Chapter 5 - The Lake House
Michael wanted to drive straight to the lake.
Detective Reese stopped him.
“You’re angry, sleep-deprived, and personally involved. You are not kicking down doors.”
“My sister tried to kill my wife.”
“Which is exactly why you’re not kicking down doors.”
Emily spoke from the bed. “Go with the police.”
Michael turned to her.
She held his gaze. “Not for revenge. For answers.”
Two hours later Michael rode in an unmarked SUV behind Reese.
The lake house sat empty beneath a gray sky.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, a fire had burned in the fireplace recently.
Reese touched the ash. “Still warm.”
They searched room by room.
No Sophia.
No Victor.
But in Thomas Carter’s old study, Michael noticed a picture frame turned backward.
He picked it up.
Behind it was a small brass key taped to the wood.
“Dad used to hide things in stupid places,” he said.
The key opened a desk drawer with a false bottom.
Inside lay Thomas’s watch, an old digital recorder, and a sealed envelope marked MICHAEL ONLY.
Michael’s hands shook.
He opened it.
Son,
If you are reading this, I failed to finish something important. Do not trust Victor with the family trust. Do not let Sophia sign anything in my name. And if I die before I speak to the board, assume the accident was not an accident.
Michael stopped reading.
Reese took the page carefully.
“There’s more.”
At the bottom Thomas had written:
The proof is in the red folder. Emily will understand why I chose her.
Michael stared at the sentence.
“Emily never met my father alone.”
Reese pointed toward the recorder. “Maybe he meant something else.”
Michael pressed PLAY.
Static crackled.
Then Thomas Carter’s voice filled the room.
“Victor, put the papers down.”
A second voice answered.
Victor.
“You’re making a mistake, Tom.”
Then Sophia spoke.
“Dad, please. We can fix this.”
Thomas replied, “You stole from sick children and called it a consulting fee.”
Michael shut his eyes.
The recording continued.
A chair scraped.
Victor said, “You won’t make Friday’s board meeting.”
Thomas laughed once.
“Is that a threat?”
There was silence.
May you like
Then Sophia said something that made Michael’s blood go cold.
“No, Dad. It’s a schedule.”
