Chapter 4 - The Safe Under the Empty House

Serena screamed.

Adrian held her back.

“No.”

“My father is in there.”

“So are armed men.”

“He stayed for us.”

“Yes.”

“Then we go back.”

Victor shook his head.

“That is exactly what Daniel wants.”

Serena looked at him.

“You do not get to speak about my family.”

Victor accepted that.

We reached the end of the tunnel.

A boathouse.

One small motorboat.

Thomas started the engine.

Catherine looked at the cliffs.

Smoke rose from the cottage.

No one spoke.

We crossed the bay.

On the far side, a truck waited.

Victor had planned this too.

Adrian noticed.

“How long have you been preparing for tonight?”

Victor looked at him.

“Two years.”

“And you never thought to call me?”

“I thought about it every day.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.”

Adrian climbed into the truck.

“Good talk.”

We drove south.

Serena said nothing.

She held her father’s phone.

No signal.

No messages.

Nothing.

At noon, Victor stopped outside an abandoned townhouse in Brooklyn.

Windows boarded.

Door chained.

Adrian frowned.

“This belonged to Grandfather.”

“Yes.”

“He sold it.”

“No.”

Victor cut the chain.

Inside:

Dust.

Empty rooms.

Old wallpaper.

Catherine walked straight to the basement.

One concrete wall looked newer than the others.

Thomas handed Adrian a hammer.

Adrian stared.

“Again?”

Thomas smiled.

“Your family buries everything.”

Adrian hit the wall.

Twenty minutes later, steel appeared.

A second safe.

Larger.

Combination lock.

Catherine entered six numbers.

It opened.

Inside:

Hard drives.

Ledgers.

Photographs.

Federal case files.

A list of judges.

A list of police.

A list of port officials.

And one sealed envelope.

ADRIAN.

He opened it.

Inside was a birth certificate.

His.

And another document.

Adoption papers.

Adrian stared.

“No.”

Catherine closed her eyes.

Victor looked away.

Serena whispered:

“What?”

Adrian held up the page.

“My father is not listed.”

Silence.

Catherine sat.

Adrian’s voice went quiet.

“Who is my father?”

Victor answered first.

“Me.”

Adrian looked at him.

“The paper says otherwise.”

“It is forged.”

Catherine shook her head.

Victor turned.

“Catherine.”

“No more.”

Adrian stared at her.

She looked at him.

“Victor is your father.”

Adrian exhaled.

Then why the adoption?

Catherine pulled out another file.

“Because your grandfather tried to take you from us when you were born.”

“What?”

“He claimed Victor was unfit.”

Victor laughed bitterly.

“He was not wrong.”

Catherine continued.

“The adoption papers were a legal trick. Your grandmother’s sister temporarily adopted you so your grandfather could not claim custody.”

Adrian looked at Victor.

“And later?”

“I adopted you back.”

Adrian stared at the papers.

One more hidden story.

But not the one he expected.

Serena opened a ledger.

Then froze.

“Adrian.”

He looked.

A payment dated fourteen years ago.

The week Catherine disappeared.

Recipient:

THOMAS REED.

Adrian turned.

Thomas had gone pale.

“What is that?”

Thomas swallowed.

“Money.”

“For what?”

No answer.

Victor stepped forward.

“Thomas.”

Adrian’s voice hardened.

“For what?”

Thomas looked at Catherine.

She said nothing.

That was worse.

Finally:

“To move her.”

Adrian stared.

“You were paid to help my mother disappear.”

“Yes.”

“By Grandfather?”

“No.”

“Then who?”

Thomas looked directly at Victor.

“Your father.”

Silence.

Adrian turned.

Victor did not deny it.

“You paid him?”

“Yes.”

“To make her disappear?”

“To keep her alive.”

Adrian slammed the ledger shut.

“Every answer becomes another lie.”

Then Serena found a newer transaction.

Three months old.

Large payment.

Recipient:

DANIEL HOLT.

Sender:

VICTOR BELLINI.

She looked at Victor.

“What did you pay my uncle for?”

Victor’s face changed.

Catherine stared at him.

“Victor?”

He said nothing.

Adrian stepped closer.

“Answer her.”

Victor looked at Serena.

“To keep your father alive.”

Serena stopped breathing.

“He’s alive?”

“I don’t know.”

“You just said—”

“I paid Daniel not to kill him.”

Adrian frowned.

“When?”

“Three months ago.”

The same month Catherine wrote Serena.

The same month everything moved again.

Catherine whispered:

“Daniel knew we were reconnecting.”

Victor nodded.

Serena grabbed him.

“Where is my father?”

Victor answered:

“Bellini Harbor.”

Adrian stared.

“Our private port?”

“Yes.”

Thomas looked toward the hard drives.

Victor continued.

“Daniel stores people there until he knows what they know.”

Adrian’s expression changed.

“Then we go now.”

Catherine shook her head.

“No.”

Adrian looked at her.

“You don’t get to tell me no anymore.”

Then the basement lights came on.

We all froze.

Someone was upstairs.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Then Daniel Holt’s voice came through the floor.

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“Adrian?”

He had found the second safe too.