Chapter 3 - THE KEY MY MOTHER TOLD ME TO HIDE
Daniel Lawrence should never have been at the crash scene.
That was the first thing Julian said after examining the photograph.
The accident happened on a rural highway outside Albany.
At the time, Daniel was supposedly attending a real estate conference in Boston.
But the photograph placed him beside the burning car.
Beside me.
And beside the ambulance that never took me to a hospital.
Julian stared at the image.
"Why didn't you tell the police?"
I laughed bitterly.
"Because the man holding the key was the same man who arranged my protection."
His expression changed.
"What?"
I sat across from him in a private conference room at Crosswood.
For the first time, I told him what happened after the crash.
I remembered dragging him through the window.
I remembered his blood soaking my sleeves.
Then I remembered headlights.
A black SUV.
Three men.
And Daniel Lawrence stepping into the rain.
"He said you were going to be fine," I whispered.
Julian said nothing.
"He said the ambulance would take care of you."
I looked down.
"Then he asked me about the envelope."
Julian frowned.
"What envelope?"
"One I found beneath your seat."
His expression sharpened.
I continued.
"Before I could answer, he told me someone was coming to kill us both."
My hands trembled.
"He said I needed to disappear."
Julian looked horrified.
"And you believed him?"
"I was seventeen. I had burns across my back. My mother was waiting at home, and Daniel knew where she lived."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Julian whispered, "I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"You didn't know."
He looked toward the photograph.
"Where's the envelope?"
I touched the small brass key beneath my collar.
"In a box."
"What's inside?"
"I never opened it."
Julian stared.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel told me opening it would get my mother killed."
Silence.
Then I reached into my handbag.
The key felt heavier than it had that morning.
For twelve years, I'd carried it like a curse.
Now I placed it between us.
"There's something else."
Julian leaned forward.
"What?"
"The key didn't come from your car."
His expression changed.
"Then where?"
I swallowed.
"Your father gave it to me three days before the accident."
Julian stopped breathing.
"He told me that if anything happened to him, I should protect the box."
The room went silent.
Then Julian whispered:
"My father died two days before the crash."
I looked at him.
"No, Julian."
May you like
My voice broke.
"Your father was alive the night I saved you."
