Chapter 2: The Photograph in the Envelope
Emma read the message again.
Then a third time.
The photograph trembled in her fingers.
Her father had died eleven years earlier in a construction accident.
At least, that was what she had always been told.
Daniel Carter had worked as a mechanic for a private transportation company. One evening, a warehouse fire had destroyed part of the building where he worked.
The official report stated that he had returned inside to retrieve equipment and had been trapped when the roof collapsed.
Emma had been seventeen.
She remembered the police officer standing in their kitchen. She remembered her mother sitting motionless at the dining table. She remembered the smell of burnt coffee and the terrible silence that followed.
But most of all, she remembered the small metal toolbox her father had left behind.
He had promised to teach her how to repair an engine.
He never got the chance.
Now someone was telling her that her father had been connected to Adrian Blackwood's accident.
She looked toward the hotel.
Through the glass doors, she could see Adrian standing near the ballroom entrance.
He was no longer in his wheelchair.
He was talking to two security officers.
Emma almost walked back inside.
Then she looked down at the photograph again.
If Adrian knew something about her father, he had deliberately hidden it.
She put the envelope in her handbag and continued toward the street.
A black sedan pulled beside her.
The rear window lowered.
"Miss Carter?""
She recognized the driver.
It was Thomas Reed, Adrian's personal chauffeur.
"Mr. Blackwood asked me to take you home.""
"I said no.""
"He's worried.""
"He should have thought about that before lying to me.""
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
"I understand.""
"Then please move.""
Instead of driving away, Thomas reached into the passenger seat and handed her a small paper bag.
"Mr. Blackwood asked me to give you this if you refused the car.""
Emma hesitated.
"What is it?""
"An ice pack and some pain medication. For your knee.""
She stared at him.
Then she accepted the bag.
"Tell him I don't need anything from him.""
Thomas nodded.
"Of course.""
The window rose.
As the sedan drove away, Emma noticed something unusual.
The license plate had been partially covered by a strip of black tape.
She watched until the car disappeared around the corner.
Then she pulled out her phone and called the only person she trusted to help her understand the photograph.
Her mother.
Margaret Carter answered on the fourth ring.
"Emma? It's late.""
"Mom, I need to ask you something.""
"Is everything all right?""
"Do you remember Daniel's old employer?""
There was a pause.
"Why are you asking about that?""
"Please.""
"Your father worked for a transportation company. You know that.""
"Did he ever work for the Blackwood family?""
Silence.
Emma stopped walking.
"Mom?""
"Where did you hear that name?""
"Just answer me.""
Margaret lowered her voice.
"Emma, you need to come home.""
"Why?""
"Not over the phone.""
Emma looked at the photograph.
"Was Dad involved in Adrian Blackwood's accident?""
Her mother's breathing changed.
"Come home," Margaret repeated.
Then she hung up.
Emma stared at the screen.
For eleven years, her mother had refused to discuss the warehouse fire beyond the official explanation.
Now, one mention of the Blackwoods had made her sound terrified.
Emma hailed a taxi.
At the Blackwood estate, Adrian stood in his private office with the security footage displayed on three monitors.
His chief security officer, Marcus Hill, stood beside the desk.
"Tell me what you found," Adrian said.
Marcus placed a folder on the table.
"The security system was accessed remotely at 8:42 p.m.""
"From where?""
"A terminal inside the hotel.""
"Which terminal?""
"That's the problem. The terminal was registered to the event management office, but the access credentials belonged to someone in our company.""
Adrian looked up.
"Name.""
"Vanessa Blackwood.""
The room went silent.
Adrian leaned back.
"Are you certain?""
"Her employee credentials were used. But that doesn't prove she personally accessed the system.""
"Who else has access?""
"Three senior executives, two security supervisors, and members of the technical department.""
Adrian opened the folder.
A printed photograph showed Vanessa entering a restricted corridor twenty minutes before the incident.
"What was she doing there?""
"We don't know.""
"Find out.""
Marcus hesitated.
"There's something else.""
Adrian looked at him.
"The missing footage wasn't simply deleted. Someone replaced it with a loop from an earlier recording.""
"Can you recover it?""
"Possibly. But whoever did it knew exactly which camera to target.""
Adrian stood and walked toward the window.
Below him, the estate gardens stretched into the darkness.
"Someone planned this.""
"That's what it looks like.""
"Then find out who.""
Marcus nodded.
Before leaving, he glanced at the wheelchair positioned near the office door.
"Sir, may I ask something?""
"Go ahead.""
"Why didn't you tell anyone you could walk?""
Adrian watched the reflection of his own face in the window.
"Because I wanted to know who would stay when they thought I had nothing left.""
Marcus said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"But I didn't expect someone to try to kill me.""
At the Carter apartment, Margaret was waiting beside the kitchen table.
A cup of tea sat untouched in front of her.
Emma placed the photograph on the table.
"Tell me what happened.""
Margaret looked at it.
The color drained from her face.
"Where did you get this?""
"Someone gave it to me tonight.""
"Who?""
"I don't know.""
Margaret touched the photograph with two trembling fingers.
"This isn't possible.""
"Why?""
"Because your father told me the car was destroyed before he ever saw it.""
Emma pulled out a chair.
"Mom, you're not making sense.""
Margaret sat down slowly.
"Your father worked for a company called Blackwood Transport. It handled vehicles and private security contracts for Adrian's father.""
"Adrian's father?""
"Yes. Richard Blackwood.""
Emma frowned.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?""
"Because Daniel asked me not to.""
"Not to tell me what?""
Margaret looked toward the kitchen window.
"Your father discovered something about the company. He found out that several vehicles were being used to transport money and confidential documents without being properly recorded.""
"Illegal activity?""
"I don't know how far it went. Your father told me he was going to report it.""
Emma looked at the photograph.
"And then the warehouse burned.""
Margaret nodded.
"He died before he could speak to anyone.""
Emma felt the room tilt.
"Was he murdered?""
"I don't know.""
"Did you suspect it?""
Margaret's eyes filled.
"I suspected enough to be afraid.""
Emma stood abruptly.
"You let me believe it was an accident.""
"I was trying to protect you.""
"From what?""
"From the people who took your father away.""
Emma pressed both hands against the table.
"Does Adrian know?""
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Your father trusted him.""
"What?""
"Adrian was young then. He was still working under his father. Daniel believed he was different from the rest of the family.""
Emma shook her head.
"Then why did nobody tell me?""
"Because Adrian was in the car that night.""
Emma went still.
"What car?""
Margaret looked at the photograph.
"The car in that picture.""
Emma's throat tightened.
"But the accident happened eleven years ago.""
"No.""
Margaret reached for her daughter's hand.
"The accident happened three days after your father died.""
Emma pulled her hand away.
"That doesn't make sense.""
"Your father was supposed to meet Adrian that night. He never came home. Adrian's car was found on the mountain road two days later.""
"Was anyone else with him?""
Margaret's lips trembled.
"Your father.""
The words seemed to empty the air from the room.
Emma stared at her mother.
"You're saying my father was in Adrian's car?""
"Yes.""
"Then why did the police tell us he died in the warehouse?""
Margaret began to cry.
"Because the Blackwoods told them to.""
Emma stepped backward.
For eleven years, she had mourned a man she believed had died in a fire.
Now she was being told that his body might have been somewhere else entirely.
Her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?""
A man's voice spoke quietly.
"Miss Carter, I believe you received a photograph tonight.""
"Who is this?""
"Someone who knew your father.""
"What happened to him?""
A pause.
"Your father wasn't supposed to be in that car.""
Emma gripped the phone.
"Then who was?""
"The man who pushed Adrian Blackwood's vehicle off the road.""
Emma froze.
"Are you saying Adrian's accident wasn't an accident?""
"I am saying your father discovered the truth, and someone made sure he couldn't reveal it.""
"Who?""
The caller exhaled.
"Ask your mother what happened to the original police report.""
Then the line went dead.
Emma slowly turned toward Margaret.
Her mother was no longer crying.
She was staring at the kitchen drawer beside the refrigerator.
As if she had just remembered something hidden inside it.
"Mom?""
Margaret stood.
"There's something I should have given you years ago.""
She opened the drawer, removed a small brass key, and placed it on the table.
It belonged to a storage locker.
May you like
And written on the attached tag was one name.
*DANIEL CARTER.*
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