Chapter 6: The Man Margaret Feared
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then the police officer took Victor's phone.
“Did you recognize the voice?””
Victor stared at the screen.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Victor hesitated.
Harrison stepped forward.
“Say it.””
Victor looked at him.
“You won't believe me.””
“Try.””
Victor swallowed.
“Your wife.””
Harrison's face hardened.
“My wife is dead.””
“I know.””
“Then don't play games with me.””
“I heard that voice six years ago.””
Daniel stared at him.
“Where?””
“In Margaret's bedroom.””
Harrison felt a cold pressure settle in his chest.
“You're saying someone who sounded like Margaret was there?””
Victor nodded.
“Not sounded like her.””
He looked at Harrison.
“It was her.””
The officer shook his head.
“That's impossible.””
Victor turned toward the security monitor.
“Nothing about tonight is normal.””
Daniel looked at Mia.
“Start talking.””
She wiped her eyes.
“I will.””
“No more lies.””
“I know.””
“No more half-truths.””
“I know.””
Daniel's voice broke.
“Tell me why you married me.””
Mia looked at him.
“Because I was supposed to destroy your family.””
Harrison closed his eyes.
Daniel stared at her.
“Why?””
“Your father owned the Harrison Group.””
Harrison frowned.
“That company was sold years ago.””
“Exactly.””
Victor stepped in.
“Your father thinks he sold it.””
Harrison looked at him.
“What do you mean?””
“The buyer was a shell company.””
“Whose?””
Victor hesitated.
“Mr. Black's.””
Harrison felt the blood drain from his face.
“That can't be.””
“You signed the papers.””
“I sold my shares to an investment firm.””
“An investment firm controlled by three companies.””
Victor pulled a document from his briefcase.
“All three belonged to the same man.””
Harrison looked at the name.
Nothing.
Just another corporation.
Another legal entity.
Another layer.
Daniel frowned.
“Who is Mr. Black?””
Victor looked at him.
“I don't know.””
“You just said he controlled the company.””
“I've never seen his face.””
“Then how do you know he exists?””
Victor pointed toward Mia.
“She does.””
Mia shook her head.
“I've never seen his face either.””
Daniel looked confused.
“Then how were you working for him?””
“Messages. Phones. People who came to meetings for him.””
“Why didn't you go to the police?””
“I tried.””
“What happened?””
Mia looked at Harrison.
“Your mother stopped me.””
Harrison frowned.
“Why?””
“Because she said the police were compromised.””
The officer stiffened.
“You're accusing the police department?””
“No.””
Mia looked at him.
“I'm saying Mr. Black had people everywhere.””
The officer reached for his radio.
Static answered.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Victor looked at the device.
“Your radio isn't working.””
The officer checked it.
“No signal.””
Harrison looked toward the windows.
Outside, police lights flashed across the curtains.
Two patrol cars had arrived.
But nobody came inside.
“Where are the other officers?”” Daniel asked.
The officer frowned.
“They should be here.””
He moved toward the front door.
Harrison stopped him.
“Don't.””
The officer turned.
“Why?””
“Because that's what he wants.””
The officer stared at him.
“Who?””
Harrison pointed toward the security monitor.
The screen had changed again.
Now it showed the front porch.
Two police cars sat outside.
Their doors were open.
But the officers were nowhere in sight.
Daniel whispered,
“What happened to them?””
Mia suddenly said,
“They've been taken.””
Everyone turned.
“How do you know?”” Daniel asked.
“I've seen this before.””
“Where?””
“Six years ago.””
Harrison looked at her.
“What happened six years ago?””
Mia hesitated.
“Your mother wasn't alone when she died.””
Harrison's breathing stopped.
“Who was with her?””
Mia looked at Victor.
“He was.””
Victor's face tightened.
“That isn't true.””
“You were there.””
“I arrived after.””
“You were in the room.””
“I arrived after!””
Mia stepped toward him.
“You heard her scream.””
Victor's eyes filled with anger.
“And you ran.””
Mia flinched.
Harrison looked between them.
“What are you two hiding?””
Neither answered.
Daniel slammed his fist against the table.
“Enough!””
Everyone went silent.
“My mother died six years ago.””
His voice shook.
“My father spent six years believing it was natural.””
He looked at Mia.
“You knew.””
He looked at Victor.
“You knew.””
Then he looked at Harrison.
“And you knew something was wrong.””
Harrison lowered his eyes.
“I suspected.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You all knew except me.””
Mia whispered,
“I was trying to keep you alive.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Then tell me how.””
Mia looked toward the stairs.
“By making you hate your father.””
Harrison frowned.
“What?””
“If you hated him, you'd leave the house.””
Daniel's face changed.
Mia continued.
“Mr. Black wanted you away from your father.””
“Why?””
“Because your father has something.””
Harrison's mind raced.
“The blue box?””
Mia shook her head.
“No.””
“What, then?””
She looked at him.
“The original evidence.””
Harrison stared.
“What evidence?””
“Your mother's.””
“What did she have?””
Mia whispered,
“A ledger.””
Victor nodded slowly.
“The account book.””
Harrison looked at him.
“What account book?””
Victor's voice dropped.
“Margaret discovered that someone had been laundering money through the company.””
“And?””
“She documented every transaction.””
“Where is it?””
Mia looked at Harrison.
“You have it.””
Harrison shook his head.
“No.””
“You do.””
“I don't.””
“You've had it for six years.””
Harrison thought about it.
His study.
His wife's desk.
Her books.
The wooden box.
The old filing cabinet.
Then he remembered.
A night six years earlier.
He had emptied Margaret's desk after her funeral.
One object had seemed strange.
A leather-bound notebook.
He had placed it somewhere safe.
But where?
Harrison suddenly remembered.
“The attic.””
Victor's eyes widened.
“What?””
“The ledger.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where?””
“Inside your mother's old sewing chest.””
Mia whispered,
“That's where he said it was.””
Harrison turned.
“Who?””
“Mr. Black.””
Before anyone could move, the attic door above them slammed shut.
A loud metallic click followed.
Harrison looked up.
Then the smoke alarm began screaming.
“Fire!”” Sarah shouted.
Smoke poured from the upstairs hallway.
Daniel grabbed the children.
“Everybody outside!””
The officer ran toward the stairs.
“Stay together!””
Harrison looked at Victor.
“The ledger.””
“We don't have time.””
“If it's in the attic, we have to get it.””
Victor grabbed his arm.
“No.””
Harrison pulled away.
“My wife died protecting it.””
“And you could die trying to find it.””
Harrison looked at the smoke.
Then at Daniel.
Then Mia.
His voice became quiet.
“Then maybe it's time I stopped being afraid.””
He ran upstairs.
Daniel shouted after him.
“Dad!””
Victor cursed and followed.
The smoke thickened.
Harrison reached the attic door.
The handle was burning hot.
He wrapped his sleeve around it.
“Back!””
Victor kicked the door.
Once.
Twice.
The lock broke.
The attic opened.
Smoke rushed out.
Harrison stumbled inside.
Moonlight came through the small circular window.
The old sewing chest sat beneath it.
He dropped to his knees.
His hands searched through fabric, blankets, old photographs.
Nothing.
“Where is it?””
Victor coughed behind him.
“Harrison!””
“I can't find it!””
Then Harrison saw the bottom of the chest.
A small false panel.
He pulled it loose.
Underneath was a leather-bound ledger.
He grabbed it.
The attic floor creaked.
Harrison looked up.
A figure stood in the doorway.
Black mask.
Black coat.
The same man from the camera.
The masked man raised a handgun.
Victor shouted,
“Get down!””
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the wooden chest.
Harrison fell backward.
The ledger flew from his hands.
The masked man stepped forward.
“Give it to me.””
Harrison stared at him.
Then he noticed something.
The man's left hand.
A silver ring.
A thick signet ring with a small black stone.
Harrison had seen that ring before.
Six years ago.
On the night Margaret died.
Harrison whispered,
“No.””
The masked man stopped.
“You recognize it.””
Harrison's voice trembled.
“You were there.””
The man tilted his head.
“Yes.””
“Who are you?””
The masked man removed the gun's safety.
“You really don't remember me?””
Harrison stared.
The voice.
The ring.
The posture.
Something in his memory shifted.
A face from decades ago.
A man he had trusted.
A man who had sat at his dining table.
A man Margaret had once called family.
Harrison's eyes widened.
“You…”
The masked man stepped closer.
Then he pulled down the mask.
Harrison stopped breathing.
It was someone he had buried twenty-two years earlier.
Someone who was supposed to be dead.
And the man smiled.
“Hello, Harrison.””
Behind them, Daniel reached the attic doorway.
“Dad!””
Harrison turned toward his son.
“Don't come in.””
Daniel froze.
“Why?””
Harrison looked back at the man.
The stranger raised the ledger.
And Harrison finally understood why Margaret had never named him.
Because the man standing before them wasn't Mr. Black.
Mr. Black was only the name he used.
His real name was—
The attic window shattered.
May you like
A second man climbed through.
And both men pointed their guns at Daniel.
