Chapter 13 - The Secret Hannah Kept
Hannah recognized the handwriting before I finished showing her the photograph.
She went completely still.
“Who wrote this?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
But her eyes told me she was hiding something.
I waited until Lily was asleep before asking again.
Finally, Hannah reached into a suitcase and removed a small notebook wrapped in cloth.
“Nicholas gave me this the week before he died,” she said. “He told me never to show it to anyone unless Lily was in danger.”
The notebook contained letters, dates, and a list of people Nicholas believed were involved in the conspiracy.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Michael Vance.
Ortiz's former partner.
But the final pages contained something more personal: a letter from Nicholas addressed to Lily.
My little girl, if you ever read this, I want you to know that your mother did everything she could to protect you. If I am gone, don't let anyone tell you that you were the reason. You were the reason I wanted to live.
Hannah pressed the letter against her chest.
“I never wanted Lily to grow up knowing about any of this.”
“I understand.”
“No, Grant. You don't.”
Her voice broke.
“I was there the night Nicholas died. I followed him because I was afraid he wouldn't come back. I saw Victor's car. I heard the argument. And after the gunshot, I saw someone walk out of the warehouse wearing your family ring.”
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“Because the man who came to my apartment afterward showed me photographs of Lily. He said if I spoke, she would disappear.”
“Who was he?”
Hannah stared at me.
“Your father.”
The room fell silent.
My father had died before Lily was born, but Hannah insisted she recognized him. She had seen him at the warehouse that night, speaking to Victor before Nicholas arrived.
I called Margaret and asked her to compare the notebook with the recovered financial records.
Within an hour, she found a hidden payment made from an account controlled by my father. The transfer had been sent to a private investigator who later disappeared.
The payment was dated the night Nicholas died.
It didn't prove my father had ordered the murder.
But it proved he had known something was going to happen.
I looked at Hannah.
“There's one more thing you need to know,” she whispered.
She handed me a folded letter Nicholas had written to me.
The final line read:
Grant, if Father has already spoken to you, don't believe him. He knows who really gave the order.
May you like
Beneath the sentence was a name.
Celeste Rowan.
