Chapter 6: Someone Was Still Inside
Dad locked the front door.
Then the back door.
Then the garage.
I watched him check each window, one after another, while Madison sat at the kitchen table with her knees pulled against her chest.
Vanessa stood near the sink.
For once, she wasn't giving orders.
She wasn't shouting.
She wasn't trying to control the room.
She looked scared.
Dad returned to the kitchen.
“Everyone stays downstairs.””
Vanessa frowned.
“You think someone is still here?””
“I don't know.””
“Then why lock the doors?””
“Because Daniel accessed the account yesterday from inside this house.””
“That doesn't mean he was physically here.””
Dad looked at her.
“Then how did he access it?””
“I don't know.””
“Neither do I.””
He pulled a chair out for me.
“Sit.””
I sat.
Madison looked at me.
“Are we in danger?””
Dad crouched beside her.
“I don't know, but I'm not going to take chances.””
She nodded.
Vanessa whispered, “Michael…”
He stood.
“What?””
“If Daniel has been involved this whole time, you need to know something.””
Dad waited.
“I didn't put the money in Ethan's bag because I wanted to steal his inheritance.””
I stared at her.
“You said you did.””
“I said I used some of it.””
Dad's eyes hardened.
“Then why?””
“Because Daniel told me I had to.””
The kitchen went silent.
Dad slowly lowered himself into the chair across from her.
“Start talking.””
Vanessa rubbed her palms together.
“About two months ago, I received an email from an address I didn't recognize.””
“What did it say?””
“That Laura had left evidence with Daniel.””
“What evidence?””
“I don't know.””
“You keep saying that.””
“Because I never saw it.””
Dad leaned forward.
“What did Daniel want?””
“Money.””
“How much?””
“Ten thousand.””
My stomach tightened.
The exact amount.
Vanessa continued.
“He said if I didn't pay him, he would send you everything.””
“What everything?””
“He wouldn't tell me.””
Dad looked at her.
“So you stole ten thousand dollars from the estate account.””
“Yes.””
“And paid Daniel.””
“No.””
Dad frowned.
“What?””
“I never paid him.””
“Then where did the ten thousand go?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Dad stood.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I know how it sounds.””
“It sounds like you're lying again.””
“I took the money. I put it somewhere safe. Then Daniel contacted me again.””
“What did he say?””
“He told me to put the cash in Ethan's backpack.””
I felt cold.
“Why?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because he said you were the easiest person to blame.””
My hands curled into fists.
Dad's face darkened.
“What else did he tell you?””
“He said that if Ethan was removed from the house, you would stop looking at the estate account.””
Dad stared at her.
“And you believed him?””
“I was desperate.””
“So you used my son.””
“Yes.””
Her voice broke.
“Yes.””
Madison started crying.
“Mom, why?””
Vanessa looked at her daughter.
“Because I thought I could fix it.””
“You made me lie.””
“I know.””
“You made me steal.””
“I know.””
“You said Ethan would be okay.””
“I thought he would be.””
Madison covered her face.
Dad walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Then the lights went out.
The kitchen plunged into darkness.
Madison screamed.
I heard something crash upstairs.
Dad immediately moved toward us.
“Stay here.””
“Dad—”
“Do not move.””
He pulled his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight.
The beam cut across the kitchen.
Vanessa grabbed Madison.
“What was that?””
Dad didn't answer.
He moved toward the staircase.
I could hear his breathing.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Then a door slammed upstairs.
Dad stopped.
“Who's there?””
No answer.
He climbed the rest of the stairs.
Vanessa whispered, “Michael, don't.””
Dad disappeared around the corner.
A few seconds later, we heard him shout.
“Ethan, stay downstairs!””
Then a crash.
Madison grabbed my arm.
“Someone's up there.””
I nodded.
My heart hammered.
Then Dad shouted again.
“Call 911!””
Vanessa went pale.
She reached for her phone.
“No signal,” she whispered.
I checked mine.
Nothing.
The storm outside had become heavier, rain striking the windows like handfuls of gravel.
Then we heard footsteps.
Coming down the stairs.
Slow.
One step at a time.
Madison squeezed my hand.
Vanessa stepped in front of us.
“Who is it?””
A shadow appeared.
Dad.
He was holding something.
A laptop.
His face was grim.
“Where's the router?””
Vanessa blinked.
“What?””
“The router.””
“In the study.””
Dad rushed past us.
“The power didn't go out.””
I frowned.
“What?””
He turned.
“The house lights went out, but the security system stayed online.””
He opened the laptop.
“Someone manually cut the breaker to the downstairs lights.””
Madison whispered, “Why?””
“To make us think the power failed.””
Dad connected the laptop to his phone.
A security feed appeared.
The upstairs hallway.
Then another camera.
The garage.
Then the front entrance.
Then the study.
I stared at the screen.
Someone had entered the study.
Dad rewound the footage.
A figure appeared.
Wearing a dark hoodie.
Their face was hidden.
They walked directly to Dad's desk.
They knew exactly where to look.
Dad paused the video.
The figure reached into the bottom drawer.
The same drawer where my mother's red folder had been.
Dad whispered, “They were looking for something.””
Vanessa moved closer.
“Can you see their face?””
“No.””
“Can you see what they took?””
Dad zoomed in.
The figure removed a small black object.
A flash drive.
Then they turned toward the camera.
For one second, their face was visible.
Dad froze.
Vanessa's hand flew to her mouth.
I looked at the screen.
I didn't recognize the man.
But Vanessa did.
“That's Daniel.””
Dad looked at her.
“You said you didn't know him.””
“I don't.””
“Then how do you know that's him?””
She didn't answer.
Dad replayed the footage.
Daniel walked toward the study door.
Then stopped.
He looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
A warning.
Dad closed the laptop.
“We're leaving.””
“Where?”” I asked.
“The police station.””
He grabbed his keys.
Vanessa stood.
“I can't go.””
Dad turned.
“You're coming with us.””
“No.””
“Why?””
She looked toward the laptop.
“Because he'll find us.””
Dad's expression hardened.
“That's why we're going.””
“No, Michael.””
She stepped closer.
“You don't understand.””
“What don't I understand?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Daniel isn't the person I'm afraid of.””
Dad stared at her.
“Then who?””
She looked toward the hallway.
“Laura.””
I felt my skin prickle.
“My mother is dead.””
“I know.””
“Then what are you talking about?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I saw her.””
Dad stared at her.
“What?””
“Three months ago.””
Madison whispered, “Mom…”
Vanessa began crying.
“I saw Laura.””
Dad's face became completely still.
“You're lying.””
“I wish I were.””
“Laura died three years ago.””
“I know.””
“Then who did you see?””
Vanessa looked at me.
Her lips trembled.
“She came to the house.””
Nobody spoke.
Dad stepped closer.
“When?””
“Three months ago.””
“Where?””
“Outside the garage.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because she told me not to.””
Dad's face twisted with disbelief.
“What did she look like?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Exactly the same.””
“That’s impossible.””
“She said she had been watching.””
Dad's voice dropped.
“Watching what?””
Vanessa looked at the laptop.
“Watching what we did with her money.””
A noise came from upstairs.
Three slow knocks.
Everyone froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Dad looked toward the ceiling.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
He answered.
Nobody spoke on the other end.
Then a woman's voice whispered,
“Michael, you should have listened to my letter.””
Dad dropped the phone.
I knew that voice.
Not because I had heard it recently.
Because I had heard it in my dreams for three years.
May you like
My mother's voice.
And then the call ended.
