Part 18
“You found it,” Jenna whispered, rushing over to stand beside me, her eyes wide as she looked at the digital keypad of the hidden safe.
“The problem is the code,” I said, staring at the glowing blue numbers. “Patricia changes her passwords every month. It could be anything.”
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the study slammed shut behind us with a loud, echoing bang.
We both spun around in shock.
Standing by the door, holding a heavy iron fireplace poker from the hallway, was my father.
His eyes were bloodshot, his tie torn open, and his clothing completely disheveled. He looked unstable, a man pushed entirely over the edge of sanity.
“You just couldn't leave it alone, could you, Myra?” he spat, his voice trembling with a terrifying mixture of rage and desperation. “You had to take everything. My position, my money, my reputation... you ruined it all in a single day!”
“Dad, put the poker down,” I said, stepping in front of Jenna to shield her, my voice remaining completely calm despite the adrenaline surging through my veins. “You’re drunk. You don't know what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing!” he shouted, taking a heavy step toward us, raising the iron weapon. “Patricia called me from the holding cell. She told me what you were looking for. She told me that if you found the files in the safe, we are all going to prison for the rest of our lives!”
A cold realization hit me. “You knew, didn't you? You knew about my mother’s car. You knew it wasn't an accident.”
My father stopped, his face twisting into a mask of pure anguish.
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“I didn't know until after it happened!” he cried out, tears finally streaming down his face. “Patricia told me a month later. She said it was done for us, for our future, so we could finally have the wealth we deserved! I was trapped, Myra! If I went to the police, I would have lost everything anyway! I had to protect the family!”
“You didn't protect the family, Dad,” I said, my voice dropping to a harsh, icy whisper. “You protected a murderer. You let the woman who killed my mother sleep in her bed.”
