"To what?"

"A safety-deposit box."

I stared at him.

"Where?"

"An old bank in Cleveland."

"Why didn't you open it?"

"I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because your brother told me never to."

I felt as though the room were tilting.

"What did Thomas tell you?"

Daniel looked directly into my eyes.

"He said that if I disappeared, you might live a normal life."

"Why would disappearing help me?"

"Because someone was watching you."

I swallowed.

"Who?"

"Your father's business partner."

I knew the name immediately.

Richard Hale.

He had been my father's closest friend.

He had attended every family birthday.

He had given me my first bicycle.

He had been at my father's funeral.

I had trusted him.

Daniel said:

"Richard wasn't your father's friend."

"What was he?"

"He was his partner."

"That's what I said."

"No."

Daniel's voice dropped.

"He was his partner in something illegal."

The Secret My Family Buried

Daniel explained that my father and Richard had once been involved in a financial scheme.

My father had eventually wanted out.

Richard didn't.

Thomas discovered documents that showed money had been moved through several companies.

The records suggested that my father had been preparing to expose Richard.

But before he could do it, my father suddenly became ill.

He died months later.

At the time, everyone assumed it was natural.

I remembered those months.

My father had been tired.

He had complained about headaches.

He had seemed stressed.

But nobody had imagined anything sinister.

"Thomas found the documents after Dad died," Daniel said.

"And you?"

"I helped him."

"How?"

"Because I was studying accounting."

I remembered.

Daniel had always been good with numbers.

He had helped Thomas organize old financial records.

Together, they discovered something frightening.

Richard had been using my father's company to move money.

But there was more.

Some of the money had been transferred into accounts connected to people who had political and business influence in several states.

It wasn't just a small local crime.

It was bigger.

Much bigger.

Why Daniel Disappeared

"Richard found out that Thomas knew."

Daniel's voice trembled.

"One night, Thomas came to me."

He told Daniel that someone had followed him.

A black car had been parked outside his house.

He had received an anonymous phone call.

Then another.

Then a message:

Stop looking.

Thomas was frightened.

But he was even more frightened for me.

"Your brother believed they would come after you," Daniel said.

"Why me?"

"Because you were the easiest way to control him."

I shook my head.