Emily followed Charles out of the room.
The man in the dark coat had vanished.
She hurried toward the elevators, but the corridor opened into several identical hallways. By the time she reached the lobby, there was no sign of him.
A security guard looked up.
"Can I help you?"
"Did you see a man in a dark coat leave?"
The guard shook his head.
"Lots of people leave."
"He was here just now."
"Was he a visitor?"
"I don't know."
The guard glanced toward the doors.
Emily stopped arguing.
She returned upstairs.
Daniel was still awake.
Margaret sat beside the window.
Charles stood beside the cabinet.
No one spoke when Emily entered.
She placed the memory card on the table.
"I want the truth."
Daniel looked at Charles.
Charles nodded.
"We owe her that."
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
Emily stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because knowing the truth won't bring anyone back."
"Maybe not."
Emily's voice trembled.
"But lying almost killed Dad."
Daniel looked down.
Margaret pressed her hands together.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Margaret looked at Charles.
"From your grandfather."
Emily frowned.
"Grandpa?"
"Thomas wasn't the man you were told he was."
"Then who was he?"
Charles answered.
"Your grandfather built the company that made this family wealthy."
Emily nodded.
"I know."
"You don't know how."
Charles pulled a chair closer.
"Your grandfather had a partner."
"Who?"
"Daniel."
Emily looked at her father.
"Before you were born?"
"Before your mother and I married."
Daniel nodded weakly.
Charles continued.
"They built the company together. Thomas handled money. Daniel handled operations."
"What went wrong?"
"An account disappeared."
Emily waited.
Charles looked at Margaret.
"Millions."
Emily stared.
"Grandpa stole it?"
"No."
"Then Dad did?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Charles shook his head.
"Neither."
Emily felt the pieces moving beneath her feet.
"Who took it?"
No one answered.
She looked at the memory card.
"Is it on there?"
Charles nodded.
Emily picked it up.
"I need a computer."
Charles stopped her.
"Not here."
"Why?"
"Because whoever followed you into this hospital may still be watching."
Emily looked toward the door.
"Then where?"
Charles reached into his coat and removed a folded piece of paper.
He handed it to her.
An address.
A small warehouse near the river.
Emily recognized the street.
Her father had once owned a property there.
It had been sold years ago.
"Why would the files be there?"
"They aren't."
"Then what is?"
Charles looked at Daniel.
"The truth."
Daniel shifted painfully.
Emily went to him.
"Did you know Grandpa was alive until three weeks ago?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Did Mom?"
He looked toward Margaret.
Margaret answered for him.
"No."
Emily believed her.
For the first time, perhaps.
But that raised another question.
"Then why did Mom say she knew enough?"
Margaret looked down.
"Because I knew about the money."
"What money?"
"The missing money."
Emily sat beside her.
"Tell me."
Margaret took a slow breath.
"Your grandfather didn't steal it. But he made one mistake."
"What?"
"He trusted someone."
Charles said quietly, "He trusted the wrong person."
"Who?"
Margaret did not answer.
Daniel reached for the paper.
His hand shook.
He wrote one word.
EDWARD.
Emily looked at Charles.
"Who is Edward?"
Charles's expression changed.
"Your grandfather's accountant."
"Where is he?"
"Dead."
"How?"
"Car accident."
Emily stared.
"How long ago?"
"Twenty-two years."
She looked at the photograph again.
September 14, 2003.
The night Thomas disappeared.
"The same night."
Charles nodded.
"Edward died that night."
Emily felt a chill.
"So Grandpa disappeared because he thought someone killed Edward?"
"Not exactly."
"What, then?"
Charles looked at Daniel.
"Because Edward left behind evidence."
Emily glanced at the memory card.
"Evidence of what?"
Charles lowered his voice.
"That someone inside the family had been moving money for years."
Emily looked at Margaret.
Her mother shook her head.
"It wasn't me."
"I didn't say it was."
"But you're thinking it."
Emily did not answer.
Margaret stood.
"I was twenty-seven. I had no access to those accounts."
"Then who did?"
Margaret's eyes moved toward Charles.
Emily noticed.
"So you know."
Charles's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"Who?"
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel slowly lifted his hand.
He pointed at Charles.
Emily's heart sank.
"Uncle Charles?"
Charles sat down.
"I was the one who found Edward."
The room went silent.
"You found him?"
"Yes."
"And you never told anyone?"
"I was ordered not to."
"By whom?"
Charles looked at Margaret.
Margaret whispered, "Thomas."
Emily stood.
"So Grandpa was hiding Edward's death?"
"No."
Charles's voice broke.
"Thomas was hiding the person responsible."
Emily stared at him.
"Who?"
Charles looked toward the closed hospital door.
Then he said a name Emily had never expected.
"Daniel."
Emily turned toward her father.
Daniel's eyes were filled with tears.
She stepped backward.
"No."
Charles continued quickly.
"Your father wasn't the killer."
Emily looked at him.
"Then why say his name?"
"Because someone forged evidence to make it look as if he was."
Daniel covered his face.
Emily's breathing became shallow.
"The missing money."
Charles nodded.
"The forged records."
Another nod.
"Edward's death."
"Connected."
"And Dad took the blame?"
"Almost."
Emily stared at the man who had been beside her father's bed for years.
"Then why did Dad let everyone think he was responsible?"
Charles answered quietly.
"Because the real person threatened you."
Emily went still.
"Me?"
"You were six years old."
Emily looked at Margaret.
Her mother began crying.
"Who threatened me?"
Charles's answer was almost a whisper.
"Your grandfather."
Emily's mouth went dry.
"No."
"Thomas believed Daniel would expose everything if he had nothing left to lose."
Charles looked toward the window.
"So Thomas used the one thing Daniel couldn't sacrifice."
Emily understood.
"Me."
Daniel nodded.
She turned away.
For several seconds she could hear nothing but the monitor.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS.
Emily stared at it.
A second message appeared.
YOUR FATHER HAS HOURS, NOT DAYS.
She looked at Daniel.
The oxygen mask fogged slightly with every breath.
Then the third message arrived.
BRING THE MEMORY CARD TO THE RIVER WAREHOUSE ALONE.
Emily's fingers went cold.
Charles read the screen.
"Don't go."
Emily looked at him.
"They know about the card."
Margaret stood.
"We need the police."
Daniel suddenly grabbed Emily's wrist.
His eyes were wide.
He shook his head violently.
Emily bent toward him.
"Why?"
He struggled to speak.
"Police…"
He stopped.
His chest rose sharply.
Emily waited.
"Inside," he whispered.
She froze.
"Someone inside the police?"
Daniel nodded once.
Then the monitor screamed.
His heart rhythm changed.
Nurses rushed into the room.
Emily was pushed backward.
Charles caught her arm.
"Come with me."
She stared through the opening doors as doctors surrounded her father.
Margaret stood frozen.
And on the hospital corridor floor, near the doorway, Emily saw something that had not been there before.
A small brass key.
Number 317.
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: Emily Follows the Key to a Locked Hospital Room and Finds the One Piece of Evidence Her Father Never Wanted Her to See
The Visitor Arrived Carrying Two Expensive Shopping Bags, Yet Her Father Had Asked Everyone to Keep Her Away From His Hospital Room
Part 3 of 16
