Chapter 11 - The Stranger With the Key
The man's name was Daniel Reed.
Caroline stared at him.
“You knew my father?”
Daniel nodded.
“Very well.”
“Why have I never heard of you?”
“Because your father wanted it that way.”
“What do you have?”
Daniel reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old brass key.
Caroline recognized it immediately.
It belonged to the wooden box.
Her hands trembled.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your father gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
Caroline stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because he believed someone was watching him.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the empty ballroom.
“The same people who are watching you.”
Grace asked:
“Does Michael know about the key?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Then we still have time.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Not much.”
Caroline took the key.
“What does it open?”
Daniel answered:
“Something your father spent years protecting.”
“What?”
“You'll know when you see it.”
Caroline frowned.
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“It is a warning.”
Suddenly Grace's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then looked at Caroline.
“Someone is at your mother's house.”
Caroline froze.
“Who?”
Grace ended the call.
“Michael.”
Caroline's heart dropped.
“How did he know?”
Daniel looked at the key.
“He didn't.”
Caroline looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel said:
“Someone told him.”
Everyone became silent.
Evelyn whispered:
“Who?”
Daniel looked at her.
“That is the question.”
Caroline realized the conspiracy was larger than she had imagined.
Michael wasn't acting alone.
Margaret wasn't acting alone.
May you like
Someone else had been moving pieces behind them.
And that person knew exactly where Caroline would go next.
