Chapter 7 - The Locked Room
The sentence changed everything.
THE CHILD WAS NEVER PART OF THE DEAL.
Daniel read the photograph three times.
"What deal?"
Nobody answered.
Evan focused on the brass key.
"Where did your father keep private property?"
Daniel thought of offices, bank boxes, storage facilities.
Then he remembered a place nobody used anymore.
The original Stellan Dynamics headquarters outside Franklin.
The building had been sold after bankruptcy, bought back by the family foundation ten years later, and left mostly empty.
In the basement was Robert's old records vault.
They drove there before dawn.
Vanessa stopped beneath it.
"My father hated this place."
Daniel looked at her.
"Mine died missing it."
The basement vault had been emptied years ago.
One steel cabinet remained bolted to the wall.
The brass key fit.
Inside were three things.
A stack of payroll ledgers.
A VHS cassette labeled C.L.S. - 1999.
And a sealed envelope addressed to Daniel.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Son,
If you found this, Thomas either kept his promise or broke it.
Daniel stopped.
Vanessa whispered, "Keep reading."
Robert's letter admitted he had lied during the investigation.
Not to protect himself.
To protect Daniel's mother.
Catherine had discovered that someone was selling proprietary designs through foreign intermediaries. She copied records and planned to report them.
Then she died in a car crash.
Daniel's mouth went dry.
The official story had always been an icy road.
The letter ended with one sentence.
I never believed your mother's crash was an accident, and Thomas knew why.
May you like
Behind them, the basement door slammed shut.
The lights went out.
