Chapter 10
The Locked Music Room
Adrian took Mara to the old Quinn house before she could reach the warehouse.
The house had been sold months ago, but the bankruptcy estate kept one room sealed. The key from the metal case opened it.
The music room smelled of dust and old wood. A piano stood beneath a sheet. Under the dust, a phrase had been carved into the lid.
New music lies.
The piano bench was locked. The metal key opened it.
Inside was a black envelope and a record labeled 11 / 04 / 7.
Victor called while Mara lifted the record.
“You’ve gone to the house,” he said.
“Did you know my mother was alive after the date on her death certificate?”
Silence.
Then Victor said, “You should leave the house.”
“Why?”
“Your father was not the only person who died for what he kept in that room.”
The call ended.
Mara put the record on the turntable.
Her mother’s voice filled the room.
“The account is not money. It is a door.”
Nathan’s voice entered beneath the static.
“The boy who comes after me will believe he is saving the company. He is not. He is opening the door for them.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“You were the younger son,” Mara said.
“I was twenty-seven when Nathan died.”
“You remember that?”
“You remember everything people assume you forgot.”
The record reached the end.
A fourth voice whispered through the static.
“Ask Mara about account seven.”
Outside, a car door slammed.
Adrian killed the lights and pulled Mara behind the piano.
Two men entered the house below.
One spoke into a phone.
“The room is open.”
The other answered, “Then the girl has already found the key.”
Footsteps began climbing the stairs.