Chapter 13 - My Mother’s First Lie
“Call her,” I said.
Agent Ruiz was already trying.
No response came from my mother’s phone.
The live feed remained dark, but the camera continued transmitting. We could hear movement inside the house.
A chair scraped.
A door closed.
Then silence.
“Samuel knew about the camera,” Claire said.
Anthony stared at the screen.
“Samuel knows about every camera.”
Agent Ruiz contacted the team stationed near my mother’s home. They reported that the building appeared secure. No broken windows. No unfamiliar vehicles. The front door remained locked from inside.
“Then go in,” I demanded.
“They are entering now.”
I watched the dark screen as footsteps sounded through Ruiz’s radio.
A moment later, the live feed returned.
My mother sat alone.
Samuel was gone.
The front door was still locked.
“My mother has a private passage from the old servant corridor,” I said. “Mrs. Alvarez uses it during storms when the main stairs become dangerous.”
Anthony looked at me.
“Nathaniel built another hidden exit?”
“He built many.”
“That was how he survived.”
The bitterness in Anthony’s voice made me turn toward him.
“Survived what?”
“Knowing he had taken my life while raising my daughter.”
“He believed you were guilty.”
“For two years.”
“And after that?”
Anthony looked away.
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
My mother’s name appeared on the screen.
“Mom?”
“Evelyn, listen carefully. Samuel did not hurt me.”
“Where did he go?”
“He came to warn me.”
“About Anthony?”
A long silence followed.
Anthony moved closer.
“Margaret,” he said.
My mother inhaled sharply.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Then she whispered his name.
“Anthony.”
He closed his eyes.
I had expected anger or relief.
Instead, I saw grief.
“You knew he was alive,” I said.
“No.”
“You recognized his voice immediately.”
“I would recognize it after a hundred years.”
Claire stood beside me.
“What happened at Black Ridge?” she asked.
My mother’s answer came slowly.
“I worked for Nathaniel and Anthony before either of you were born. I organized geological records and property deeds. Anthony discovered that the company’s private land division was being used to hide illegal transfers.”
“And you were in love with him,” I said.
“Yes.”
Anthony opened his eyes.
My mother continued.
“When I became pregnant, Anthony planned to leave the company. Then he was arrested. Nathaniel believed he had betrayed us.”
“So Nathaniel married you.”
“He protected me. He gave you his name. He loved you as his own.”
“But you never told me.”
“I thought Anthony was dead.”
Claire stepped toward the phone.
“What about my mother?”
My mother’s voice changed.
“Rebecca knew more than I did. She found one volume of the Continuity Ledger after Anthony disappeared.”
“Did Patricia kill her?”
“I don’t know.”
Anthony spoke.
“Tell them about the night the records were divided.”
My mother went silent again.
“What records?” I asked.
“The ledger was separated into two volumes,” she finally said. “Nathaniel hid one beneath Black Ridge.”
“And the other?”
“I took it.”
Anthony looked at the black book on the table.
My mother lowered her voice.
“I hid it where no Mercer could open it and no Harcourt would think to search.”
“Where?”
Before she could answer, a new voice entered the call.
Samuel.
“You should not have told her that, Margaret.”
My mother gasped.
The connection went dead.
On the projector, Nathaniel’s recorded image disappeared.
A single sentence replaced it.
VOLUME TWO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM HARCOURT TOWER.
May you like
Beneath those words appeared a timestamp.
It had been removed less than one hour earlier.
