CHAPTER 6 — THE LAWYER'S SHOCKING CONFESSION
I drove straight to Daniel Reeves' office.
The photograph was clenched so tightly in my hand that its edges had begun to bend.
His receptionist smiled politely.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Reeves isn't seeing anyone today."
I pushed past her.
He looked up from his desk.
The moment he saw the photograph...
The color drained from his face.
He didn't ask where I got it.
He already knew.
Quietly, he locked the office door.
"You opened the safe deposit box."
It wasn't a question.
I slammed the photograph onto his desk.
"You lied to me."
He lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
"You knew my father."
"...Yes."
"You knew Evelyn raised me from the shadows."
"...Yes."
"You knew the court stole me from her."
His voice cracked.
"Yes."
For several seconds...
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, Daniel removed his glasses.
"I've waited twenty years for this conversation."
He opened a drawer and removed an old cassette player.
"This recording was made the night before Evelyn changed her will."
He pressed PLAY.
Static filled the room.
Then Evelyn's familiar voice appeared.
Calm.
Gentle.
Certain.
"Daniel..."
"If Jacob is hearing this..."
"Then he finally knows enough to be angry."
She paused.
"Please tell him something I could never say while I was alive."
Daniel closed his eyes.
He had heard these words before.
Many times.
"His father never abandoned him."
Every muscle in my body tightened.
"He spent seventeen years searching."
My heart stopped.
"The letters he wrote Jacob were intercepted."
Another pause.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
"Judge Whitmore accepted two million dollars to terminate my guardianship... and to convince Jacob's father that I had disappeared with the child."
I could barely breathe.
Daniel stopped the tape.
"I wanted to tell you years ago."
"So why didn't you?"
He looked at the framed family photo on his desk.
"Because they threatened my wife."
"My daughters."
"They told me if I spoke..."
"...my family would disappear too."
For the first time since meeting him...
I realized Daniel hadn't been protecting himself.
He had been surviving.
Just as I once had.
Then he handed me the final document from the safe deposit box.
It was a certified copy of a federal investigation.
Across the top, stamped in bold red letters, were the words:
CONFIDENTIAL — NOT RELEASED
Attached to it was a handwritten note from Evelyn.
Jacob...
Your father is alive.
He never stopped looking for you.
And if you're reading this...
He's in more danger now than ever before.
Before I could ask another question...
Daniel's office windows suddenly exploded inward.
Glass rained across the floor.
A black SUV screeched to a stop outside.
Three masked men jumped out.
One shouted only four chilling words.
"Get the documents!"
Daniel shoved the file into my hands.
His final scream echoed through the office.
"RUN, JACOB! DON'T LET THEM FINISH WHAT THEY STARTED!"
I didn't think.
I ran.
And for the first time in my life...
I realized I wasn't chasing an inheritance anymore.
May you like
I was running for the truth...
And someone was willing to kill to keep it buried.
