Chapter 2 - The Brass KeyThe ambulance disappeared down the winding suburban road, its red lights reflecting against the windows of the mansion.
Liam stood on the porch, his fists clenched.
Behind him, police officers secured the house.
One officer approached.
"Who made the call?"
"I did."
"Your name?"
"Liam Vance."
The officer glanced toward the mansion.
"And the woman?"
"My wife."
He swallowed.
"She was eight months pregnant."
The officer's expression hardened.
"Dispatch said she was found inside a coffin."
"She was."
"Who put her there?"
Liam looked through the open doorway.
His mother was standing beneath the chandelier.
Nathan stood beside her.
Neither spoke.
Liam lowered his voice.
"My family."
Evelyn immediately stepped forward.
"My son is traumatized."
Her voice trembled perfectly.
"His wife suffered a medical emergency. He's confused."
Nathan nodded.
"We were preparing for the worst."
Liam stared at him.
"You were preparing to bury her."
The officer raised a hand.
"Everyone stays here."
Liam nodded.
But as the police moved toward Evelyn and Nathan, Liam slipped his hand into his pocket.
His fingers touched something small.
Brass.
The key Claire had given him weeks earlier.
She had told him:
"If anything happens to me, don't trust anyone in that house."
At the time, he had thought she was frightened.
Now he understood.
His father's office waited down the hall.
Liam walked toward it.
The mansion suddenly felt different.
Every portrait seemed to be watching him.
Every shadow looked like a warning.
He opened the oak door.
The smell of cedar and old tobacco filled the room.
His father had always kept this place locked.
Six months after his father's sudden death, Liam had never asked why.
Now he knew he should have.
Behind a sliding wooden panel was a hidden safe.
He inserted the brass key.
Click.
The steel door opened.
Inside were ledgers.
Legal documents.
Hard drives.
Audio recordings.
And one file that changed everything.
The label read:
VANCE LOGISTICS — ASSET REALLOCATION
Liam opened it.
His father's signature appeared on several documents.
But the ink looked wrong.
He compared it with an older contract.
The signatures were not the same.
Someone had forged them.
And the names beneath the transactions were unmistakable.
Nathan Vance.
Evelyn Vance.
Liam's blood ran cold.
Behind him, the door closed.
May you like
"Looking for answers, little brother?"
Nathan stood in the doorway.
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