CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aisha read the message three times the following morning.
"The original documents?" she repeated. "What documents?"
Daniel shook his head. "I don't know. But whoever sent this believes your mother knows."
They found Grace in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. One look at their faces told her something was wrong.
"What happened?"
Aisha placed her phone on the table.
Grace read the message, and the colour drained from her face.
"Mum?" Aisha asked. "What original documents?"
Grace slowly sat down.
"Years ago, when Robert accused me of betraying Richard, there were financial records involved. I had copies that proved the accusations against me were false."
"Where are they now?" Daniel asked.
"I kept them in a small brown envelope. After I left Richard, I took them with me. But one day, the envelope disappeared."
"Who knew where you kept it?" Aisha asked.
"Very few people."
"Did you tell Richard it was missing?"
Grace shook her head.
"I was frightened. I thought if Robert knew I still had the documents, he would come after us again. When they disappeared, I believed he had taken them."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Then those documents might prove what really happened."
"Or they might explain why Robert is threatening us now," Aisha added.
Grace looked at her daughter with fear in her eyes.
"I never wanted you involved in any of this."
"But I'm involved already, Mum. Someone is threatening me because of a secret I know nothing about."
Grace reached for Aisha's hand.
"I am sorry."
Aisha squeezed her mother's fingers, still hurt but no longer willing to turn away from the truth.
"Do you remember anything about the envelope? Anything that could help us find it?"
Grace thought for a moment.
"I kept it in a wooden box in my old bedroom. Before we moved houses, I packed several things into a storage trunk. The box may still be there."
"Where is the trunk?" Daniel asked.
"At my sister's house. I left it there years ago."
Aisha immediately stood.
"Then we'll go and look for it."
Grace hesitated. "Please be careful. If Robert discovers what you're doing—"
"We won't go alone," Daniel assured her.
Later that afternoon, Aisha and Daniel drove to Grace's sister's house. The old storage trunk was pushed beneath a pile of boxes in a spare room.
They opened it together.
Inside were old clothes, photographs, birthday cards and a few dusty notebooks.
Aisha searched carefully until she found a small wooden box.
It was empty.
Her shoulders fell.
"Someone got here before us."
Daniel examined the box. There was a thin piece of paper stuck beneath its lining.
He carefully pulled it free.
Written on it was an address, followed by a name.
Robert Cole.
Aisha stared at the paper.
"He knew where Mum kept everything."
Daniel folded the note and slipped it into an envelope.
"Then we need to find out why."
As they left the house, Aisha realised that the missing documents were no longer just a clue.
They were the key to a truth someone had spent years trying to bury.