Chapter 6 - The Birthday Was a Message
Daniel called his uncle back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Evan sent agents to Thomas's house.
Then Daniel remembered Lily.
He ran upstairs.
Mrs. Hargrove was reading beside the bed while Lily slept with one hand curled under her cheek.
Safe.
Daniel stood there longer than necessary.
He went back downstairs.
"Nobody questions Lily again without me present."
Evan nodded.
Vanessa said, "Of course."
Daniel looked at her.
"You don't get to say 'of course' like we're still normal."
Her eyes dropped.
A federal technician arrived to examine the transmitter from the cake.
It was not an audio bug.
It was a proximity beacon.
"Meaning?" Daniel asked.
"It sends a signal when a specific tagged object comes close."
"What object?"
The technician scanned the ruined cake stand.
Nothing.
Then he scanned Lily's birthday gifts.
A silver music box beeped.
"Where did this come from?"
Vanessa stared.
"It was delivered this morning. No return address. I thought it was from one of your board members."
Inside the music box was a thin RFID tag.
The beacon in the cake had been waiting for that tag.
Someone expected the two objects to be together.
Evan opened the bottom panel.
A hidden compartment slid free.
Inside was an old brass key.
Daniel's breath caught.
His father had carried a key like that on a chain for years.
After Robert died, it disappeared.
Vanessa touched the edge of the table.
"My father drew that key in his notebook."
"What does it open?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know."
Evan photographed it.
Then his phone rang.
The agents had reached Thomas's home.
The front door was open.
No sign of Thomas.
May you like
But someone had painted a message across his study wall in black letters.
THE CHILD WAS NEVER PART OF THE DEAL.
