Chapter 7 - The Man Upstairs
Reed searched the house room by room.
Nothing.
No intruder.
No hidden cameras.
No signs of forced entry.
Claire began to wonder whether Vanessa had meant someone else.
Then Lily pointed toward the ceiling.
“He's upstairs.”
Everyone froze.
The attic had been locked for years.
Ethan said he didn't have the key.
Reed broke the lock.
Inside, they found boxes of old documents.
And a man.
He was unconscious.
Claire recognized him immediately.
Vanessa's brother.
Reed called an ambulance.
Inside the man's coat was a photograph.
Claire's father.
The date on the back was two days before his death.
The man had been investigating the accident.
He had been collecting evidence.
And he had kept one final document.
A bank statement.
The account belonged to Ethan's father.
Claire stared at her husband.
“Your father was paid.”
Ethan looked at the statement.
“No.”
The evidence showed a payment made three days before the accident.
Then another.
Then another.
Ethan's voice broke.
“My father wasn't involved.”
“Then explain this.”
“I can't.”
Claire turned away.
She had spent years believing her marriage was the safest part of her life.
Now every memory seemed contaminated.
Later, the man in the attic woke up.
His first words were:
“Vanessa is alive.”
Claire leaned closer.
“Where is she?”
He looked at Ethan.
“She knows who ordered the attack.”
“Who?”
The man whispered a name.
Claire had never heard it before.
Ethan had.
His face became white.
“That's impossible.”
The man smiled sadly.
“No, Ethan. What's impossible is that you still think you can protect Claire by lying to her.”
Then he looked at Claire.
“Your husband wasn't the one who put the drug in your milk.”
Claire felt relief for half a second.
May you like
Then he added:
“But he helped the person who did.”
