
Gary.
Evelyn.
School pictures.
Grocery stores.
Their house.
Brooke felt violated.
“How long?”
Parker checked the message.
“Some images appear to date back at least six years.”
“Someone watched us for six years?”
“Yes.”
Another image arrived.
The wall contained a family tree.
Names connected with lines.
Some crossed out.
Evelyn.
Dead.
Gary.
Circled.
Adam.
Circled.
Laura.
Circled.
Brooke.
Underlined.
Ethan.
Underlined.
Michael.
Question mark.
Rachel.
Question mark.
Robert.
Question mark.
Then one unfamiliar name at the top.
THOMAS VALE.
Brooke stared.
Grandma’s first son.
Beside his name were two words.
ORIGINAL TRUSTEE.
Adam whispered, “Thomas controlled Evelyn’s trust.”
Parker nodded.
“And if he is alive?”
Adam looked toward Brooke.
“He would be almost fifty-four.”
The next police photograph showed a safe.
Open.
Empty.
Except for a photograph left inside.
A boy about seven years old.
Adam recognized him.
“That’s Thomas.”
On the back someone had written:
THE FIRST SON ALWAYS GETS EVERYTHING.
Brooke thought of Grandma’s saying.
Family first. Always in order of arrival.
Maybe it had not been affectionate.
Maybe it had been a warning.
At sunrise, Gary’s attorney filed an emergency motion seeking his release.
The judge denied it.
Financial investigators froze eleven accounts.
Two properties were seized.
The trust was secured.
For the first time, the immediate danger Gary represented seemed contained.
Laura cried when she received confirmation.
Ethan hugged her.
Brooke did too.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But a beginning.
Adam stood near the doorway.
Brooke looked at him.
“You can come here.”
He hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
He almost laughed.
She added, “But you can come anyway.”
Adam joined them.
For one brief moment, they looked like a family.
Not healed.
Not whole.
But standing.
Then Parker’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed immediately.
“What?”
Everyone watched.
Parker listened.
Then looked toward Brooke.
“They found Robert’s car.”
“Where?”
“Near Alum Creek.”
“Was he inside?”
“No.”
Relief came too quickly.
Parker continued.
“There was blood in the vehicle.”
Laura covered her mouth.
“And something else.”
“What?”
“A sealed envelope.”
“Addressed to who?”
May you like
Parker looked directly at Brooke.
“You.”
