Chapter 2 - Box 314
Rachel did not tell Vanessa about the key.
She and Caleb spent that night at a budget motel.
Caleb blamed himself.
“If I didn't break it, we'd still have a house.”
Rachel sat beside him.
“That wasn't our house.”
“Aunt Vanessa said it was.”
Rachel looked at her injured hand.
“I'm beginning to wonder.”
The next morning she called three banks near her mother's old neighborhood.
Nothing.
The fourth had a safe-deposit box numbered 314.
The account holder was Evelyn Mercer.
Authorized secondary holder:
Rachel Elizabeth Mercer.
Not Vanessa.
Rachel drove there with an attorney assigned by the bank present for access verification.
Inside the box were no diamonds.
No cash.
Just documents.
A photograph.
A flash drive.
And a handwritten envelope.
FOR RACHEL.
Rachel opened the letter first.
Sweetheart,
If you're reading this, Vanessa has finally made the mistake I was afraid she would make.
Rachel stopped.
Her mother had predicted this?
The letter continued.
The house is not Vanessa's.
Rachel's pulse quickened.
Neither is the money she thinks came with it.
The property belonged to the Mercer Family Residential Trust.
Evelyn had been allowed to live there for life.
After her death, control did not pass automatically to either daughter.
Rachel found the trust document.
Successor beneficiary:
Rachel Elizabeth Mercer.
She read it twice.
The mansion belonged to a trust for her benefit.
Why had Vanessa been living there?
Then Rachel found an amendment.
Temporary occupancy rights granted to Vanessa Hale for twelve months following Evelyn's death.
Twelve months.
Eleven had already passed.
Vanessa was not the owner.
She was a temporary occupant.
Rachel kept reading.
A second clause made her stomach tighten.
Vanessa's occupancy terminated immediately if she intentionally removed Rachel or Caleb from the property while either was experiencing financial hardship.
Rachel stared.
Her mother had anticipated Vanessa throwing them out.
Why?
Then she opened the photograph.
Evelyn stood beside the antique vase.
Next to her was a man Rachel didn't recognize.
On the back:
Daniel Mercer — 1998.
Rachel knew the name Mercer.
It was Evelyn's maiden name.
But Evelyn had always said she had no siblings.
Then Rachel noticed the man was holding the same wooden airplane Caleb had been playing with when the vase broke.
Rachel's blood went cold.
That airplane had belonged to Rachel's late husband, Michael.
Or at least that was what she'd been told.
She called Vanessa.
Her sister answered immediately.
“What?”
Rachel kept her voice calm.
“Who is Daniel Mercer?”
Silence.
Then:
“Where did you hear that name?”
Rachel looked at the key.
“Answer me.”
Vanessa hung up.
Five minutes later, Rachel received a text.
DO NOT GO BACK TO THE HOUSE.
Rachel stared at it.
Then another arrived.
PLEASE, RACHEL.
May you like
For the first time since the vase shattered, Vanessa did not sound angry.
She sounded terrified.
