Chapter 4 - The Sins of the Father
I grabbed the papers, the watch, and the letter, shoving them into my jacket. I left the broken lockbox on the workbench and bolted out the side door of the garage just as I heard the interior door open.
I ran through the neighbor’s backyard, hopped the chain-link fence, and didn’t stop sprinting until I reached my car. I locked the doors and sat there, gasping for air, staring at the evidence in my passenger seat.
I drove to a remote diner on the edge of town, ordered a black coffee, and spread the papers out in the back booth.
The story pieced itself together in horrifying clarity. My grandfather hadn't just been a fisherman; he ran the local docks. And twenty-five years ago, he discovered that his business partner—Arthur Vance, a man I grew up calling "Uncle Artie"—was using the shipping crates to smuggle narcotics and launder money for a cartel.
Grandpa was going to the FBI. But Artie found out.
According to my dad’s confession letter, Artie confronted Grandpa on the boat. Things got violent. Grandpa was killed and dumped in the deep water.
Artie then came to my father. He showed my dad photos of me and Sarah playing in our front yard, taken from a sniper’s distance. Artie told my dad that if he helped doctor the financial books and kept his mouth shut, his children would live. If he went to the cops, we would be dead before the police even filed the report.
My father didn't lie out of malice. He lied to keep us alive. He became Artie's accountant, trapped in a nightmare for decades, silently bearing the guilt of his father's murder to protect his kids.
Tears streamed down my face, dropping onto the faded ink of my dad’s confession.
My phone buzzed. It was Sarah.
“Ethan,” she said, and I could hear the sheer panic in her voice. “Dad just called me. He was hysterical. He said you broke into his house. He said you found the box.”
“Sarah, I know everything. I know about Artie.”
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“Ethan, listen to me!” Sarah cried. “Artie was at Dad’s house when he called. Artie knows the box is broken. He has Dad, Ethan. He said if you don't bring the papers to the old marina by midnight, he's going to kill him.”
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