Chapter 12 - THE SECOND LOCK
The brass key had opened Locker 17.
But Charles claimed there was another lock.
Rebecca examined the key again.
An engraving ran along its narrow edge.
So small nobody had noticed.
H.M. 1912.
Hayes Manor had been built in 1912.
The abandoned family estate.
Jonathan stared.
“The chapel.”
A private stone chapel stood on the property.
His grandfather once told him every Hayes heir was baptized there.
Beneath the altar was a family vault.
The key likely opened something inside.
Police surrounded the estate secretly.
Jonathan insisted on entering.
Rebecca refused.
Rachel surprised everyone.
“I’m going.”
Jonathan turned.
“No.”
“Charles destroyed eight years of my life.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not going.”
“He wants the key.”
“I’ll take it.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“And if he asks something only I know?”
Jonathan had no answer.
Emma remained with Laura and Evelyn at a secure location.
Before Rachel left, Emma hugged her.
“Come back.”
Rachel smiled.
“I will.”
“You promise?”
Rachel looked at Jonathan.
Then back at her daughter.
“Yes.”
Emma handed her something.
A strip of blue fabric torn from her old dress.
The one she had worn while pushing the wheelbarrow.
“For luck.”
Rachel tied it around her wrist.
At Hayes Manor, Jonathan and Rachel entered the chapel.
Grant waited outside with police.
Charles stood near the altar.
Alone.
He looked older than Jonathan remembered.
Not frightened.
Almost relieved.
“You brought Rachel.”
Charles smiled.
“I always knew she would survive.”
Rachel’s eyes hardened.
“You tried very hard to make sure I didn’t.”
Charles ignored that.
“The key.”
Jonathan held it up.
“First tell me where the lock is.”
Charles gestured toward the altar.
Behind it sat an old wooden prayer bench.
Jonathan moved it.
A brass plate appeared in the floor.
Keyhole.
Jonathan inserted the key.
The plate opened.
Beneath it lay a steel box.
Inside were original trust documents.
Original financial ledgers.
And Evelyn’s missing recording.
Charles smiled.
“My father kept insurance against me.”
Jonathan frowned.
“Your father knew?”
“He knew enough.”
Rachel opened another envelope.
A letter from Jonathan’s grandfather.
It documented years of suspicious financial activity.
He intended to remove Charles from control.
He died before he could.
Charles inherited everything.
Rebecca entered from the side door.
“Enough.”
Charles smiled.
“I wondered how long you’d wait.”
Police emerged.
Charles raised his hands.
Then laughter echoed through the chapel.
“You think this ends with me?”
Jonathan stared.
Charles looked at Grant outside.
“No.”
“It ends with him.”
Grant’s face changed.
Then a gunshot shattered the chapel windows.
Charles collapsed.
Rachel screamed.
Police dove for cover.
Jonathan pulled Rachel behind the altar.
Outside, Grant stood frozen.
A rifle shot had come from the tree line.
Rebecca shouted—
“Shooter!”
May you like
And while everyone searched the woods—
Charles Hayes disappeared through a hidden passage beneath the altar.
