Chapter 8 - The Key Beneath the Grave
The brass key opened a small box in the family cemetery.
Inside was a letter.
It was from Willa's mother.
She was alive when she wrote it.
The letter explained everything.
She had discovered that someone was stealing money from Everett's mother's foundation.
She had found proof.
But before she could expose them, she learned Willa had been targeted.
So she disappeared.
She left Willa with strangers and watched from a distance.
Every year, she sent money anonymously.
Every year, she checked whether Willa was safe.
Then came the final warning.
If Everett Kane ever falls unconscious, the people around him will try to take everything. Do not trust anyone who benefits from his silence.
Willa cried quietly.
Everett stood beside her.
“You never knew.”
“No.”
“And your mother knew my family.”
“Yes.”
He took her hand.
“You don't have to do this.”
Willa looked at him.
“I do.”
The letter contained one final clue.
A bank account number.
Everett traced it.
The account belonged to a private trust.
Its beneficiary was Clara Kane.
But there was something strange.
The trust had been created before Clara was supposedly born.
Everett stared at the paperwork.
“This isn't possible.”
Mason studied the documents.
“Unless Clara wasn't the original beneficiary.”
They checked the archived records.
The original name had been changed.
Someone had replaced it.
The original beneficiary was:
Willa Hayes.
Willa stopped breathing.
Everett looked at her.
His mother had not merely known Willa.
She had intended to protect her.
And possibly leave her something.
But why?
Then Everett found the final document.
A birth certificate.
Willa's father's name was listed.
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And beneath it was a name Everett recognized.
His own father.
