Chapter 5: The Name on the Airplane
“That's impossible.””
Richard's voice was barely above a whisper.
Claudia shook her head.
“I know what you think.””
“My brother is dead.””
“I know.””
“Then don't say his name.””
Mark looked sick.
Emily sat on the cot with both hands clasped together.
Richard stared at all three of them.
“Tell me exactly what you mean.””
Mark swallowed.
“Elias wasn't paying me.””
Richard moved toward him.
“You just said there was money.””
“I said I received money.””
“From whom?””
Mark looked toward Claudia.
Richard slammed his palm against the wooden shelf beside him.
“Look at me.””
Mark did.
Richard's voice dropped.
“From whom?””
Mark whispered:
“An attorney.””
Richard froze.
“What attorney?””
“Someone acting for Elias’s estate.””
Richard stared.
“My brother died without an estate.””
“He had one.””
“No.””
Emily spoke quietly.
“He had one.””
Richard turned toward her.
“How do you know?””
“Because I found the trust documents.””
Richard said nothing.
Emily reached beneath the cot and pulled out a battered folder.
The cover was stained.
Several pages had been torn out.
She handed it to him.
Richard opened it.
The first page contained a name.
ELIAS BELLACORTE FAMILY ASSET TRUST.
Richard's hands tightened.
“This wasn't disclosed.””
Emily nodded.
“Because someone hid it.””
Richard scanned the page.
There were account numbers.
Property names.
Investment holdings.
Then he saw something that made his heart stop.
A beneficiary.
NOAH MATTHEWS.
Richard stared.
“Noah?””
Emily nodded.
“Elias named Noah before he died.””
Mark said nothing.
Richard looked up.
“Why?””
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Because he knew what Mark was.””
Richard looked at his son.
Mark shook his head.
“He didn't.””
“You knew about this trust,” Richard said.
Mark stayed silent.
“You knew my brother left money to Noah.””
“Yes.””
“How much?””
Mark didn't answer.
Richard read the figure himself.
Thirty-eight million dollars.
The basement went silent.
Claudia sat down hard on the bottom stair.
Richard's face turned cold.
“So that's why.””
Claudia looked up.
Richard continued.
“That is why you needed Noah away from me.””
No response.
“That is why you kept his mother imprisoned.””
Nothing.
“That is why you wanted the airplane gone.””
Mark suddenly looked up.
“Dad—”
Richard held up the wooden airplane.
“Noah made this.””
Mark stared at it.
Richard turned it over.
The tiny carving beneath the wing caught the flashlight.
NOAH FORGAVE.
Richard touched the letters.
Then he noticed something else.
A seam.
Almost invisible.
Along the fuselage.
He pressed it.
Nothing.
Pressed again.
A tiny panel popped open.
Inside was a rolled piece of paper.
Mark rushed forward.
“Dad, don't!””
Richard pulled it out.
It was a photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Two men stood on a mountain overlook.
Richard.
Elias.
Both young.
Both laughing.
On the back was handwriting.
Richard recognized it instantly.
His brother’s handwriting.
He read it aloud.
“Rich, if you're holding this, then they succeeded in keeping us apart.””
Richard’s eyes burned.
He turned the paper over.
There was more.
“I don't trust Mark.””
Richard stopped.
Mark went white.
The basement seemed to shrink.
Richard continued reading.
“I don't trust Claudia either.””
Claudia covered her mouth.
“If anything happens to me, Noah is the only one who must receive what I built.””
Richard's breathing slowed.
Then came the final line.
“Do not let Richard believe I died by accident.””
Richard lowered the photograph.
Nobody moved.
Emily whispered:
“He was murdered.””
Richard looked at her.
“Who told you that?””
“I found the coroner's report.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“You knew?””
“I suspected.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Emily looked toward Mark.
“Because the day I confronted him, he locked me downstairs.””
Richard slowly turned to his son.
Mark was crying now.
Not loudly.
Just tears running down his face.
Richard had never seen his son cry like that.
But it did not move him.
“Who killed Elias?””
Mark shook his head.
“I didn't.””
Richard stepped closer.
“Did Claudia?””
“No.””
Claudia cried out.
“Richard, we never—”
Richard cut her off.
“Then who?””
Neither answered.
Then footsteps sounded above them.
Fast.
Heavy.
Someone was coming down the stairs.
Richard turned toward the basement entrance.
A man appeared in the doorway.
Black coat.
Snow on his shoulders.
Late forties.
He carried a leather briefcase.
He looked directly at Richard.
Then at Mark.
Then at the wooden airplane.
His face changed.
“You found it.””
Richard stared.
“Who are you?””
The man placed the briefcase on the floor.
“My name is Daniel Royce.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Attorney?””
Daniel nodded.
“I represent the Elias Bellacorte Trust.””
Richard looked at Mark.
Daniel continued.
“And I came here tonight because Elias left very specific instructions.””
Richard's grip tightened around the airplane.
“What instructions?””
Daniel opened the briefcase.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Richard's name was written across it.
Daniel handed it over.
Richard broke the seal.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
Seven words.
His brother's final message.
Richard read it once.
Then again.
Then he looked up.
“What does this mean?””
Daniel’s expression was grave.
“I think you're about to find out.””
Richard handed him the letter.
Daniel read the final line aloud.
“‘The boy who gave you the airplane knows where the money is.’”
Everyone turned toward Noah.
He stood at the top of the basement stairs.
Barefoot.
Wrapped in Richard's coat.
And for the first time that night, the little boy was no longer crying.
He was looking directly at Daniel.
May you like
Then he whispered one sentence that made Mark collapse into the wall.
“Grandpa… Elias told me not to tell Daddy.””