Chapter 3 - The Blue Envelope
Clara could not stop looking at the photograph.
Daniel.
Alive.
Standing beside the man she had spent three years blaming for every unanswered question.
Edward Kane.
Her hands trembled so badly that the picture shook.
“I don't understand.”
Vincent's voice was gentle.
“Neither do I.”
“You said my husband was taken.”
Frank nodded.
“He was.”
“Then why is he standing beside Kane?”
“No idea.”
Clara looked at the photograph again.
Daniel appeared exhausted.
Thin.
His beard was longer than she remembered.
But it was him.
She touched his face in the photograph with one finger.
“Why didn't he come home?”
Nobody answered.
Maisie wandered into the room carrying one of her paper boxes.
“Mama.”
Clara knelt.
“Yes?”
“Daddy is sad.”
Clara froze.
Vincent crouched beside her.
“What did you say?”
“Daddy is sad.”
“When did you see Daddy?”
“Before Christmas.”
Clara's heart stopped.
“Where?”
Maisie pointed toward the hallway.
“The blue room.”
Vincent knew the room.
It had once been Michael's study.
He picked Maisie up.
“Show me.”
They went upstairs.
Maisie pointed at a narrow portrait frame.
“Behind there.”
Vincent removed the frame.
Nothing.
Clara opened the drawer beneath it.
Empty.
Maisie shook her head.
“Other side.”
Vincent checked again.
A tiny metal latch.
The back panel opened.
Inside lay a blue envelope.
Clara stared at it.
“I've seen that.”
Vincent handed it to her.
She opened it.
There was a note.
CLARA, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, DANIEL FAILED TO GET HOME.
Her knees almost buckled.
Vincent steadied her.
The note continued.
DO NOT TRUST WHAT YOU HEAR ABOUT MICHAEL. DO NOT TRUST WHAT YOU HEAR ABOUT ME. TRUST THE CHILD.
Clara looked up.
“What child?”
Maisie smiled.
“Me.”
Vincent almost laughed.
Then he saw the USB drive.
The message was not a joke.
Michael had left a video.
Vincent loaded it.
Michael appeared on screen.
His hair was longer.
His face was bruised.
But he was alive.
“Vincent,” he said, “if this reaches you, then the plan failed.”
Vincent whispered,
“Brother.”
Michael looked directly into the camera.
“Clara, I'm sorry.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“Daniel was trying to protect you.”
She started crying.
“Kane found out that Daniel helped me.”
Michael continued.
“He gave Kane fake information to buy time. Kane believed Daniel had access to my hidden files.”
Michael looked down.
“Your husband never betrayed you.”
Clara cried harder.
“Then why did he disappear?”
Michael's voice cracked.
“Because he chose you.”
The video stopped.
Vincent immediately looked at Clara.
She was shattered.
Not because Daniel was dead.
Because she had spent years believing he had abandoned her.
“I hated him,” she whispered.
Vincent sat beside her.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have known.”
“No.”
He looked at her steadily.
“When people lie to you long enough, even the truth feels impossible.”
She looked at him.
“You sound like you know.”
“I do.”
They sat in silence.
Then the security alarm screamed.
Leo's voice came over the intercom.
“Someone is inside.”
Vincent stood.
“Where?”
“Lower west corridor.”
They moved.
A masked man ran from the service stairs.
Vincent chased him.
The man reached a locked door and fired two shots through the lock.
Vincent caught him before he could escape.
The man tried to stab him.
Vincent knocked the knife away.
“Who sent you?”
Silence.
Vincent pulled off the mask.
The man had Kane's private security tattoo.
He swallowed.
“You're too late.”
“For what?”
“The girl.”
Vincent looked toward the nursery.
His blood ran cold.
He released the man and ran.
Clara was already there.
Maisie's bed was empty.
The window was open.
Clara screamed.
“MAISIE!”
Vincent jumped out onto the balcony.
Footprints crossed the snow.
He followed.
A black van waited beyond the wall.
Its engine roared.
Vincent fired.
The rear tire exploded.
The van crashed into the garden fence.
Leo reached it seconds later.
But the vehicle was empty.
Only a small red Santa hat remained in the back seat.
Clara grabbed it.
“My baby.”
Vincent found a phone on the floor.
It rang.
He answered.
Kane.
“You should have stayed with your Christmas tree.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Bring her back.”
“Not yet.”
Vincent's voice became deadly.
“If you touch her—”
“I won't.”
Kane paused.
“She isn't the target.”
“Then what is?”
“Her mother.”
Clara went still.
Kane continued.
“Clara Bennett knows where Daniel hid the final evidence.”
She looked at Vincent.
“I don't.”
Kane laughed.
“You will.”
The call ended.
Clara's face changed.
Vincent saw it.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“There is one place Daniel told me never to go.”
“Where?”
She closed her eyes.
“His old garage.”
May you like
Vincent grabbed his coat.
“We're going.”
