Chapter 22 - The Glass Folder
Rachel examined the certificate without touching it.
CAUSE OF DEATH: DROWNING
LOCATION: MUNICIPAL RESERVOIR
IDENTIFICATION: CONFIRMED BY FAMILY
“How could Eleanor be photographed with my father in 2004 if she died before I was born?” Rachel asked.
“Because the woman in that photograph was not Eleanor,” Celia said.
“Then who was she?”
“Ask your mother.”
“My mother is dead.”
“So you believe.”
Rachel resisted the urge to demand an answer. Celia was controlling the conversation by releasing facts in fragments and watching which ones caused the strongest reaction.
“Why is Eleanor’s name in my father’s ledger?”
“Because Eleanor was supposed to inherit the land beneath your house.”
“Why?”
“Her family owned it before the city existed in its current form.”
“Then why is my family involved?”
Celia looked at the brass key hanging beneath Rachel’s collar.
“Your father discovered the original deed was not a property record. It was an agreement.”
“Between whom?”
“Families that no longer exist in any official history.”
The dining-room door opened.
An assistant entered carrying a transparent glass folder. Inside were photographs and a sealed document.
Celia placed it beside the purchase agreement.
“This contains the identity of the person who recruited Marcus, evidence concerning your father’s death, and the original beneficiary code.”
“Give it to me.”
“Give me the key.”
Rachel stood.
“No.”
“Then you leave without answers.”
Rachel moved toward the door.
Celia spoke before she reached it.
“Did your mother ever explain why you have no photographs from the first six months of your life?”
Rachel stopped.
There were baby photographs, but the earliest had been taken when she was nearly seven months old. Her mother had blamed a lost camera.
Celia continued.
“Did she explain why your birth certificate was issued two years late?”
Rachel had discovered the delayed registration while applying for a passport. Her parents said the hospital had made an administrative error.
“Or why your father never allowed medical records to be stored digitally?”
Rachel turned back.
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying the house recognizes an heir, Rachel. The law may not.”
Celia tapped the glass folder.
“Your parents did not hide you in that house to protect the property. They protected the property because it was the only thing capable of proving who you are.”
A fire alarm sounded.
Red lights flashed along the ceiling.
Celia did not appear surprised.
Tessa’s voice came through Rachel’s concealed earpiece.
“Leave now. Smoke on the lower floor.”
Rachel moved toward the emergency exit.
The assistant reached for the glass folder.
Rachel seized it first.
Celia caught her wrist.
“If you take that,” she said, “the person who has been watching you will know we failed.”
“Maybe I want them to know.”
Rachel pulled free and ran.
Outside, firefighters entered the building as employees gathered on the pavement.
Tessa met Rachel beside an ambulance.
The glass folder contained no beneficiary code.
No evidence about Marcus.
No proof concerning her father’s death.
It contained nine photographs of targeted homeowners.
May you like
Each face had been crossed out.
Rachel’s photograph was the only one left untouched.
