Chapter 8 — The Man from Emily’s Past
Chapter 8 — The Man from Emily’s Past
The message remained on the floor long after the gunfire stopped.
THE NEXT PERSON TO DISAPPEAR WILL BE EMILY.
Daniel read it twice.
Then he folded the paper and put it into his pocket.
Nobody spoke.
The abandoned station smelled of smoke and rain.
Marcus checked the surrounding platforms.
“Whoever did this is gone.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa's empty place.
“She was here.”
“Yes.”
“And now she's gone.”
Marcus nodded.
“Someone planned the extraction.”
Michael stared into the darkness.
“They wanted us distracted.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why?”
Michael pointed toward the tracks.
“Because they weren't trying to kill us.”
“What were they trying to take?”
“The trust.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“They already have it.”
“No.”
Michael shook his head.
“The briefcase was a decoy.”
Daniel frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because I opened it before you arrived.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at him.
“You opened it?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“Copies.”
Michael reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a folded document.
“The original was never in that briefcase.”
Daniel unfolded it.
The paper was old.
Authentic.
Signed by David Carter.
And beneath his signature was another name.
Emily Carter.
Daniel's eyes widened.
“The original is with her.”
Michael nodded.
“She doesn't know where.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
She shook her head.
“I've never seen this.”
Michael pointed to the signature.
“You were the only person who could legally inherit.”
Daniel read the next line.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Marcus leaned closer.
Daniel whispered:
“If Emily dies, the trust transfers to the person named in the secondary clause.”
Michael stared.
“Who?”
Daniel turned the page.
His blood ran cold.
Eleanor Carter.
They returned to the mansion before dawn.
Emily sat in the library wrapped in a blanket.
Clara refused to leave her side.
Daniel paced near the fireplace.
Michael stood by the window.
Marcus monitored every camera.
No one trusted the mansion anymore.
Every wall seemed capable of hiding another secret.
Finally, Emily spoke.
“I don't understand.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“If my father wanted me to inherit everything, why did he hide me?”
“Because he knew Eleanor would kill you.”
Emily shook her head.
“But she didn't.”
“She tried.”
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
“She could have killed me twenty years ago.”
Daniel didn't answer.
“She had plenty of opportunities.”
Clara looked down.
Emily continued.
“So why keep me alive?”
Michael slowly turned away from the window.
“Because you were useful.”
Everyone looked at him.
Emily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Michael's voice was quiet.
“Eleanor needed you alive because your death would trigger the trust.”
Daniel stared.
“And if Emily remained alive?”
“She couldn't claim anything.”
Michael nodded.
“Exactly.”
Emily's expression hardened.
“So I was a prisoner without knowing it.”
Clara reached for her hand.
“I tried to protect you.”
“I know.”
Emily looked at her mother.
“But everyone kept making choices for me.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Not anymore.”
Emily looked at him.
“What happens now?”
Daniel answered:
“We find Eleanor.”
At nine in the morning, Marcus brought new information.
“We found Vanessa's car.”
“Where?”
“Three blocks from the station.”
“Vanessa?”
“Gone.”
“Any evidence?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Her handbag.”
Daniel frowned.
“What's inside?”
“A photograph.”
He handed it over.
Daniel looked.
It was a picture of Emily.
But not recent.
It showed her at age twelve.
Standing beside another child.
A boy.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
“Who is that?”
Emily stared.
Her face became pale.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
“His name was Lucas.”
Michael frowned.
“Lucas what?”
“Lucas Gray.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Find him.”
Marcus began typing.
Emily continued staring at the photograph.
“I haven't seen him in eleven years.”
Daniel noticed her expression.
“Who was he?”
Emily hesitated.
“My best friend.”
“Where did you know him?”
“A foster home.”
Daniel froze.
“You were in foster care?”
Emily nodded.
“After my mother disappeared.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know where you were.”
Emily looked at her.
“I know.”
Daniel sat down.
“Tell me everything.”
Emily had been twelve when Clara vanished.
She had been told her mother had gone to the hospital.
Then she never came back.
Social services placed Emily in a foster home.
For the first few months, she barely spoke.
Then she met Lucas.
He was thirteen.
Quiet.
Protective.
And strangely obsessed with old stories about the Carter family.
“He used to tell me I had a rich father.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“He said my father wasn't dead.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“Why would he say that?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he know who your father was?”
Emily shook her head.
“Not then.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Three days before my thirteenth birthday.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Did anyone investigate?”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Foster kids disappear all the time.”
Clara looked horrified.
“No.”
Emily continued.
“I was told he ran away.”
“Did you believe it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he left something for me.”
“What?”
Emily pointed toward the photograph.
“A key.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“What kind?”
“Silver.”
Marcus looked up.
“The safe key.”
Emily nodded.
“The same kind.”
Daniel's pulse quickened.
“Do you still have it?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Emily's voice became quiet.
“The day Lucas disappeared, someone broke into my room.”
“They took everything.”
“Except one thing.”
“What?”
Emily reached into her pocket.
A small piece of metal hung from her keychain.
Daniel stared.
The missing half of the key.
It matched the one she had used to open her father's safe.
Daniel took it carefully.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought it was just a broken key.”
Marcus examined it.
“It isn't broken.”
He turned it over.
There was an inscription.
1708.
Daniel froze.
“Room 1708.”
The hotel room.
The same room where they had found the surveillance photographs.
Emily looked at him.
“Lucas left it for me.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then he knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That one day you'd come looking.”
They returned to the Grand Meridian.
Room 1708 was empty.
But Marcus discovered something behind the wall panel.
A narrow compartment.
Inside was a notebook.
The cover had one word.
LUCAS.
Emily opened it.
The first pages contained names.
David Carter.
Eleanor Carter.
Peter Hale.
Clara Bennett.
Vanessa Rossi.
Michael Rossi.
And finally—
Emily Carter.
Daniel stared.
“Why was Lucas investigating us?”
Emily turned another page.
There was a photograph.
A man.
Older.
Standing beside Lucas.
Daniel recognized him.
“Peter.”
Emily looked at him.
“Peter knew Lucas?”
Apparently.
The next page contained a sentence.
Peter took me to see the man who knows where Clara is.
Clara's face went pale.
“Who?”
Emily turned the page.
Only one word was written.
Nathan.
Daniel frowned.
“Who is Nathan?”
Marcus searched the records.
“There are hundreds.”
“Last name?”
“Nothing.”
Emily turned another page.
A newspaper clipping fell out.
The headline read:
LOCAL LAWYER DIES IN FIRE.
Daniel read the article.
The victim's name was Nathan Gray.
Emily froze.
“That's Lucas's father.”
Silence.
“His father died before Lucas disappeared,” she whispered.
Daniel looked at her.
“And Lucas thought Peter knew something about it.”
Emily nodded.
“He told me his father didn't die in an accident.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Find everything about Nathan Gray.”
They spent the next six hours digging through old records.
Nathan Gray had been a lawyer.
He had represented David Carter.
He had also represented Clara.
Three days before his death, he had filed an emergency motion regarding the Carter family trust.
The motion had been sealed.
The following day, he died.
Official cause:
Electrical fire.
Daniel stared at the report.
“Another accident.”
Marcus nodded.
“Too many accidents.”
Then he found something.
A handwritten note attached to the file.
Client requested immediate meeting.
Daniel looked at the date.
The meeting had been scheduled for the night Nathan died.
The client was listed as:
D. Carter.
Daniel's father.
“Dad was meeting Nathan that night.”
Clara nodded.
“He was trying to expose Eleanor.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“And Lucas found the connection.”
Michael suddenly spoke.
“Then Lucas may still be alive.”
Everyone turned.
“Why?”
“Because if Eleanor killed Nathan, she would need to know what he told Lucas.”
Emily stared.
“You think she took him?”
Michael nodded.
“She wouldn't risk leaving him alive.”
Daniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Stop searching for Lucas.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Who are you?”
“You're getting too close.”
“Where is he?”
“Alive.”
Emily gasped.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Prove it.”
A video arrived.
Daniel opened it.
Lucas appeared on screen.
Older.
Twenty-four now.
His face was bruised.
His hands were tied.
Emily covered her mouth.
“Lucas.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Emily.”
She began crying.
“I'm sorry.”
“What happened to you?”
Lucas swallowed.
“They found me.”
“Who?”
He looked away.
“Eleanor.”
Daniel stepped closer to the screen.
“Where are you?”
Lucas whispered:
“I'm in the house.”
Daniel froze.
“What house?”
Lucas looked directly at the camera.
“The Carter mansion.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Lucas continued:
“They've been keeping me beneath the house.”
Clara cried out.
“No.”
Marcus immediately pulled up the mansion floor plans.
“There is no basement.”
Lucas shook his head.
“Not on the official plans.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Where?”
Lucas looked toward the camera.
“Behind the old wine cellar.”
The video suddenly distorted.
Then Lucas said one final thing.
“Daniel…”
“Yes?”
“Don't trust the person who brings you to me.”
The screen went black.
Daniel stared.
“Who brought him here?”
No one answered.
Then Emily looked at the door.
Vanessa was standing there.
Alive.
Covered in rain.
Her face was terrified.
She whispered:
“Don't go to the wine cellar.”
Daniel turned.
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at Emily.
“Because that's exactly where they want you.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Who?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I can't tell you.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“You'd better.”
Vanessa looked toward the mansion.
Then whispered:
“Because the man you're going to rescue isn't Lucas.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“The real Lucas died eleven years ago.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
“Then who is in that video?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Someone who has been pretending to be him.”
Emily's face went white.
“Why?”
Vanessa looked directly at Daniel.
“To lure you into the basement.”
Daniel understood.
The photograph.
The key.
The notebook.
The video.
Every clue had been leading them toward the same place.
The trap had never been about Vanessa.
It had never been about the necklace.
It had never even been about the trust.
Someone wanted Daniel, Emily, Clara, and Michael inside that mansion together.
And now they knew why.
Because beneath the Carter mansion was a secret that Eleanor had spent twenty-three years protecting.
May you like
And tonight—
they were going to uncover it.
