Chapter 6 - LILY'S SECRET
I didn't accuse Lily.
I couldn't.
Not yet.
Instead, I drove her to a small hotel across town.
No family.
No cameras.
No locked doors.
Just us.
She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her hands.
“Did you sign the power of attorney?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Your name is on the document.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
She began crying.
“They forced me.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
She wiped her face.
“They told me if I didn't sign, they would make you disappear.”
My blood ran cold.
“They threatened me with you?”
She nodded.
“Every time you called, they made me smile.”
I remembered those calls.
Her voice had always sounded strange.
I had thought she was angry.
She had been terrified.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because Marcus showed me photographs.”
“What photographs?”
“You.”
My heart stopped.
“They had pictures of you leaving work.”
Pictures of my apartment.
Pictures of my truck.
Pictures of me entering construction sites.
“They told me they could hurt you.”
I sat beside her.
“Lily…”
She reached for my hand.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were.”
She looked at me.
“I failed.”
“No.”
I squeezed her fingers.
“You survived.”
Then my phone rang again.
Aaron.
This time, he didn't sound calm.
“Daniel, you need to come back to the house.”
“Why?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“The million-dollar settlement story.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“The account your family knows about doesn't exist.”
I went silent.
“What?”
“You never deposited a million dollars into your personal account.”
“I know.”
“No, Daniel.”
His voice became serious.
“They've been checking a fake account.”
I understood immediately.
The million-dollar settlement had been a trap.
But there was more.
Aaron continued.
“Your actual settlement is held in a protected trust.”
“Who knows?”
“No one.”
“Good.”
“Not exactly.”
He paused.
“Your mother knows about the trust.”
“How?”
“She has tried to access it six times.”
My hands tightened.
“Six?”
“And Marcus tried twice.”
“Can they access it?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because they have been planning something.”
“What?”
Aaron sent me a file.
I opened it.
It was a scanned document.
A life insurance policy.
My name.
Lily's name.
And my mother's company listed as beneficiary.
I stared at the screen.
The policy had been opened three years ago.
Then I saw the coverage amount.
$5 million.
I looked at Lily.
She whispered:
“What is it?”
I turned the phone toward her.
Her face went white.
“They insured you?”
“Yes.”
“For five million dollars.”
She started shaking.
Then another notification appeared.
A message from an unknown number.
COME HOME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO IS BEHIND IT.
Below it was a photograph.
A man standing outside the hotel.
Richard.
Alive.
May you like
And beneath the picture were six words:
You have forty-eight hours, Daniel.
