Chapter 8 - Back Into the House
A sheriff’s deputy stood in the foyer while Lucy entered her home.
Vanessa waited beside the staircase.
Nobody spoke.
The house looked exactly the same.
That made it feel wrong.
Daniel’s shoes were still beside the mudroom door.
His coffee mug remained in the cabinet.
A framed photograph of Lucy and Daniel at the beach still sat on the console table.
How could the world end while furniture stayed still?
Margaret went upstairs with Rachel to collect medication and clothing.
Elias headed toward Daniel’s study.
Lucy followed.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“She doesn’t need to be in there.”
The deputy glanced at Rachel.
Rachel answered, “Lucy is a trust beneficiary and Daniel’s daughter.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“She’s eight.”
Lucy looked at her.
“That didn’t bother you when you threw me out.”
The deputy looked uncomfortable.
Vanessa said nothing.
Daniel’s study smelled faintly of cedar.
Elias went directly to the safe.
“Was this always here?” Rachel asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you open it?”
“No.”
Vanessa spoke from the doorway.
“Neither can I.”
Elias looked at her.
“I didn’t ask.”
He examined the bookshelves.
Lucy wandered toward the desk.
There was a photograph of Daniel holding her when she was five.
Beside it stood an old brass clock.
The hands showed 8:17.
Lucy frowned.
“That’s broken.”
Margaret entered behind her.
“It’s been broken for years.”
“No.”
Lucy touched it.
“Dad fixed it.”
“When?”
“Before the hospital.”
Elias looked over.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Daniel loved repairing things.
He had once spent three Saturdays fixing a toaster because Margaret told him buying another one would be easier.
Lucy lifted the clock.
Something rattled inside.
Everyone stopped.
Vanessa moved.
Rachel immediately stepped between her and the desk.
“Do not touch anything.”
Elias removed the back panel.
Inside was a small key.
Vanessa’s face changed.
Only for an instant.
But Lucy saw.
Elias saw too.
“What does this open?”
Vanessa recovered.
“How would I know?”
Lucy looked around.
Daniel had dozens of keys.
Desk drawers.
Cabinets.
Old construction lockboxes.
Elias examined the key.
A small label had been scratched off.
Rachel photographed it.
“Take nothing until we inventory it.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“This is ridiculous.”
Elias ignored her.
He checked the desk.
The key did not fit.
The file cabinet.
Nothing.
Then Margaret spoke.
“Daniel’s old site box.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
“When he first started the company, he had a metal document box he carried to construction sites.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“I remember.”
“Where is it?” Rachel asked.
Margaret looked toward the closet.
Elias opened it.
The metal box sat behind a stack of architectural rolls.
He pulled it out.
The key fit.
Inside were old photographs, construction permits, and notebooks.
Then Elias stopped.
A black external hard drive lay at the bottom.
A yellow sticky note was attached.
E.G.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“That belongs to the company.”
Rachel blocked her again.
“Then it will be handled accordingly.”
Elias looked at the initials.
E.G.
Elias Grant.
His hands shook slightly.
Lucy noticed.
“He left it for you.”
“Maybe.”
Rachel instructed the deputy to note the item.
They sealed it in an evidence bag and arranged for a forensic copy.
Vanessa’s control finally slipped.
“You’re turning this house upside down because a dead man became paranoid.”
Lucy faced her.
“Don’t call him that.”
“What?”
“A dead man.”
Vanessa stared.
“He was my dad.”
For one second Vanessa looked almost human.
Almost.
Then the coldness returned.
“He was my husband.”
Lucy did not move.
“Then why are you acting like you won something?”
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa’s face went white.
Rachel quietly told Lucy to go upstairs with Margaret.
As Lucy left, she heard Elias say, “Rachel.”
Something in his voice made her turn.
He was looking at the bottom of the metal box.
There was another envelope hidden beneath the lining.
Rachel removed it.
On the front Daniel had written:
IF VANESSA PRODUCES A NEW WILL, OPEN THIS FIRST.
May you like
Vanessa stopped breathing.
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