Chapter 12 - THE FILE MADeline LEFT BEHIND
The next morning, Marcus arrived before sunrise.
He carried a thin black folder.
"I found this in the foundation archives."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Madeline.
She was standing beside a man I'd never seen before.
On the back, she had written:
If anything happens to me, find him.
Below the photograph was a name.
Jonathan Vale.
I looked at Marcus.
"Who is he?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
"Former federal investigator."
"Former?"
"He disappeared from the public record eleven years ago."
I turned another page.
There were financial records.
Property transfers.
Private security contracts.
And one recurring name.
Patricia.
But then I saw something that made my stomach drop.
My own signature appeared on three of the documents.
I stared at it.
"I never signed these."
Marcus nodded.
"That's why I brought them."
Someone had forged my signature.
And whoever did it hadn't just stolen money.
They had transferred ownership of several properties connected to my family.
Including a piece of land where Madeline's memorial foundation had been built.
I looked at the date.
The transfer had happened six months before her death.
"Why would someone do this?"
Marcus pointed to the final page.
"Because that property contains something."
"What?"
"A private underground archive."
I looked up.
"Where?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"Under your old house."
The house where Madeline and I had lived before the girls were born.
The house I had refused to visit since her death.
Suddenly, I understood why Patricia had never wanted me to sell it.
May you like
She hadn't been protecting the property.
She had been protecting whatever was hidden beneath it.
