Chapter 16 - THE CABIN
Olivia survived the night.
Barely.
Doctors remained cautious.
But the movement in her fingers was real.
Lucy refused to leave until she saw it happen again.
Finally, just before dawn, Olivia squeezed her hand.
That was enough.
Federal agents drove Ethan, Lucy, and Robert to the cabin.
Mason stayed in the city coordinating with prosecutors.
The property stood beside a quiet lake in western Virginia.
Tall pines surrounded a small cedar house.
Lucy stepped from the vehicle.
“This belonged to Grandma Elizabeth?”
Ethan nodded.
“I used to come here when I was your age.”
Robert stood behind him.
“Your mother loved this place.”
Ethan glanced at him.
Robert rarely spoke about Elizabeth anymore.
Lucy walked to the porch.
“Did she know about me?”
The question stopped both men.
Robert answered.
“She died before you were born.”
“I know.”
Lucy turned.
“I mean, if she was alive, would she have wanted me?”
Ethan crossed the distance immediately.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she wanted me.”
Lucy looked confused.
Ethan smiled faintly.
“I was difficult.”
Robert almost laughed.
“That is an understatement.”
Lucy looked between them.
For one brief moment, they resembled a family.
Then reality returned.
Agents checked every room.
Ethan received updates from Mason.
Victoria had begun cooperating.
Partially.
She claimed Graham controlled the financial scheme.
She admitted paying Olivia.
She admitted helping intercept letters.
She denied ordering surveillance.
She denied sending Dana to the hospital.
Ethan believed almost none of it.
Lucy explored the cabin.
In an upstairs bedroom, she found a box of Ethan's childhood belongings.
Baseball cards.
School papers.
A broken toy truck.
Then an old photograph.
Elizabeth Pierce stood on the dock holding twelve-year-old Ethan.
Lucy brought it downstairs.
“You look weird.”
Ethan laughed.
“Thank you.”
“Your hair.”
“It was the nineties.”
“That isn't an excuse.”
Even Robert laughed.
Then Lucy pointed at Elizabeth.
“I look like her.”
Ethan stared.
She did.
Around the eyes.
The realization hit Robert especially hard.
He sat down.
Lucy noticed.
“Are you okay?”
Robert nodded.
“No.”
She sat across from him.
For several seconds, they remained silent.
Then Robert said.
“Your grandmother would be ashamed of me.”
Lucy studied him.
“Probably.”
Ethan nearly intervened.
Robert raised a hand.
“She is right.”
Lucy continued.
“But Mom says people can do something bad and still do something good later.”
Robert looked at her.
“Do you believe that?”
“I don't know.”
She shrugged.
“You have to do something good first.”
Robert started crying.
Lucy looked uncomfortable.
Then she handed him a tissue.
It wasn't forgiveness.
But it was more kindness than he deserved.
That afternoon, Mason called.
“We located Dana's vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned twenty miles from the hospital.”
“Any sign of her?”
“No.”
“Victoria?”
“She says Dana has access to multiple identities.”
“Great.”
“There is something else.”
Ethan stepped onto the porch.
“What?”
“Victoria claims Graham kept one final archive separate from the estate.”
“Where?”
“She doesn't know.”
“Convenient.”
“She says it contains records about judges, politicians, corporate executives.”
“Blackmail.”
“Yes.”
“Why tell us?”
“Because Graham threatened to destroy her with it too.”
Ethan looked across the lake.
“She's trying to save herself.”
“Obviously.”
Mason paused.
“But she gave us one useful detail.”
“What?”
“Graham used the phrase ‘Elizabeth's last room.’”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“He supposedly told Victoria the archive was hidden in Elizabeth's last room.”
Ethan turned toward the cabin.
His mother's final night before the crash had begun here.
He remembered something.
A room beneath the stairs.
Always locked.
His mother called it her writing room.
Ethan walked inside.
Robert saw his expression.
“What?”
“Where was Mom before she drove away the night she died?”
Robert stared at him.
“Here.”
Ethan looked toward the narrow door beneath the staircase.
He had not opened it since he was nineteen.
He crossed the room.
The old key still sat above the frame.
He inserted it.
The lock turned.
Dust filled the air.
Inside stood a desk.
Bookshelves.
One old lamp.
And a metal filing cabinet Ethan had never seen before.
Lucy came up beside him.
“Is that the last room?”
Ethan stared at the cabinet.
“I think so.”
Robert looked frightened.
Ethan pulled the first drawer.
Locked.
The second.
Locked.
The third opened.
Inside sat one envelope.
May you like
ETHAN.
In his mother's handwriting.
