Chapter 5 - Locker 317The key belonged to a private storage facility twenty minutes from the mansion.
Detective Ruiz obtained a warrant.
Beatrice was not permitted inside during the initial search, but later that afternoon Ruiz showed her photographs.
Locker 317 contained four plastic bins.
One suitcase.
A locked metal box.
And years of Reed family documents.
Beatrice felt violated simply looking at them.
Copies of tax returns.
Insurance policies.
Bank statements.
Birth certificates.
Property assessments.
Photographs of rooms inside the mansion.
Even a handwritten list of alarm codes.
Laura sat beside Beatrice in the kitchen as Ruiz described what officers had found.
Wesley remained upstairs.
Daniel was meeting with a criminal defense attorney.
The metal box contained $86,000 in cash.
The bills were bundled by year.
“Nadine was stealing long before Daniel transferred the $740,000,” Ruiz said.
“How long?” Laura asked.
“At least four years.”
Beatrice felt almost numb.
Ruiz showed them invoices from fake service companies.
Roof repairs that had never occurred.
Landscaping contracts billed twice.
Furniture purchases inflated by thousands.
Because Nadine had gradually become the household’s informal manager, Beatrice often signed monthly expense summaries without examining every line.
“I trusted her.”
Laura looked at her.
“We all did.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“No. I stopped looking.”
That distinction mattered.
Nadine had deceived them.
But Beatrice had made the deception easier.
Inside the suitcase, police found clothes and toiletries.
Everything a person might pack before disappearing.
There was also a prepaid phone.
Ruiz said forensic technicians were examining it.
“What about Wesley?” Laura asked.
Ruiz hesitated.
“We found something concerning.”
She showed them a printed map.
A route had been marked from the mansion to a vacant hunting cabin owned by Reed Heritage Development.
Daniel’s company maintained it as part of a rural property scheduled for sale.
Beatrice knew the place.
It was isolated.
Nearly ninety miles away.
Laura covered her mouth.
“She was taking him there.”
“We can’t prove that yet.”
“But the map—”
“Suggests it.”
Beatrice’s hands became cold.
Why?
Why take an eight-year-old child ninety miles away?
Ruiz answered the question Beatrice did not speak.
“We believe she wanted time to search the mansion without Wesley telling anyone what he had seen.”
“She could have threatened him.”
“She apparently did.”
“Then why move him?”
Ruiz looked toward the staircase.
“Because he had the USB drive, and she didn’t know where he put it.”
Beatrice understood.
Nadine had searched Wesley’s room.
She had failed.
So she intended to remove Wesley from the mansion, keep him somewhere isolated, and pressure him until he revealed where the drive was.
Laura stood.
“I need air.”
Beatrice followed her outside.
The SUV remained in police custody.
An empty rectangle on the driveway marked where it had stood.
Laura stared at that space.
“I thought Daniel was having an affair with her.”
Beatrice looked at her.
“What?”
“For months.”
Laura wiped her face.
“He was secretive. Taking calls outside. Nadine would disappear into his study after dinner. Every time I entered, they stopped talking.”
“Did you confront him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was imagining things.”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
Another lie.
Laura continued.
“I almost wish it had been an affair.”
Beatrice understood.
An affair would have devastated a marriage.
This had endangered a child.
Laura looked toward the mansion.
“I don’t know if I can stay married to him.”
“You don’t have to decide today.”
“I do have to decide what Wesley sees.”
Beatrice nodded.
That was the correct question.
Not what would save the Reed name.
Not what would preserve Daniel’s company.
What would Wesley see?
A family covering for his father?
Or adults finally choosing truth?
Ruiz stepped onto the porch.
“Mrs. Reed.”
Something in her expression had changed.
“What happened?”
“The prepaid phone from the storage locker just came online.”
Beatrice frowned.
“You said the police had it.”
“We do.”
“But it received a scheduled message.”
Ruiz held up a printed screenshot.
The message had apparently been set to deliver automatically if Nadine did not cancel it.
There were only nine words.
If I’m arrested, Daniel knows where the second box is.
Laura looked at Beatrice.
Beatrice looked toward the mansion.
May you like
Because Daniel had told them there was only one secret.
Now they knew he had lied again.
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