Chapter 8 - The Uncle Who Died Twice
Marcus sat down.
That scared me.
He was never the first person in a room to sit.
"Say it."
He looked at me.
"I worked for a law firm Patricia used."
"Same thing."
"No."
"Then explain faster."
"I was twenty-four. Junior investigator. The firm represented lenders, developers, trusts."
"Including Patricia."
"Yes."
"And you hid that from me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was not working for her."
"Peter says you were."
"Peter lies."
Victoria laughed sharply.
"Everybody lies."
Marcus opened an old leather file.
He had carried it for years.
Inside was a photograph of himself.
Young.
Thin.
Standing outside a bank.
Across the street, Patricia exited beside Samuel Vance.
Behind them was Michael Cross.
Marcus pointed.
"I was investigating them."
"For who?"
"Jonathan."
"My father?"
"Not officially."
"How long before Peter disappeared?"
"Seven months."
I stared.
"So my father knew all of this for decades."
"Pieces."
"Always pieces."
Marcus accepted that.
I flipped through the file.
Surveillance reports.
Bank transfers.
Samuel meeting Patricia.
Samuel arguing with Peter.
Jonathan arriving afterward.
One image stopped me.
Patricia and Samuel stood near a car.
Behind them was a teenage boy.
Dark hair.
Daniel's face.
I held it up.
"Daniel."
Marcus looked.
"No."
"It is."
"Wrong date."
The photograph was twenty-four years old.
Daniel had been a child.
"Then who?"
Victoria leaned closer.
Her breath stopped.
"Michael."
Daniel's father.
He looked exactly like his son.
Marcus said, "Michael Cross was deeply involved."
I turned the photo over.
A note.
M.C. possible alias. Verify Hale connection.
My chest tightened.
"Alias?"
"That is where Peter enters."
Victoria looked at Marcus.
"You thought Michael was Peter?"
"We never proved it."
"Daniel's birth certificate uses Peter's social security number."
"Yes."
I opened another report.
Michael Cross had no school records before age nineteen.
No verified parents.
No original birth certificate.
He had appeared on paper almost fully formed.
I said, "So Patricia married a ghost."
Marcus nodded.
"Maybe."
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Text only.
PETER IS LYING.
Then another.
ASK MARCUS WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT SAMUEL DIED.
Victoria stared at the message.
"Who sent that?"
I showed Marcus.
His face went pale.
"What happened?"
He looked at the ledger.
Then at Victoria.
"I was at the lake."
She stepped toward him.
"You saw my father die?"
"I saw him alive."
"When?"
"Two hours before the boat was found."
"And?"
"Jonathan arrived."
My stomach dropped.
"My father."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Samuel called him."
"Then Samuel died."
"Yes."
Victoria grabbed Marcus by the jacket.
"What did Jonathan do?"
Marcus did not resist.
"Samuel was trying to leave."
"With what?"
"The original deed chain."
"What deed?"
Marcus looked at me.
"The one Patricia has been searching for."
Victoria released him.
I said, "The estate?"
"More than the estate."
He pulled an old corporate map.
"The Hale trust sits on assets transferred through predecessor companies. If the original chain is invalid, someone could challenge ownership."
"Who?"
Marcus pointed to a name.
Cross-Vance Holdings.
My stomach turned.
Patricia.
Samuel.
Michael.
Peter.
All around the same company.
"Who owned it?"
Marcus shook his head.
"That is the missing piece."
A noise came from the study safe.
A soft electronic chirp.
I turned.
The safe door was open.
I knew I had closed it.
Marcus crossed the room.
Empty shelf.
The original estate deed was gone.
Then a woman's voice came from behind us.
"Looking for this?"
Patricia stood in the doorway.
The deed page in one hand.
A pistol in the other.
May you like
CUT.
