Chapter 14 - Wren Heard Them Talking at MidnightWren had heard more than anyone realized.
Children often did.
Adults simply mistook silence for absence.
That night, Mallory sat beside her on the bed.
“Think carefully. Did you ever see Celeste take something from Grandpa’s office?”
Wren nodded almost immediately.
“A card.”
Mallory’s chest tightened.
“What card?”
“The one with the sailboat.”
Edward loved sailboats.
The birthday card had one on the front.
“When?”
“Last week.”
“Did she put it back?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Wren shrugged.
“I didn’t know it mattered.”
Mallory kissed her forehead.
“That’s okay.”
Wren hesitated.
“What if I remember something bad?”
“You tell me.”
“What if Grandma gets in trouble?”
Mallory paused.
This was the hardest part.
She refused to make Wren responsible for consequences.
“If Grandma gets in trouble, it will be because of choices Grandma made. Not because you told the truth.”
Wren absorbed that.
Then she whispered:
“I heard them fighting.”
“Who?”
“Grandma and Celeste.”
“When?”
“The night before the party.”
Mallory straightened.
“What time?”
“Really late.”
“Where?”
“Grandpa’s office.”
“What were they saying?”
Wren thought.
“Celeste said Grandma was changing the deal.”
Mallory’s pulse increased.
“What deal?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything else?”
“She said, ‘That’s not what we agreed.’”
“And Grandma?”
“She said, ‘You’ll get your money.’”
Mallory waited.
“Then Celeste said…”
Wren stopped.
“What?”
“She said, ‘It isn’t about the money anymore.’”
Mallory’s skin prickled.
“What did Grandma say?”
“She asked what Celeste wanted.”
“And?”
Wren stared toward the closed bedroom door.
“Celeste said she wanted the letter.”
Cecilia’s letter.
“What else?”
“Grandma said she didn’t have it.”
“And Celeste?”
“She said Grandpa wouldn’t destroy it.”
Mallory felt dread settle.
“Then what happened?”
“They got quieter.”
“Can you remember any words?”
Wren closed her eyes.
Mallory waited.
Finally:
“Something about a safe.”
Mallory froze.
“A safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Grandpa have one?”
Wren shrugged.
Mallory knew of no safe in the house.
Edward had a bank safe-deposit box, but Gregory had inventoried it after his death.
Nothing from Cecilia.
“Anything else?”
Wren nodded.
“Celeste said, ‘If Mallory sees that letter, Bernice, you lose everything.’”
Mallory’s throat tightened.
“What did Grandma say?”
“She said, ‘Mallory will never see it.’”
The room seemed to shrink.
That statement told Mallory something Bernice had denied.
Bernice knew where the letter was.
Or knew what it contained.
Maybe both.
“What did Celeste say after that?”
Wren looked worried.
“She laughed.”
“And?”
“She said…”
Wren lowered her voice.
“‘Then you better hope we close before she comes home.’”
Mallory stood.
Everything had been timed.
Her Denver trip.
Elsie’s party.
The signature.
The closing.
Bernice expected the house sold before Mallory had time to ask questions.
“Mom?”
Mallory turned.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
It was a lie.
But a temporary one.
She kissed Wren goodnight and entered Edward’s study.
Safe.
Where would Edward hide one?
She searched the obvious places.
Desk.
Bookcase.
Closet.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something from childhood.
Edward kept emergency cash behind a removable panel in the basement utility room.
Mallory went downstairs.
The basement had been renovated years ago, but the utility room remained mostly unchanged.
She found the old panel.
No safe.
Only pipes.
She checked storage boxes.
Nothing.
At 1:00 a.m., she nearly gave up.
Then she noticed a framed black-and-white photograph of Edward and Cecilia leaning against a shelf.
Not hanging.
Leaning.
Why was it in the basement?
Mallory picked it up.
The frame was unusually heavy.
She removed the backing.
Behind the photograph was a brass key.
Her pulse jumped.
Attached to it was a faded label.
B-17.
Bank box?
Storage?
She took a photograph and sent it to Gregory.
He replied almost immediately.
Edward had a second safe-deposit box at First Prairie Bank. I didn’t know it remained active. B-17 may be it. Call me in morning.
Mallory stared at the key.
Behind her, the basement stair creaked.
She turned.
Bernice stood at the bottom.
Her face was white.
“Where did you get that?”
Mallory closed her fist around the key.
“Dad’s photograph.”
Bernice took one step closer.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what’s in that box.”
“No.”
Mallory stared at her.
“But you do.”
Bernice’s eyes filled with something Mallory had never seen before.
Panic.
“Mallory.”
“What did Cecilia write?”
Bernice shook her head.
“You do not want to know.”
“That stopped working on me years ago. I just didn’t realize it.”
Bernice’s voice cracked.
“If you open that box, you will destroy what is left of this family.”
Mallory looked at the key in her hand.
Then back at her mother.
“Maybe the truth didn’t destroy this family.”
May you like
She stepped past Bernice.
“Maybe all the lies did.”
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