Chapter 8: The Woman in the Photograph
Aaliyah forgot how to breathe.
“My mother?””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“No.””
The word came out of Aaliyah before she could stop it.
“My mother died three years ago.””
“I know.””
“Then why did you say her name?””
“Because she knew about the foundation.””
Aaliyah stared at him.
“What foundation?””
“The one that funded your scholarship.””
“You said you didn't fund it.””
“I didn't.””
“Then what did Mom have to do with it?””
Marcus sat down.
Aaliyah remained standing.
She couldn't bring herself to sit.
For years, her mother's death had been a sealed room in the family.
They talked about her.
They remembered her.
But there were certain doors they never opened.
Her mother, Renee, had been an accountant.
Sharp.
Organized.
The kind of woman who could look at a restaurant bill and notice a five-dollar mistake.
Aaliyah remembered her mother teaching her to balance a checkbook when she was twelve.
“Numbers don't lie,” Renee had said.
“People do,” Aaliyah had replied.
Renee had smiled.
“That's why you check the numbers.””
Now Aaliyah looked at her father.
“What did Mom know?””
Marcus rubbed his palms together.
“She discovered something before she died.””
“What?””
“She believed money was being moved through several nonprofit organizations.””
Dana stepped closer.
“When?””
“About four years ago.””
Aaliyah frowned.
“That was before she died.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because she asked me not to.””
Aaliyah's voice broke.
“She asked you?””
“Yes.””
“What exactly did she say?””
Marcus looked down.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I was supposed to keep you away from the investigation.””
Aaliyah's eyes filled.
“Did she know she was in danger?””
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
“She wouldn't tell me.””
“You were her husband.””
“I know.””
“Then how could you not know?””
Marcus looked at her.
“Because your mother was trying to protect you too.””
Aaliyah turned away.
Dana spoke gently.
“Do you have anything your wife left behind?””
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.””
“What?””
“A storage box.””
“Where?””
“My office.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
“You kept it there?””
“For three years.””
“And never opened it?””
“I opened it once.””
“What was inside?””
“Her old accounting files.””
“Anything about the foundation?””
Marcus nodded.
“There was a notebook.””
Aaliyah's heart raced.
“Where is it?””
Marcus stood.
“I don't know.””
“What do you mean?””
“It disappeared six months ago.””
Aaliyah stared.
“The same time everything else started.””
“Yes.””
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course.””
Marcus's phone buzzed.
A text from Dana.
*Don't go to the office.*
Marcus looked up.
“Why?””
Dana showed him a security alert.
Someone had entered the Carter & Associates building.
Using Marcus's credentials.
At 8:41 p.m.
Marcus checked the time.
8:44.
“They're there now.””
Harris immediately reached for his radio.
“Units to Carter & Associates. Possible unauthorized access.””
Aaliyah looked at Marcus.
“Your office has cameras.””
“Yes.””
“Can we see them?””
Dana pulled out her laptop.
Within seconds, she accessed the security feed.
The hallway outside Marcus's office appeared.
Empty.
Then the elevator doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Dark jacket.
Baseball cap.
He walked directly toward Marcus's office.
Aaliyah leaned closer.
“Can you zoom in?””
Dana did.
The man's face remained partly hidden.
But his walk was familiar.
Marcus stared.
“Evan.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
“That's him?””
“Yes.””
Evan reached Marcus's office.
Entered a code.
The door opened.
Aaliyah frowned.
“Why does he know the code?””
Marcus went still.
“He shouldn't.””
Evan entered.
The camera angle changed.
He moved toward a cabinet.
Opened it.
Pulled out a box.
Marcus stood.
“My wife's box.””
Harris said, “We need to get there.””
The feed suddenly froze.
Then the screen went black.
Aaliyah's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
*Too late.*
Another message.
*He found what your father buried.*
Aaliyah looked at Marcus.
“What did you bury?””
Marcus shook his head.
“Nothing.””
“You just told me Evan is in your office looking through Mom's box.””
“I never buried anything.””
“Then why would someone say that?””
Marcus looked at the screen.
“I don't know.””
Aaliyah's anger returned.
“That's your answer for everything.””
He looked at her.
“What do you want me to say?””
“The truth.””
“I am telling you the truth.””
“Then tell me what was in Mom's notebook.””
Marcus was silent.
Aaliyah's voice became sharper.
“You said you opened it.””
“Yes.””
“What did you see?””
“Names.””
“Whose names?””
“People at the university.””
“Which people?””
“Reed.””
Aaliyah's heart dropped.
“Evan?””
“Yes.””
“Who else?””
Marcus hesitated.
Then he whispered,
“Someone from the scholarship foundation.””
“Who?””
“I don't remember.””
“You don't remember?””
“It was three years ago.””
Aaliyah stared at him.
“You remembered Reed and Evan.””
“I remember the names.””
“Then you remember the third.””
Marcus looked away.
Aaliyah understood.
“You're lying again.””
“I’m not.””
“You are.””
He finally said,
“Her name was Angela.””
“Angela who?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Dana looked at him.
“Angela what?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Angela Price.””
Aaliyah froze.
“Price?””
“Evan's wife.””
Silence.
Tasha whispered, “Oh my God.””
Aaliyah slowly pieced it together.
“Your CFO's wife worked for the scholarship foundation.””
“Yes.””
“And Mom discovered something.””
“Yes.””
“And Evan was involved.””
“We don't know that.””
“But he was in Mom's box tonight.””
Marcus said nothing.
Aaliyah walked toward him.
“Dad.””
He looked at her.
“Did Mom think Evan was stealing money?””
Marcus's silence answered.
Aaliyah's eyes filled.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“For three years?””
“No.””
“Then when?””
Marcus looked exhausted.
“Six months ago.””
“When Evan left?””
“Yes.””
Aaliyah shook her head.
“So you knew something connected Mom's old investigation to the money missing from your company.””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it's true.””
“It isn't protection if you leave me defenseless against the truth.””
Marcus looked at her.
“I was afraid.””
The admission stunned her.
Her father was rarely afraid of anything.
“What were you afraid of?””
“Losing you.””
Aaliyah's eyes softened.
“You thought telling me would put me in danger.””
“Yes.””
“You should have trusted me.””
“I know.””
Before she could answer, the security feed returned.
The image flickered.
Evan was back on screen.
He was holding the notebook.
Marcus stood completely still.
Evan looked directly into the camera.
Then he raised the notebook.
He mouthed something.
Dana froze the frame.
“What did he say?””
Aaliyah stared at his lips.
She whispered,
“Your father knows.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then Evan held up one final page.
There was a photograph attached.
Dana zoomed in.
Aaliyah's breath caught.
It was a picture of her mother.
Renee.
Standing outside the university scholarship foundation.
Beside her was a woman Aaliyah had never seen.
The timestamp was dated three months before Renee died.
Aaliyah stared at the woman.
Something about her face felt familiar.
“Who is that?””
Marcus didn't answer.
“Dad?””
His face had gone white.
Dana looked at him.
“You know her.””
Marcus whispered,
“Yes.””
“Who is she?””
Marcus looked at Aaliyah.
“Your mother wasn't meeting a stranger.””
Aaliyah waited.
“She was meeting your aunt.””
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
“My aunt?””
Marcus nodded.
“Her sister.””
Aaliyah shook her head.
“I don't have an aunt.””
Marcus's voice broke.
“You did.””
Aaliyah stared.
“What happened to her?””
Marcus looked at the photograph.
“She disappeared twenty-two years ago.””
The lights in the apartment suddenly went out.
Everyone froze.
A second later, Aaliyah's phone illuminated with a new message.
*Ask your father why your aunt disappeared.*
Then another message appeared.
*And ask him who raised her daughter.*
Aaliyah's hands went cold.
She looked at Marcus.
“Her daughter?””
Marcus didn't move.
“Dad…”
He stared at her.
May you like
And finally, he said,
“That's the part your mother never wanted you to know.””