Chapter 4 - The Lawyer’s LieAlexander did not confront Evelyn in the hospital.
It was Lily who found it.
At six the next morning, while Alexander, Evelyn, and Detective Hayes examined decades of Blackwood records, Lily wandered into the old music room.
She stopped beside a grandfather clock that had not worked since Alexander’s father died.
“Mommy fixed this once.”
Alexander barely heard her.
Then Lily opened the lower wooden panel.
A folded note fell out.
Alexander picked it up.
Grace’s handwriting.
If something happens to me, the clock belongs to Lily.
Behind the pendulum sat a brass key.
Evelyn stared.
“Grace knew.”
Alexander turned the key over.
The initials T.B. had been engraved into the handle.
Theodore Blackwood.
Twenty minutes later they stood before the underground archive.
Alexander inserted the key.
It turned with a heavy click.
The steel door opened.
Theodore Blackwood’s private history waited inside.
Rows of shelves filled the room.
Company ledgers.
Land deeds.
Photographs.
Tape recordings.
Letters.
And one locked wooden case placed carefully on a desk.
Alexander opened it.
Inside were two birth certificates.
Charles Blackwood.
Richard Blackwood.
Both listed Theodore and Margaret Blackwood as parents.
But Richard’s certificate had something unusual clipped behind it.
An adoption decree.
Evelyn read it first.
Her face changed.
“Alexander.”
“What?”
“Richard wasn’t Theodore’s biological son.”
Alexander exhaled slowly.
“That explains why Sebastian—”
“No.”
Evelyn handed him another document.
“This makes it worse.”
A handwritten letter from Margaret Blackwood.
Alexander’s grandmother.
Dated March 1986.
Theodore, I cannot continue pretending Charles is yours. Richard is the only son born of our marriage. Charles is Daniel Mercer’s child. I was already pregnant when you married me. You always knew. Please stop punishing Richard because he reminds you of the truth.
Alexander read it twice.
His father, Charles, had not been Theodore Blackwood’s biological son.
Richard had.
Which meant Sebastian could argue that his father had been the true blood heir.
Alexander sat down.
The words from the tunnel returned.
THE WRONG BLACKWOOD OWNS EVERYTHING.
Evelyn opened another folder.
“Bloodline doesn’t automatically determine inheritance.”
“No.”
“But if Theodore’s estate documents were manipulated…”
Alexander knew exactly what she meant.
The Blackwood fortune might have been built on a lie.
The next ledger revealed something even darker.
In 1987, Richard had owned forty-nine percent of Blackwood Industrial Group.
Three days before he supposedly “stole” company money, his shares were transferred to Charles.
Richard’s signature appeared on the transfer.
The archive contained the original forensic report.
Signature fraudulent.
Theodore had known.
Yet the transfer stood.
“Why?” Alexander whispered.
A tape recorder sat beside the files.
Evelyn inserted a cassette labeled RICHARD – OCTOBER 1987.
Static filled the room.
Then Theodore Blackwood’s voice.
“You should leave tonight.”
Another man answered.
Richard.
“You forged my name.”
“I protected the company.”
“You gave Charles everything.”
“Charles can control himself.”
“And I can’t?”
“You’re angry.”
“I’m angry because you’re stealing from me.”
Silence.
Then Theodore said something that made Alexander’s stomach twist.
“If you stay, Margaret learns what you did in Baltimore.”
Richard’s voice dropped.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I will.”
The tape ended.
Detective Hayes looked around.
“What happened in Baltimore?”
They searched for hours.
No answer.
Until Lily found another envelope beneath the desk.
Children noticed places adults ignored.
Inside was a newspaper clipping.
YOUNG WOMAN DISAPPEARS AFTER HOTEL FIRE – BALTIMORE, 1987
The missing woman was twenty-two-year-old Rebecca Vale.
Vale.
Alexander looked up.
“Marcus.”
Detective Hayes immediately began searching records.
Marcus Vale’s mother was Rebecca Vale.
She disappeared when Marcus was six.
His father died shortly afterward.
Marcus had been raised by relatives.
Suddenly the connection became horrifying.
Marcus was not merely Sebastian’s employee.
His family history was tied directly to Richard Blackwood.
Theodore’s tape suggested Richard had done something in Baltimore involving Marcus’s mother.
Perhaps Marcus had infiltrated the Blackwood family searching for answers.
But why work with Sebastian, Richard’s son?
Evelyn discovered the answer in a later tape.
Theodore’s voice again.
“Rebecca is alive.”
Alexander froze.
Tape hiss.
“She changed her name. She wanted nothing to do with Richard or the Blackwoods. I paid her to disappear because she feared him.”
Another male voice asked, “Does Richard know?”
“No.”
“What about the child?”
“Marcus believes his mother died.”
Alexander stopped the recording.
The underground room felt suddenly colder.
Marcus had spent decades believing Rebecca Vale was dead.
If Sebastian convinced him Alexander’s family caused it, Marcus had a personal reason to destroy them.
Detective Hayes paced.
“Sebastian may have fed Marcus a lie.”
“And Grace discovered it.”
Alexander looked toward the surveillance room.
Maybe Grace had not been taken because of the key alone.
Maybe she had discovered where Rebecca Vale was.
The archive contained one last envelope labeled:
REBECCA – LOCATION CONFIDENTIAL
Empty.
Someone had removed its contents recently.
Grace.
Alexander smiled despite the fear.
“She found Rebecca.”
At 2:37 p.m., Owen rushed underground.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found Marcus.”
Alexander stood.
“Where?”
“Hospital.”
Detective Hayes frowned.
“What happened?”
“Someone shot him.”
Marcus had been discovered beside an abandoned industrial road twelve miles outside the city.
One bullet through the shoulder.
Another through the abdomen.
He was alive.
Barely.
Alexander arrived at the hospital surrounded by police.
Marcus looked nothing like the confident security chief from three days earlier.
His skin was gray.
Machines surrounded his bed.
When he saw Alexander, panic filled his eyes.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Where is Grace?”
Marcus tried to speak.
Nothing.
Alexander bent nearer.
“Sebastian shot you?”
Marcus blinked once.
Yes.
“Why?”
Marcus struggled.
Two weak words escaped.
“Found… truth.”
“What truth?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Alexander gripped the bed rail.
“Marcus.”
The man opened them again.
“Rebecca…”
Alexander leaned closer.
“My mother…”
His voice broke.
“Alive.”
Alexander nodded.
“I know.”
Tears filled Marcus’s eyes.
“Grace found her.”
Alexander’s heart hammered.
“Where?”
Marcus tried to lift one hand.
His fingers formed the shape of a letter.
W.
Then another.
H.
Warehouse?
West harbor?
He gasped.
“White… house.”
Alexander frowned.
“What white house?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not… house.”
He coughed.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Whitehorse.”
Evelyn, standing behind Alexander, pulled out her phone.
“Whitehorse Marina.”
Marcus blinked.
Then whispered, “Boat.”
Alexander turned to Detective Hayes.
“Find every boat connected to Sebastian.”
Marcus grabbed Alexander’s sleeve.
One last burst of strength.
“Don’t trust…”
Alexander leaned closer.
Marcus whispered a name.
Alexander slowly straightened.
“No.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
The heart monitor continued beeping.
But Alexander stood motionless.
Because Marcus had not warned him about Sebastian.
He had warned him about the one person who had access to every Blackwood legal document.
May you like
The woman standing ten feet behind him.
Evelyn Shaw.
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