every safe, every bank account, every office your father owned. So she hid the key where I would never think to look.”
“Where?”
Daniel’s eyes settled on me.
“Inside the only thing she knew you would keep forever.”
I remembered the black box.
The photograph.
The letter.
But none of them explained what he meant.
Then Jonah spoke.
“Your mother’s necklace.”
I froze.
I had worn that necklace every day since she died. It was a simple silver pendant, old and slightly scratched, with a tiny clasp that had never
opened no matter how hard I tried.
I had never taken it apart.
Daniel held out his hand.
“Give it to me, and your brother walks away. Refuse, and none of us leaves this building tonight.”
My brother grabbed my arm.
“Don’t do it. He told me what happened to your mother.”
I turned toward him.
“What are you talking about?”
My brother swallowed hard.
“Before they brought me here, I heard Daniel talking on the phone. He said your mother didn’t die in an accident.”
My knees nearly gave
