Chapter 4 - The Landlord at Apartment 3B
Richard Keller recovered quickly.
Men who had spent years lying usually did.
His expression reset.
His shoulders relaxed.
He adjusted his tie.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You resemble someone.”
Lucy stared at him.
“Marianne Keller.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“My mother.”
Ethan moved closer.
“You know Lucy.”
“No.”
“You just said she was supposed to be dead.”
“I misspoke.”
“Interesting mistake.”
Richard glanced down the hallway.
Two maintenance workers stood near the stairwell.
Ethan noticed immediately.
So did Lucy.
Eleanor unlocked Apartment 3B.
Richard followed them inside.
“This inspection is meant to determine whether Mrs. Hayes can safely remain in the property.”
Ethan smiled without warmth.
“Great. Inspect.”
Richard looked at him.
“And you are?”
“Her grandson.”
That answer made Eleanor’s eyes fill.
Not pretend grandson.
Not hired help.
Her grandson.
Richard’s face stiffened.
“I was under the impression Mrs. Hayes had no family.”
“You were misinformed.”
“So it appears.”
He walked around the apartment making notes.
Loose cabinet hinge.
Old carpet.
A window that stuck.
Every issue Richard identified was something the landlord himself was legally responsible for repairing.
Ethan documented everything on his phone.
Richard noticed.
“I’d appreciate it if you stopped recording.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I enjoy home movies.”
Richard’s mouth tightened.
Lucy stayed near the living room window.
The apartment was full of photographs.
Not of her.
That hurt more than she expected.
Landscapes.
Church gatherings.
Friends.
A small dog.
Decades of life after Lucy vanished.
But on the mantel stood one empty silver frame.
Lucy touched it.
Eleanor saw.
“I kept your graduation picture there for fifteen years.”
“What happened?”
“Raymond came back.”
Lucy turned.
“When?”
“About twelve years ago.”
Ethan stopped recording Richard.
“What?”
Eleanor nodded.
“He appeared one night. Said he needed documents.”
“What documents?” Lucy asked.
“I didn’t know.”
Richard became very still.
Ethan saw it.
“So Raymond is alive.”
Eleanor sighed.
“He was twelve years ago.”
“And he took Lucy’s picture?”
“He smashed it.”
Lucy’s face hardened.
“What else?”
“He searched the apartment.”
Richard stepped forward.
“This has nothing to do with the inspection.”
Ethan smiled.
“Then you won’t mind us talking.”
Richard looked toward the door.
“I think we should reschedule.”
“No,” Eleanor said.
Everyone turned.
The fear that had defined her in the diner was gone.
She stood straighter now.
“You’ve been telling me for six months that I’m helpless because I have no one.”
She looked at Ethan.
“I have someone.”
Then Lucy.
“And apparently I always did.”
Richard picked up his folder.
“This meeting is over.”
Ethan blocked the doorway without touching him.
“Why do you want her apartment?”
“I own the building.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“Move.”
“Answer.”
Richard’s face darkened.
“You think tattoos and a leather jacket frighten me?”
Ethan leaned closer.
“No.”
His voice stayed calm.
“But the ledger from Daniel Maddox’s storage unit might.”
Richard froze.
Lucy saw it.
Eleanor saw it.
Ethan continued.
“Your mother’s name is all over it.”
Richard said nothing.
“St. Joseph’s Hospital too.”
Still nothing.
“Want to try the inspection again?”
Richard’s composure cracked.
“You have no idea what you’re touching.”
“Then explain it.”
Richard looked toward Eleanor.
“She should have left when I gave her the chance.”
Lucy stepped between them.
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s advice.”
“No,” Ethan said. “It sounded like a threat.”
Richard pushed past him.
Ethan let him go.
As the door slammed, Eleanor’s knees weakened.
Lucy caught her.
For a moment, mother and daughter stood holding each other.
Neither seemed to know what to do.
Then Eleanor whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Lucy’s face crumpled.
“For what?”
“For not finding you.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
“I didn’t find you either.”
That was the first crack in the wall between them.
Not forgiveness yet.
But something.
Ethan began searching the apartment.
“What are you doing?” Eleanor asked.
“If Richard wants this specific unit empty, there’s a reason.”
“It’s rent-controlled.”
“Maybe.”
He examined the walls.
The floor.
The closets.
Lucy joined him.
“Dad searched this place twelve years ago.”
“Exactly.”
“What if he already found whatever he wanted?”
“Then Keller wouldn’t still be interested.”
Eleanor looked toward the bedroom.
“There is one strange thing.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
“The floorboards beneath my bed.”
They moved the bed aside.
One floorboard was newer than the others.
Ethan crouched.
“When was this replaced?”
“I don’t know.”
He tapped it.
Hollow.
Lucy’s eyes widened.
Ethan used a screwdriver from his motorcycle kit.
The board lifted.
Beneath it was a narrow compartment.
Empty.
Almost.
There was a scrap of paper stuck along the side.
Ethan pulled it free.
A handwritten address.
And the initials D.M.
Lucy recognized Daniel’s handwriting again.
The address led to an old brick house forty minutes away.
Eleanor stared at it.
“I know that place.”
“What is it?”
“Raymond’s mother owned it.”
“Your mother-in-law?”
“She died before Lucy was born.”
“Who owns it now?”
Ethan searched county records.
The result surprised all of them.
A trust.
Maddox-Hayes Family Trust.
Lucy went pale.
“That’s not possible.”
Ethan looked deeper.
The trust had been created twenty-seven years earlier.
Beneficiary:
Ethan Daniel Maddox.
His heart stopped.
“What?”
Lucy looked over his shoulder.
Eleanor began to cry.
The property had been sitting in trust since Ethan’s birth.
Taxes paid automatically.
No occupants officially listed.
“Dad created this?” Lucy asked.
“Maybe Daniel did.”
Ethan searched the trustee.
The name returned:
Samuel Price, Attorney at Law.
Lucy remembered him.
“Daniel’s friend.”
“Alive?”
A quick search showed an eighty-one-year-old Samuel Price still practicing part-time two counties away.
Ethan called.
A receptionist answered.
When Ethan said his full name, the line went silent.
Then an older male voice came on.
“Say your name again.”
“Ethan Daniel Maddox.”
A long pause.
“I’ve been waiting twenty-seven years for this call.”
Ethan looked at Lucy.
“Mr. Price?”
“Yes.”
“Why is there a house in a trust under my name?”
“Because your father asked me to protect it.”
Lucy covered her mouth.
“Daniel?”
Samuel’s voice softened.
“Is Lucy there?”
Ethan put the call on speaker.
“Yes,” Lucy said.
The old attorney inhaled sharply.
“Lucy.”
She began crying.
“Sam?”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Everyone thought everyone was dead.”
Samuel was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “That was Raymond’s plan.”
Ethan’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You knew?”
“I knew pieces.”
“Then why didn’t you come find us?”
“I tried.”
Samuel’s voice broke.
“Raymond threatened my family. Then Daniel vanished. And the next thing I heard, Lucy and the baby had both died.”
Ethan paced.
“What’s at the house?”
“Evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Enough to explain why Daniel disappeared.”
Lucy whispered, “Is Daniel dead?”
Samuel did not answer immediately.
That silence said too much.
“Sam.”
“I don’t know.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
Ethan stepped closer to the phone.
“We’re going to the house.”
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if Richard Keller is involved, he may already be watching you.”
Ethan looked toward the window.
The black sedan from yesterday was parked across the street.
Same tinted glass.
Same temporary plate.
This time Ethan smiled.
“Good.”
Lucy stared.
“Good?”
“He can follow us.”
“What are you doing?”
Ethan grabbed his jacket.
“If Keller thinks we found something valuable, he’ll show us exactly how scared he is.”
Eleanor looked alarmed.
“I’m not sure I like this plan.”
Ethan kissed her forehead before realizing what he had done.
All three froze.
Eleanor’s eyes filled instantly.
Ethan cleared his throat.
“Sorry.”
“No.”
She touched the spot.
“Don’t be.”
For one quiet second, three generations stood in a room that had been built out of lies.
Then Ethan headed for the door.
Because the time for pretending was over.
May you like
And forty minutes away, inside a house legally belonging to him, waited the reason his father had vanished.
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