Chapter 5 - THE MAN WITH THE SCAR
Gabriel moved Lucas to Elaine's house that night.
They did not tell Candice.
They did not tell anyone except Marcus.
The next morning, the police searched Gabriel's house.
They found no intruder.
But they found something else.
A hidden listening device.
It had been installed beneath the kitchen table.
Marcus held it up.
“Someone has been listening to you.”
Gabriel looked at Lucas.
The boy had been eating breakfast in that kitchen.
Talking.
Crying.
Calling his father.
Someone had heard everything.
Marcus continued searching.
They found a second device in the garage.
A third in the bedroom.
Gabriel felt his stomach turn.
“Candice installed them?”
“Maybe.”
“Who else?”
Marcus didn't answer.
That afternoon, Elaine brought a stack of documents.
“I found something.”
Gabriel looked up.
“What?”
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Candice.
But she wasn't Candice.
The photograph was dated seven years earlier.
The woman standing beside Richard Vincent had a different name.
Marissa Cole.
Gabriel stared at the image.
Same eyes.
Same scar beneath the left eyebrow.
Same face.
Different name.
Elaine said:
“She legally changed her name after Marissa Cole died.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Why?”
“That’s what we need to find out.”
They contacted the insurance company.
At first, the representative refused to speak.
Then Marcus presented the police investigation.
The company released records.
Six years earlier, Clara's life insurance policy had been modified.
A new beneficiary had been added.
A woman named Marissa Cole.
Gabriel stared at the paperwork.
“I never authorized this.”
Marcus pointed to the signature.
“Forgery.”
Gabriel looked at the date.
The modification had occurred three weeks before Clara died.
He felt sick.
“Was Clara dying already?”
“Yes.”
“And Candice knew.”
Elaine found another document.
This one was from a hospital security report.
A woman named Marissa Cole had entered Clara's hospital room at 11:42 p.m.
She stayed for nineteen minutes.
No one knew why.
Gabriel remembered that night.
He had been home sleeping.
Clara had told him she wanted privacy.
He had respected that.
He had no idea someone had visited her.
Then Lucas spoke.
“Dad?”
Gabriel turned.
“Did Mom know her?”
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
“I think so.”
Lucas was silent.
Then he reached into his backpack.
“I have something.”
He pulled out a small envelope.
Gabriel recognized it immediately.
Clara's handwriting.
“Where did you get that?”
“Candice dropped it once.”
Gabriel opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Clara and another woman.
The woman was Marissa.
On the back, Clara had written:
She is not who she says she is.
Gabriel stared at the words.
Then he noticed something behind the photograph.
A second image.
It showed Richard Vincent.
And a third man.
The man with the scar.
On the back of that photograph were three words:
They know about us.
Gabriel's hands began shaking.
“Who is the third man?”
Marcus studied the photograph.
Then his expression changed.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked at Gabriel.
“His name is Thomas Reed.”
“What does he do?”
Marcus lowered the photograph.
“He used to work for Richard Vincent.”
“Used to?”
“He disappeared eight years ago.”
Gabriel looked toward the door.
A car had just pulled into Elaine's driveway.
The man stepped out.
Scar across his cheek.
Gabriel immediately grabbed Lucas.
“Get down.”
The man walked toward the house.
Then he stopped.
He looked directly at the window.
And held up a photograph.
Gabriel recognized it.
It was a picture of Clara.
May you like
Thomas Reed smiled.
Then he turned and walked away.
