Chapter 6 - The Basement Key
The brass key opened a door Nicole had never known existed.
The basement was larger than the finished recreation room suggested.
Behind built-in shelving was an old service corridor.
Daniel tried to stop her.
“Nicole, my father sealed that room.”
“You knew it existed.”
“Yes.”
“And never told me.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
Sweater Daniel laughed softly from behind Officer Ruiz.
“You thought wrong.”
Ruiz had reluctantly agreed to accompany them after seeing Monica’s original recording.
Not because she believed in doppelgängers.
Because potential financial fraud gave her a reason to stay involved.
Nicole unlocked the hidden door.
Cold air rushed outward.
The room beyond smelled of dust and metal.
Shelves held file boxes.
Old cameras faced a chair positioned before another mirror.
This one was covered with a black cloth.
Nicole stopped.
Daniel whispered, “Don’t uncover it.”
Sweater Daniel said, “He’s afraid.”
“Of course I’m afraid!”
Daniel spun toward him.
“You’re wearing my face!”
Sweater Daniel stepped closer.
“And you’re wearing my memories.”
Ruiz moved between them.
“Enough.”
Nicole examined the boxes.
Each was labeled by year.
Her heart accelerated.
“This year.”
She opened it.
Inside were recent documents.
Bank statements.
Company records.
Emails.
A contract.
At the top:
OPTION AGREEMENT FOR ACQUISITION OF 1147 BRIARWOOD LANE.
Their address.
Purchase price:
$3.8 million.
Buyer:
HELIX RESIDENTIAL CAPITAL.
Nicole looked at Daniel.
“You sold our house.”
“No.”
“You signed an option.”
“It’s conditional.”
“On what?”
Daniel remained silent.
Nicole read.
The option became exercisable upon default of Anderson Urban Renewal’s bridge loan.
The forged loan.
The house was not merely collateral.
The company’s failure would force a sale.
Judith’s name appeared as trustee consent.
Daniel’s signature appeared below it.
Nicole felt hollow.
“When were you going to tell me?”
“When I fixed it.”
Sweater Daniel spoke.
“You were never going to tell her.”
Daniel glared.
“Shut up.”
“You told Judith you’d move Nicole to Seattle and claim the sale was part of restructuring.”
Nicole turned slowly.
Daniel’s silence confirmed it.
Monica whispered, “Daniel.”
His shoulders collapsed.
“I was trying to protect her.”
Nicole’s laugh sounded broken.
“From knowing you were taking her home?”
“It’s not technically your—”
He stopped.
Too late.
Nicole stared.
“My what?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
She finished for him.
“Not technically my house?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is.”
Sweater Daniel looked at him with contempt.
“It’s exactly what you meant.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
Ruiz blocked them again.
Nicole opened another file.
Inside was a legal memorandum discussing the Anderson Family Preservation Trust.
The property had passed to Daniel through that trust.
But Thomas had amended it before his death.
Nicole read aloud.
“Any spouse lawfully married to an Anderson beneficiary and residing continuously at the property for five years acquires a fifty-percent beneficial interest.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Nicole looked up.
“We’ve lived there six years.”
“Yes.”
“So I do own half.”
“Yes.”
“Does the lender know?”
Daniel said nothing.
Nicole read further.
Any encumbrance required written consent of both beneficial owners.
Which explained the forged signature.
Monica muttered, “He couldn’t mortgage it without you.”
Nicole turned another page.
There was a handwritten note from Thomas.
Judith will try to suppress this amendment. Keep duplicate copy behind lower mirror.
Nicole stared at Daniel.
“Your mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Daniel said nothing.
Sweater Daniel answered.
“He found out four months ago.”
Nicole looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because he knows.”
Sweater Daniel touched his own chest.
“And I know what he knew at 10:42 last night.”
Nicole’s skin prickled.
“Why 10:42?”
Sweater Daniel looked toward the covered mirror.
“That’s when he stood in this room.”
Doorway Daniel said, “No.”
Nicole’s head snapped toward him.
Sweater Daniel continued.
“He came down here before driving to the office.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“He looked into that mirror and said he would tell you everything when he came home.”
Nicole felt the air leave her lungs.
Sweater Daniel stepped closer.
“He promised.”
Daniel whispered, “Stop.”
“But when he drove away, Judith called.”
Nicole stared at her husband.
Sweater Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“She told him the lender would withdraw if Nicole learned about the trust amendment.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And he decided to lie again.”
The covered mirror trembled.
Nobody touched it.
Ruiz reached instinctively toward her weapon.
Nicole stared at the black cloth.
Something beneath it pressed outward.
The shape of a human hand.
Then another.
Five fingers against the fabric.
From behind the mirror came Thomas Anderson’s dead voice.
“Daniel.”
Both Daniels turned white.
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The voice whispered again.
“You promised.”
