Chapter 5 – The Key In The Ignition

The cold night air hit the back of my neck like ice.

I stared at the note, my heart kicking into a frantic rhythm.

Check the catering van.

I looked across the alley. The bakery’s white Ford Transit van was parked in its usual spot under the flickering streetlight.

Who left this? Marcus was in police custody. Ryan and my mother had just left.

I walked slowly toward the van. The gravel crunched loudly under my shoes.

I unlocked the side door and pulled it open.

The back was empty, smelling faintly of vanilla and cardboard boxes. I checked the glove compartment. Nothing. I checked under the seats. Nothing.

Then I looked at the ignition.

Sticking out of the keyhole was a small, ornate brass key. It didn’t belong to the van. It looked like the key to an old post office box.

Attached to the key was a luggage tag.

Written on the tag was an address in downtown Chicago, an hour away.

And a name: Evelyn Thorne.

Marcus’s wife.

I locked the van, got into my Subaru, and drove.

I didn’t care that it was past midnight. I didn’t care that I was exhausted. I was not going to spend another decade of my life waiting for my family’s secrets to ruin me.

The address belonged to a high-end, secure storage facility.

The night guard looked at the brass key, checked a ledger, and nodded.

“Unit 402,” he said. “Fourth floor.”

I rode the freight elevator up. The hallway was sterile, lined with bright fluorescent lights and rows of orange metal doors.

I found 402. I slid the brass key into the padlock. It clicked open.

I rolled up the heavy metal door.

Inside the unit was a single folding table.

On the table sat a cardboard box.

I walked in and opened the box.

Inside was a stack of legal documents, bank statements, and a sealed envelope addressed to me.

I tore the envelope open.

Caroline, the letter began.

If you are reading this, it means Marcus has been arrested, and my lawyer has delivered the note to your car.

I scanned the page, my eyes widening.

Until your father contacted me.

I gasped.

Your father didn’t just pay Marcus off nine years ago. He hired a private investigator. He spent the last months of his life gathering proof of every illegal transaction Marcus ever made. But your father knew if he went to the police, Marcus would have him killed.

So your father brought the evidence to me.

I looked at the stack of documents in the box.

He told me to keep it safe until Marcus slipped up. Tonight, Marcus slipped up by going after your bakery. The documents in this box will put him away for the rest of his life.

But there is something else you need to know about your brother.

I braced myself.

Marcus didn’t blackmail Ryan. Ryan came to Marcus.

The letter shook in my hands.

Nine years ago, Ryan didn’t lose that money in a bad investment. He stole it from his own clients to pay off gambling debts. When the clients demanded their money back, Ryan begged Marcus for a loan to cover his tracks.

Your father found out. That’s why they fought the night he died. Your father told Ryan he was going to turn him in for embezzlement.

I dropped the letter onto the table.

My mother had lied again.

Ryan wasn’t a victim of blackmail. He was a thief. And my father hadn’t died protecting Ryan; he died furious at him.

I looked at the bottom of the box.

Beneath the legal documents was one final object.

A small, velvet box.

Identical to the one my mother had given Ryan at the birthday dinner.

I opened it.

Inside was a beautiful, vintage gold watch. Dad’s watch.

And tucked behind the watch was a flash drive.

Labeled: Security Camera – Kitchen – The Night I Die.

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