That evening, Daniel discovered something in the old records.
A bank account.
Opened twenty years ago.
In my name.
I stared at the document.
“There was money in this?”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“How much?”
He looked at Ernest.
“Enough to make someone very interested in Valerie.”
The account had been funded by Evelyn.
Every year, she had deposited money.
Small amounts at first.
Then larger ones.
The final deposit had been made three weeks ago.
The exact same day the mysterious letter arrived.
I stared at the date.
“She’s alive.”
Daniel nodded.
“That would be my conclusion.”
“Then why doesn’t she come back?”
“Because she’s afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Victor died eight years ago.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Victor died in prison.”
The room went silent.
“Then who are we afraid of?”
Daniel slowly pointed toward the documents.
“Someone who survived him.”
He tapped a name.
Richard Vale.
Ernest stood abruptly.
“No.”
“You know him?”
Ernest’s face had gone white.
“He was my business partner.”
Daniel nodded.
“He’s been looking for Valerie for twenty years.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because Evelyn took something from him.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
A small leather book.
Proof of everything.
Money.
Names.
Accounts.
Bribes.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
And the people who helped Victor.
“If Richard gets that ledger,” Daniel said, “he can destroy everyone who might testify against him.”
I looked at Ernest.
“Where is it?”
He whispered:
“I don’t know.”
Then my mother spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
She walked toward the old cabinet.
She removed a wooden box from behind it.
Inside was the leather ledger.
My mother placed it on the table.
“Evelyn gave this to me twenty years ago.”
Ernest stared at her.
“You had it all this time?”
“I promised her I would keep Valerie safe.”
Daniel opened the ledger.
His expression changed.
“We need to get this to the authorities.”
Suddenly, headlights appeared outside.
A car stopped.
Then another.
Daniel stood.
“Everyone stay inside.”
A voice came from outside.
“Margaret!”
My mother’s face went white.
Richard Vale.
He had found us.
The front door exploded inward.
Two men rushed inside.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Police!”
The men stopped.
Then another voice came from outside.
“Daniel, you are retired. Put it down.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Richard.”
Richard Vale stepped inside.
He was an older man, perhaps seventy.
Elegant.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
“So this is Valerie.”
I stepped backward.
He looked at Ernest.
“You should have left her alone.”
Ernest stood in front of me.
“You’ve taken enough from my family.”
Richard laughed softly.
“Your family?”
He looked at me.
“Ask him what happened to Evelyn.”
I turned toward Ernest.
Richard continued.
“Ask him why he didn’t tell you that your mother came back once.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Ernest’s face changed.
Richard smiled.
“Twenty years ago, Evelyn returned to this house.”
I looked at Ernest.
“Is that true?”
He couldn’t answer.
“Ernest?”
He lowered his head.
“Yes.”
My heart broke.
“You knew she came back?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Five years after she disappeared.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were ten.”
“That doesn’t matter!”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That she would take you.”
I stared at him.
“She was my mother.”
“I know.”
Richard interrupted.
“Enough.”
He held out his hand.
“The ledger.”
Nobody moved.
Richard sighed.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Daniel laughed.
“You’ve already spent twenty years threatening them.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“Give me the book.”
My mother stepped forward.
“No.”
Richard looked at her.
“You ruined everything.”
“I protected Valerie.”
“No. You hid her.”
“And kept her alive.”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Richard pulled out a gun.
Everything happened at once.
Daniel shouted.
Ernest pushed me down.
A shot rang through the house.
Glass shattered.
Another shot.
Then silence.
I looked up.
Ernest was on the floor.
“Ernest!”
Blood stained his shirt.
I crawled toward him.
He looked at me.
“Don’t be afraid.”
