The Secret Beneath the Clock Tower
Chapter 4
They escaped through a side exit and didn’t stop until they reached a crowded market several blocks away.
Vivian was furious.
“You knew someone was following us.”
“I suspected.”
“You should have told me.”
“You wouldn’t have come.”
She hated that he was right.
Daniel handed her a photograph.
“This is why your father told you not to touch my stand.”
She stared at him.
“What does your stand have to do with the hotel?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why?”
“Because my father kept copies of important documents beneath it.”
Vivian looked toward the street.
“You’ve been protecting evidence under an umbrella stand?”
“For twenty-five years.”
“Why didn’t you give it to the police?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Because the last person my father trusted disappeared.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Vivian felt the world tilt.
“You’re saying my mother disappeared?”
“She died.”
“You just said disappeared.”
“Those aren’t always the same thing.”
Vivian stared at him.
Daniel opened his case again.
He removed a small cassette tape.
“I’ve kept this since I was sixteen.”
“What is it?”
“My father’s last recording.”
They found an old electronics shop nearby and borrowed a player.
Static filled the room.
Then a man’s voice.
Samuel Reed.
Vivian had never heard him before.
“Richard says the papers are safe.”
A pause.
“Elena doesn’t trust him anymore.”
Vivian closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
“If anything happens to me, the original deed is not in the hotel. It’s beneath the clock.”
The tape clicked.
Then another voice appeared.
Elena.
“Sam, you can’t keep doing this.”
Samuel answered.
“If Richard signs the agreement, they own everything.”
“They already own half.”
“Not legally.”
Vivian opened her eyes.
The recording ended.
She looked at Daniel.
“What agreement?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve had this for years.”
“My father died before he could tell me.”
“And you waited until now?”
“I didn’t know who to trust.”
“Why trust me?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because you’re the first Cole who looks like she doesn’t know the truth.”
That sentence stayed with Vivian.
They returned to the hotel separately.
Vivian went directly to her father’s office.
Richard was there.
She closed the door.
“Did you know Samuel Reed?”
He went still.
“Yes.”
“Did you know my mother worked with him?”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
“What were they investigating?”
Richard stood slowly.
“Vivian, there are things you don’t understand.”
“Then explain them.”
He looked older than he had yesterday.
“The hotel was built during a difficult time.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“But it’s the safest answer.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“Did my mother die in a car accident?”
Richard looked at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
“That is what the report says.”
Vivian felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could respond, his office phone rang.
Richard answered.
His face drained of color.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Vivian.
“Daniel Reed has been arrested.”
