Chapter 4 - UNIT 314
His father had died four years earlier.
After the funeral, Ryan moved boxes out of the family house before Linda sold it.
"Why did your mother follow you?"
"I don't know."
Detective Warren got a warrant.
The next morning, Unit 314 was opened.
Inside were old furniture, tax records, tools, and one locked military trunk.
Ryan knew the combination.
Inside were VHS tapes.
Family videos.
And a sealed envelope marked:
IF LINDA EVER GETS NEAR ANOTHER BABY.
The handwriting belonged to his father, Thomas.
Inside was a notarized statement.
Thomas admitted paying the hospital and a lawyer after Emily's injury.
He admitted pressuring nine-year-old Ryan to change his account.
He admitted telling social workers Ryan was confused.
"I protected my wife," Thomas wrote. "What I actually protected was my fear of losing the life I had."
The statement continued.
Years later, Thomas discovered Linda had repeated similar behavior with a neighbor's infant she babysat.
He made her attend counseling.
She quit after three sessions.
Thomas began collecting evidence.
Then cancer killed him before he could decide what to do.
The trunk held more.
A recording from a baby monitor.
Linda's voice.
"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about."
Then an infant screamed.
Detective Warren shut off the tape.
"How old is this?"
"Twenty-four years."
There was another envelope.
This one was recent.
Postmarked eight months ago.
Addressed to Ryan.
Never opened.
"You took my mail."
The letter came from Melissa Kane.
Former neighbor.
Her daughter had been the baby Thomas mentioned.
Melissa wrote that she heard Linda was about to become a grandmother.
She begged Ryan not to leave an infant alone with her.
"I should have gotten this," Ryan whispered.
I wanted to pity him.
I did.
But pity was not trust.
Then Warren found a small flash drive taped under the trunk lid.
The file on it had been created six months earlier.
Someone had scanned Thomas's entire statement.
Someone had uploaded it.
Destination:
Dr. Martin Cress.
The psychiatrist who had written the fake report about me.
May you like
"Why would Cress need Dad's confession?"
"To know exactly what history he needed to hide."
