Chapter 5: The Call
Nobody breathed.
Vivian's voice was calm.
Almost cheerful.
Aaliyah held the phone with trembling fingers.
“Vivian…”
“I wondered how long it would take.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Who are you?””
There was a pause.
Then Vivian laughed softly.
“You're Marcus.””
“Yes.””
“You sound exactly like your father.””
Marcus's face tightened.
“Where is he?””
Another pause.
“Still asking the wrong question.””
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“What does that mean?””
Vivian answered before Evelyn could.
“It means your mother has been lying to you for twenty-three years.””
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Where is my father?””
Vivian went silent.
Daniel's voice cracked.
“I asked you where my father is.””
“You're finally ready to hear the truth.””
“Tell me!””
“Not over the phone.””
Daniel's grip tightened.
“Then where?””
Vivian gave an address.
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
“The warehouse.””
“Yes.””
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“You knew?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“I knew the building. I didn't know he was there.””
Vivian continued.
“Come alone.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You think we're going to trust you?””
“I don't need you to trust me.””
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“You're not going.””
Daniel pulled away.
“You've had twenty-three years to tell me the truth.””
“I was protecting you.””
“From what?””
“From the people who killed your father.””
Daniel stopped.
“People?””
Evelyn nodded.
“There wasn't one person responsible.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Then tell us everything.””
Evelyn sat down.
Her hands trembled.
“Your father discovered that someone inside his company was stealing millions.””
Daniel frowned.
“Who?””
“He suspected Vivian's husband.””
“But you said Vivian blamed you.””
“She did.””
Evelyn took a breath.
“Your father planned to expose him. He also planned to change the family trust.””
Daniel stared at her.
“That's why you said he was going to leave it to me.””
“I didn't say that.””
“You implied it.””
“No. Your father was going to put the trust in both your names.””
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“Both of us?””
Evelyn nodded.
“He wanted you boys protected.””
Daniel's anger softened for a moment.
“Then what happened?””
“He met Vivian at the warehouse.””
Evelyn looked down.
“She said she had evidence.””
Marcus asked, “And you?””
“I followed him.””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Why?””
“Because I didn't trust her.””
Aaliyah whispered:
“What happened there?””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I arrived too late.””
She remembered it.
The warehouse door.
The smell of gasoline.
Her husband's body on the concrete floor.
Blood beneath his head.
And Vivian standing near the exit.
“She looked at me,” Evelyn said, “and told me that if I called the police, Daniel would be next.””
Daniel stared.
“She threatened me?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“Because your father was still breathing.””
Marcus's voice softened.
“Dad was alive?””
Evelyn nodded.
“I got him into my car.””
Daniel whispered:
“Where did you take him?””
“A private clinic.””
“And?””
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“He died before we arrived.””
Daniel turned away.
For several seconds, the only sound was Aaliyah crying.
Then Daniel asked:
“Why did you tell us it was a heart attack?””
“Because Vivian had already disappeared.””
Marcus frowned.
“And the doctor?””
“The doctor was paid to change the report.””
Daniel looked at her.
“By who?””
“I didn't know.””
Evelyn reached for her phone.
“I found out years later.””
She opened an old photograph.
A man in a doctor's coat stood beside Vivian.
Daniel leaned closer.
“That's Dr. Nathan Reed.””
Evelyn nodded.
“He was the doctor who signed your father's death certificate.””
Marcus stared.
“Then why would he help Vivian?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel suddenly looked at Aaliyah.
“You said you were at the warehouse.””
Aaliyah nodded.
“Three months ago.””
“Why?””
“Vivian asked me to go.””
“What did she show you?””
Aaliyah's face went pale.
“A room downstairs.””
Marcus asked:
“What was inside?””
Aaliyah hesitated.
“Files.””
“Whose files?””
“Your father's.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Did you see him?””
Aaliyah nodded.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Alive?””
“No.””
His shoulders dropped.
“I saw his belongings.””
She reached into her handbag.
“I took something.””
She pulled out a small brown envelope.
Evelyn stared at it.
“Where did you get that?””
“From the warehouse.””
Daniel grabbed it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
He unfolded it.
The first line was written in his father's handwriting.
*Evelyn, if you're reading this, I've already been betrayed.*
Daniel's eyes moved quickly across the page.
Then stopped.
Marcus noticed.
“What does it say?””
Daniel didn't answer.
“Daniel.””
He slowly turned the page toward them.
The last paragraph was underlined.
*The person I fear most isn't Vivian. It's the one person who knows where I keep the second set of records.*
Evelyn stared.
“I never saw that letter.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You're not the person he was talking about.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“Then who?””
Daniel turned the page.
There was a name.
He read it aloud.
“Daniel.””
His own name.
He looked up in horror.
“That doesn't make sense.””
Marcus stared at him.
“Why would Dad write your name?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Then Evelyn noticed something.
“Wait.””
She pointed at the bottom of the letter.
There was a date.
The date was written *three days after the funeral.*
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“That means Dad wrote this after he supposedly died.””
Daniel dropped the letter.
“No.””
Aaliyah backed away.
“Oh my God.””
Evelyn whispered:
“Your father may have survived.””
Daniel suddenly grabbed his keys.
“I'm going to the warehouse.””
Marcus stopped him.
“We're all going.””
“No.””
Daniel looked at him.
“If Dad is alive, I need to find him.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“If he's alive, we find him together.””
Daniel's eyes hardened.
“You still trust Mom.””
Marcus answered:
“I trust what the camera showed me.””
Daniel looked at the tablet.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at the letter.
Finally, he nodded.
“Fine.””
They hurried toward the door.
But before Marcus could open it, his phone buzzed.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*DON'T GO TO THE WAREHOUSE.*
A second message followed.
*YOUR FATHER ISN'T THE ONLY PERSON WHO SURVIVED THAT NIGHT.*
Marcus stared at the screen.
Then a third message appeared.
*ASK EVELYN WHO WAS IN THE CAR WITH HER.*
Marcus slowly turned around.
“Mom…”
Evelyn's face had gone completely white.
“I can't.””
Marcus whispered:
“Who was in the car?””
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
May you like
And Daniel suddenly understood.
“You weren't alone that night.””
