Daniel did not want to open the garage.
That was the first thing Mara noticed.
He stood beside the kitchen door with his keys in his hand, staring at the message on Lena's phone.
Look in your father's car.
"Open it," Mara said.
Daniel didn't move.
"Daniel."
"I don't know what's going on."
"Then we find out."
He looked at Lena.
She was still sitting on the bottom stair, her injured leg extended awkwardly.
"I don't want her seeing this."
Mara's eyes narrowed.
"Seeing what?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you afraid to open the car?"
"I said I'm not afraid."
"You're shaking."
Daniel looked at his hand.
She was right.
He unlocked the garage.
The door lifted slowly.
Their car sat beneath the fluorescent light.
Nothing looked wrong.
Daniel walked toward it.
Mara followed.
Lena stayed behind.
"Don't come closer," Daniel told her.
She ignored him.
The car was unlocked.
Mara looked at Daniel.
"You always lock it."
"I thought I did."
He opened the driver's door.
A smell came from inside.
Damp earth.
Not gasoline.
Not the ordinary smell of a car.
Dirt.
Daniel noticed it too.
He reached beneath the driver's seat.
His fingers touched something.
He pulled out a black cloth bag.
Mara stepped closer.
"What is that?"
"I don't know."
"Open it."
Daniel hesitated.
Mara took it from him.
Inside were several things.
A flashlight.
A pair of gloves.
A roll of medical tape.
A school identification card.
And Lena's missing phone.
Lena made a small sound behind them.
"My phone."
Mara turned.
Daniel looked stunned.
"I didn't put that there."
Lena limped closer.
She reached for the phone.
Her fingers stopped above it.
"That's mine."
Mara picked it up.
The screen was cracked.
But it turned on.
There were photographs inside that Lena had never seen.
Pictures of the school.
The old gym.
The storage building.
Their house.
Their driveway.
And one photograph of Daniel standing beside his car.
Taken from a distance.
Mara looked at her husband.
"When was this taken?"
"I don't know."
Lena opened another picture.
It showed Mara leaving the grocery store.
Another showed Lena entering school.
Another showed Daniel walking toward the garage.
The photographs had dates.
They stretched back nearly three weeks.
Mara felt sick.
"Someone has been watching us."
Daniel nodded.
"Apparently."
Then Lena found something else.
A video.
She pressed play.
The screen showed the old gym.
The image shook slightly.
A man's voice came from behind the camera.
"You should have left it alone."
Lena immediately dropped the phone.
Mara caught it.
"Leave what alone?"
The video continued.
A second voice answered.
Daniel's voice.
Mara stopped breathing.
Her husband was on the recording.
She turned toward him.
Daniel's face had lost all color.
"I don't remember that."
The recording continued.
"You promised this was finished."
Daniel's recorded voice sounded tense.
"It is finished."
"Then why did she find the file?"
"I'll take care of it."
The video ended.
Mara stared at her husband.
"What file?"
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Your voice is on that recording."
"I know."
"What were you doing behind the school?"
"I wasn't."
"Then why are you on the video?"
"I don't know."
Lena whispered, "Dad."
Daniel looked at her.
"Tell me the truth."
"I am."
"Then why did that man say you promised?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Mara stepped away.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know."
"How many lies are you going to tell before we reach the truth?"
"I'm not lying."
"You've already lied about the store."
Daniel looked at her.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
He couldn't answer.
A sound came from the garage door.
Three knocks.
Everyone froze.
Daniel turned.
The door was closed.
Three more knocks.
Lena grabbed Mara's sleeve.
"He's here."
Daniel moved toward the garage door.
Mara caught his arm.
"No."
"I need to see who it is."
"Don't."
The knocking stopped.
Then came a scraping sound.
Something slid beneath the garage door.
A folded piece of paper.
Daniel stared at it.
Mara picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
She unfolded it.
The picture showed Lena lying on the ground behind the old gym.
Her leg was twisted beneath her.
Someone stood over her.
The photograph had been taken from several meters away.
Mara's hand began to shake.
On the back, someone had written:
He was not supposed to find her.
Daniel read it.
"What does that mean?"
Mara looked at him.
"Who is 'he'?"
Daniel said nothing.
Then Lena pointed at the photograph.
"That's not when I fell."
Mara looked again.
"What?"
"I fell beside the storage building."
"This picture shows you beside the gym."
"I know."
"Then when was this taken?"
Lena shook her head.
"I don't remember."
Daniel looked toward the garage door.
"We're calling the police."
Mara nodded.
But before Daniel could reach his phone, Lena spoke.
"Wait."
She was staring at the photograph.
"There."
Near the edge of the image, barely visible beneath a tree, was a second person.
A woman.
She was holding something in her hand.
Mara zoomed in.
The picture was blurry, but the object was unmistakable.
A white hairbrush.
Mara looked at Lena.
"Why would someone have my hairbrush?"
Lena's expression changed.
"That isn't yours."
Mara looked closer.
The brush had a red stain.
Just like the one in the bathroom.
Daniel took the photograph.
"This was staged."
"Why?"
"To make us think the blood came from Lena."
Mara looked at him.
"Then whose blood is it?"
Daniel stared at the image.
"I don't know."
A phone rang.
Not Lena's.
Not Mara's.
Daniel reached into his pocket.
His phone was ringing.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?"
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice said, "You shouldn't have brought them into this."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Who are you?"
"You know who I am."
"No."
"You've known me for eleven years."
Daniel's eyes widened.
Mara watched him.
"What did he say?"
Daniel didn't answer.
The voice continued.
"Tell Mara about the night at the lake."
Daniel hung up.
Mara stared at him.
"What night?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"The night your brother died."
Mara felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
"My brother?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I never told you everything."
Lena whispered, "Dad, what happened?"
Daniel sat heavily on the garage step.
"Eleven years ago, your mother and I were driving home from the lake."
Mara shook her head.
"Stop."
"I can't."
"You told me you weren't there."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because someone died."
Mara stared at him.
"Who?"
Daniel looked toward the photograph.
"The man who called me."
The garage fell silent.
Then Lena's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Now you know where to look.
Under it was an address.
Mara recognized it immediately.
It was the old lake house.
The place she had not visited since her brother's death.
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: Returning to the Lake House Forced Three People to Confront an Old Story, Until a Hidden Room Revealed Who Had Been Lying
The Small Red Stain That Turned an Ordinary Evening Into a Question Nobody in the House Was Ready to Answer
Part 3 of 16
