Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The lake house sat beside black water ninety minutes north of the city.
By the time we arrived, snow had begun drifting through the trees.
William drove.
I sat beside him.
Daniel followed in his SUV.
Police had already entered the property.
I had left Ethan with Rebecca despite every instinct telling me not to let him out of my sight.
He cried when I left.
Not because he understood Nathan.
Because he understood our family was breaking.
“Will Dad come home?”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Yes,” I finally told him.
I didn’t say where home would be afterward.
At the lake house, a deputy stopped us near the driveway.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Someone forced entry through the side door.”
“Is anyone inside?”
“We cleared the first floor.”
The safe was upstairs.
William’s study overlooked the lake.
We found the door open.
Books scattered across the floor.
Desk drawers dumped.
A portrait of Nathan lay facedown.
William lifted it carefully.
The safe behind it stood open.
Empty.
He gripped the brass key.
“He didn’t need this.”
Daniel entered.
“How?”
William stared at the lock.
“He knew the combination.”
A voice came from behind us.
“Of course I did.”
Everyone turned.
Robert Hayes stood near the balcony doors.
Alive.
He was thinner than his family photographs.
Gray hair touched his shoulders.
A scar ran along his jaw.
A police officer immediately raised his weapon.
Robert lifted both hands.
“Relax.”
Margaret’s supposedly dead brother smiled at William.
“Hello, Billy.”
William looked like he wanted to kill him.
“You let us bury an empty coffin.”
Robert shrugged.
“Actually, there was a body.”
The sentence chilled me.
“Whose?”
“A man nobody was looking for.”
William’s face hardened.
“You’re disgusting.”
Robert’s smile vanished.
“You married my sister.”
Daniel stared.
“Why fake your death?”
Robert looked at him.
“Because your mother tried to kill me.”
The room went silent.
Daniel laughed nervously.
“What?”
Robert walked toward a chair.
“After Nathan died, I started drinking.”
“You always drank,” William said.
“More.”
Robert sat.
“I started talking too.”
Margaret became afraid Robert would confess.
She paid Victor Hale to arrange an overdose.
Robert survived.
He realized the next attempt might work.
So he vanished first.
“The body?”
“Victor found someone.”
I felt sick.
“He murdered someone so you could disappear?”
Robert stared at me.
“You’re Claire.”
“Yes.”
“Nathan liked you.”
My breath caught.
“You knew him?”
“Better than I deserved.”
William stepped forward.
“What did you take from the safe?”
Robert pulled a thick envelope from inside his coat.
William moved.
The police officer stopped him.
“Sir.”
Robert smiled.
“Still impatient.”
“What is inside?”
“Copies of bank records. Nathan’s notes.”
“And the recording?”
Robert’s expression changed.
“Not here.”
Margaret had been wrong.
“Then why did you break in?”
“Because I thought she moved it here.”
“Who?”
Robert looked at me.
“Margaret.”
Daniel whispered:
“What recording?”
Robert leaned back.
“Nathan wore a recorder the night he confronted your mother.”
I stared.
“He recorded her admitting everything?”
“Not everything.”
“What did she admit?”
Robert looked at Daniel.
“That she paid Victor to stop Nathan from reaching federal investigators.”
Daniel went white.
“Stop how?”
“That depends who you ask.”
William’s voice became dangerous.
“Who ordered the brakes cut?”
Robert stared at him.
“Your son.”
The words landed like a physical blow.
I turned toward Daniel.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Robert smiled without humor.
“Daniel called Victor.”
“No.”
“You gave him Nathan’s location.”
Daniel’s breathing became shallow.
“I told him Nathan was leaving.”
“You told Victor to stop him.”
“I said scare him!”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“I didn’t know.”
“You contacted a violent man to chase your brother?”
“Mom said Nathan would destroy Dad.”
William whispered:
“You believed her.”
Daniel looked like a child.
“She said federal agents would arrest you.”
“And you never asked me?”
“She told me you were already under investigation.”
Robert laughed.
“Margaret always knew where to put the knife.”
William turned.
“Did Victor cut the brakes because Daniel told him to?”
Robert shook his head.
“Daniel opened the door.”
“Margaret walked through it?”
“Yes.”
Daniel covered his face.
I stared at him.
My husband had not killed Nathan.
But he had helped place him in danger.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Daniel lowered his hands.
“Because Nathan survived the crash.”
William froze.
“What?”
I stared.
“He was alive?”
Daniel nodded.
“I reached him first.”
He followed Nathan that night.
Nathan’s car lost control on a mountain road.
It crossed the barrier and rolled down an embankment.
Daniel ran down.
Nathan was trapped but conscious.
“He knew?”
Daniel whispered:
“He knew the brakes had been cut.”
“What did he say?”
Daniel’s tears began.
“He asked if I called Victor.”
No one spoke.
“I lied.”
Nathan apparently laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he understood his brother.
“He gave me Claire’s letter.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He told me if he didn’t make it, I had to find you.”
I could barely breathe.
“Then what?”
“I called 911.”
“Did he die there?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
William looked confused.
“The report said—”
“He was transported to Carter Memorial.”
William’s own hospital.
Robert closed his eyes.
“You never knew.”
William turned.
“Knew what?”
Robert looked at him.
“Nathan survived long enough to reach the hospital.”
My stomach twisted.
“How long?”
“Almost two hours.”
Daniel whispered:
“Mom arrived.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I was outside.”
“Why?”
“She told me to go home.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
He sat in the parking lot.
He saw Margaret enter.
Then Victor Hale.
Then Samuel Price, Margaret’s attorney.
Twenty-eight minutes later, a doctor came outside and told Daniel Nathan was dead.
“From the crash?”
“That’s what they said.”
Robert reached into the envelope.
He removed a photocopy.
Medication chart.
One drug name highlighted.
A powerful sedative.
“What is this?” William asked.
“Something Nathan was given seven minutes before he died.”
William’s face went blank.
“Was it medically necessary?”
“No.”
“Who authorized it?”
Robert stared toward the door.
A woman’s voice answered.
“I did.”
We turned.
Margaret stood there.
She had followed us.
The emerald Thanksgiving dress was hidden beneath a black wool coat.
Her hair was slightly disheveled.
Police immediately moved toward her.
She lifted her hands.
“I’m not armed.”
William stared at her.
“You were at the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“You administered the drug?”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“I was not a nurse.”
“Then what do you mean you authorized it?”
She looked at Robert.
“You’ve always enjoyed half-truths.”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
Margaret turned toward us.
“Nathan was dying.”
Daniel whispered:
“No.”
“He had internal bleeding.”
“Then why the sedative?”
“He was hysterical.”
“He was conscious enough to talk.”
“Yes.”
“About you.”
Margaret’s smile disappeared.
William stepped closer.
“Did you kill our son?”
For the first time that evening, Margaret looked frightened.
Then headlights swept through the window.
Another vehicle raced up the driveway.
A moment later we heard shouting downstairs.
Rebecca.
My heart stopped.
I ran toward the stairs.
“Claire!”
Daniel followed.
Rebecca burst into the hallway.
Ethan was behind her.
My seven-year-old.
Here.
At the lake house.
“What are you doing?” I screamed.
Rebecca looked horrified.
“He overheard us talking. He thought you were leaving without him. He hid in my car.”
Ethan ran toward me.
“Mommy!”
I grabbed him.
Then a crash sounded upstairs.
Robert shouted.
Daniel turned.
A gunshot exploded.
Ethan screamed.
William yelled:
“Margaret!”
We rushed back.
Victor Hale stood near the balcony entrance.
Older now.
Heavy coat.
Gun in hand.
So he was alive too.
He pointed it toward Robert.
Margaret looked equally shocked.
“Victor?”
He smiled.
“You should’ve paid me the rest.”
Then his eyes moved toward Ethan.
Nathan’s son.
The only rightful heir.
And Victor Hale smiled.
“Well.”
May you like
He raised the gun.
“Looks like the family problem survived after all.”
