Chapter 6: The Man in the Photograph
For several seconds, Adrian could only stare at the photograph.
The scratched-out face was little more than a pale blur, but the suit was unmistakable.
Dark jacket.
Silver tie.
One hand resting on Richard Vale’s shoulder.
And Lily had just given that stranger a name.
“Uncle Thomas.””
Adrian slowly lowered the photograph.
“No.””
Lily looked up at him.
“That was him, Daddy.””
“Are you sure?””
She nodded.
“He gave me a red balloon.””
Adrian felt a strange pressure behind his eyes.
“When?””
“At Grandma’s house.””
“You were three.””
“I remember.””
Her voice was quiet.
“He smelled like peppermint.””
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
Thomas Mercer had always smelled like peppermint.
It was a stupid detail.
A tiny detail.
But now it felt enormous.
Thomas had been Richard’s closest business partner.
He had helped Adrian take control of the family company after his father’s death.
He had stood beside Adrian at the funeral.
He had held Lily when she was crying.
He had told Adrian that grief sometimes made people imagine explanations that did not exist.
And now Adrian was looking at his face on an old photograph that Grace had hidden.
“Where is he?”” Adrian asked.
Marcus stepped toward the doorway.
“I saw Mr. Thomas earlier this evening.””
“Where?””
“In the dining room.””
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Call security.””
Marcus pulled out his phone.
The call connected.
He listened for a moment.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
Adrian turned.
“What is it?””
Marcus lowered the phone.
“The security room is empty.””
Evelyn crossed her arms.
“Empty?””
“The cameras are offline.””
“When?””
Marcus checked the control panel.
“Twenty minutes ago.””
Adrian looked at the clock.
Twenty minutes.
Around the time Lily had entered his office.
Around the time someone had locked the door.
Someone had planned this.
Adrian moved toward the hallway.
“Stay with Lily.””
Marcus nodded.
“I will.””
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
“And you.””
She raised an eyebrow.
“What?””
“You stay here too.””
“I’m not your prisoner.””
“Tonight, nobody leaves this house.””
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
“You're becoming paranoid.””
“And you're becoming predictable.””
He turned away.
Then Lily spoke.
“Daddy?””
Adrian looked back.
“What?””
She held out the teddy bear.
“He left something else.””
Adrian froze.
“What?””
Lily pointed to the torn lining.
“Inside here.””
Adrian took the bear carefully.
He turned it over.
At first he saw only stuffing and torn fabric.
Then something reflected the light.
A thin strip of metal.
He reached in and pulled out a tiny key.
It was smaller than a house key.
At the end was a blue enamel circle.
Adrian stared at it.
Evelyn whispered:
“That's impossible.””
He turned toward her.
“What is?””
She stared at the key.
“That belongs to Thomas.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“How do you know?””
Evelyn didn't answer immediately.
Then she said, “Because I saw it five years ago.””
Adrian held it tighter.
“Where?””
“In your father's study.””
“When?””
“The night Richard died.””
The room fell silent.
Adrian’s voice became almost a whisper.
“You were there.””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Yes.””
“You told me you weren't.””
“I said I didn't know what happened.””
“You were there.””
“I arrived afterward.””
“What time?””
“I don't remember.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You remember the key.””
Evelyn's face hardened.
“I remember Thomas leaving the study.””
Adrian stopped.
Marcus looked stunned.
“What?””
Evelyn continued.
“He was holding that key.””
Adrian’s pulse accelerated.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of Thomas?””
“No.””
She looked at Adrian.
“Of what the key opened.””
Adrian glanced down.
A tiny blue circle.
A memory surfaced.
His father had once mentioned a private records vault.
A place beneath the old company headquarters.
Adrian had never seen it.
Never needed to.
But Grace had been searching his father's old records.
And now there was a key.
A key Thomas had possessed.
A key hidden inside Lily's teddy bear.
“Marcus.””
“Yes, sir?””
“Get the car.””
Evelyn stepped in front of him.
“Where are you going?””
“To the company archive.””
“No.””
“Move.””
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain.””
Evelyn looked toward Lily.
“Thomas knew about Grace's investigation.””
Adrian waited.
“He knew what she had found.””
“What?””
Evelyn swallowed.
“She discovered that Richard had secretly moved control of several accounts before he died.””
“Control to whom?””
“That was what she was trying to find out.””
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Was Thomas involved?””
“I don't know.””
“Stop saying that.””
“Because it's true.””
She leaned closer.
“But I know what Richard said the night he died.””
Adrian went still.
“What did he say?””
Evelyn looked toward the dark hallway.
“He told me, ‘If Thomas ever comes back, don't let him near Adrian.’”
The words hit Adrian harder than anything else that night.
His father's final warning.
Thomas.
The man who had guided him after Richard's death.
The man who had always insisted he was protecting the family.
The man whose face had been scratched from Grace's photograph.
Adrian stepped back.
“Why did you keep that from me?””
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I made a promise.””
“To my father?””
“To Grace.””
Adrian stared at her.
“Grace asked you to protect me?””
“She asked me to wait.””
“Wait for what?””
“For the evidence to surface.””
Adrian looked at the teddy bear.
“It surfaced.””
“Yes.””
“And you still tried to stop me.””
“I tried to stop you from making the same mistake she did.””
“What mistake?””
Evelyn’s voice dropped.
“Trusting someone because they had earned it years ago.””
A noise came from upstairs.
A door slammed.
Lily jumped.
Adrian turned.
“Stay here.””
He handed Lily to Marcus.
Then he ran.
The sound had come from the second-floor hallway.
Adrian climbed the stairs and found the corridor empty.
A bedroom door stood open.
His father's old guest room.
He moved toward it.
Inside, a lamp swung slightly from its chain.
The window was open.
Rain blew against the floor.
And someone had left muddy footprints beneath it.
Adrian crouched.
Fresh.
He looked outside.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a piece of paper pinned to the wall.
He tore it free.
One sentence was written across it.
*YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.*
Adrian turned it over.
On the back was another message.
*BLUE ROOM. MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.*
A sound came from behind him.
He spun.
Evelyn stood in the doorway.
“You weren't supposed to see that.””
Adrian stared at her.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“Who sent it?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“Then why are you here?””
“Because I don't want you to go alone.””
Adrian folded the note.
“You said the blue room was dangerous.””
“It is.””
“Thomas knows about it.””
“Yes.””
“He's been watching us.””
“Yes.””
“Then you knew he was still involved.””
Evelyn finally looked away.
“I knew there was a chance.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You've lied to me all night.””
“So has everyone else.””
“What else aren't you telling me?””
Evelyn’s lips trembled.
“There is something about Grace that you haven't heard.””
Adrian waited.
“She wasn't trying to expose Thomas.””
His brow furrowed.
“Then what?””
“She was trying to expose someone above him.””
“Who?””
Evelyn stared at him.
“Your father.””
Adrian’s face hardened.
“My father was dead.””
“Yes.””
“So how could she expose him?””
“Because Richard left instructions before he died.””
Adrian shook his head.
“That makes no sense.””
“It will when you see the records.””
“What records?””
Evelyn looked at the key in his hand.
“The ones that key opens.””
Adrian stared at the little piece of metal.
“Where?””
Evelyn answered softly.
“Under the old courthouse.””
Adrian's eyes widened.
“The family archive isn't at the company?””
“No.””
“Then where?””
“Beneath the courthouse where Richard's estate was probated.””
Adrian looked at her.
“Why would my father hide records there?””
“He didn't.””
“Then who did?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
A phone began ringing somewhere downstairs.
Not Adrian’s.
Not Evelyn’s.
Marcus shouted from the living room.
“Mr. Vale!””
Adrian raced down.
Marcus stood beside the desk, holding Lily’s teddy bear.
His face was white.
“What happened?””
Marcus pointed toward the bear.
“Someone left this.””
Adrian took it.
A small folded piece of paper had been tucked beneath its blue ribbon.
He opened it.
Only four words were written inside.
*GRACE WASN'T ALONE.*
Adrian looked up.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
Attached was a photograph.
A man stood outside the mansion gate.
Thomas.
The message contained a time.
*11:45 PM.*
Then another line appeared.
*BRING THE KEY.*
Adrian stared at the screen.
He looked at the clock.
11:31.
Evelyn saw the message over his shoulder.
Her face went pale.
“Adrian.””
“What?””
“Don't go.””
“Why?””
“Because Thomas isn't asking for the key.””
Adrian looked at her.
“Then what does he want?””
Evelyn's voice broke.
“He wants you to open the vault.””
A second message arrived.
*AND BRING THE GIRL.*
May you like
Lily was standing only a few feet away.
The room went completely silent.
