Chương 5
The woman at the front desk barely looked up.
“Can I help you?”
“I need access to historical property records.”
“For?”
Daniel paused.
A simple question.
A simple answer.
Except nothing about this was simple anymore.
“Family records.”
The woman studied his face for a moment.
Then she pointed toward the request forms.
“Fill that out.”
Daniel sat down.
The pen felt strangely heavy in his hand.
Halfway through the form, his phone buzzed.
A message from Ethan.
No greeting.
No explanation.
Just a photograph.
Daniel opened it.
His stomach tightened.
It was the same folder from the picture outside the building.
Except now it was open.
And Ethan was holding it.
Below the photograph was one sentence.
You should have asked me before you started looking.
Daniel read it twice.
Then a second message appeared.
This time with an attachment.
A scanned document.
The top of the page was visible.
Claire Ellison.
Daniel stopped breathing for a second.
Because beneath Claire's name was another name.
One he had never seen before.
And at the bottom of the document was a signature dated six months before Claire left.
A signature that belonged to Daniel.
The name beneath Claire's was not a stranger's.
It was his.
Daniel stared at the document until his eyes burned.
Daniel Price.
The same name that appeared on his driver's license, his bank accounts, his tax forms, and every other piece of evidence that proved he existed.
Except this time it was attached to something he did not remember agreeing to.
He called Ethan again.
The phone rang four times.
Five.
Then the call went to voicemail.
Daniel almost threw the phone onto the hood of his car.
Instead, he placed it down carefully.
That worried him more.
The old version of himself would have reacted first.
He would have driven straight to Ethan's house.
He would have demanded answers.
He would have treated anger like proof that he cared.
The man standing outside the records office felt older.
Not wiser.
Just older.
He walked back inside.
The clerk looked up when she saw him.
“You forgot something?”
“I need to know if Claire Ellison requested access to a sealed file.”
The woman leaned back slightly.
“That’s not something I can just tell you.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“I’m not asking because I think I’m entitled to it.”
“Then why are you asking?”
He looked at the request number in his hand.
“Because my wife disappeared, and I just found out she had me sign something connected to the reason why.”
The clerk did not move for a moment.
Then she slowly folded her hands.
“Your wife?”
“Ex-wife.”
“Are you still looking for her?”
Daniel looked down.
The question was simple.
The answer was not.
“I’m looking for the truth.”
The clerk studied him.
“Those are not always the same thing.”
Daniel wanted to disagree.
He had spent years believing they were.
But lately, every answer seemed to create another question.
“Can you tell me if someone else accessed the file?”
“I can tell you there was a request.”
“From who?”
She looked toward the hallway.
“I shouldn’t.”
“But you’re going to.”
A small smile appeared on her face.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she recognized the sentence.
“You sound like someone who already knows the answer.”
“I don’t.”
“Most people who come here looking for answers think they do.”
She opened a drawer.
After a moment, she removed a thin folder.
Not the one Daniel had requested.
A smaller one.
“Thomas Ellison.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“You have his records here?”
“Some of them.”
“Why?”
“Because after his death, there were disputes.”
“What kind of disputes?”
The clerk placed the folder on the counter.
“Family ones.”
Daniel reached for it.
She did not let go.
“Mr. Price.”
He looked at her.
“If you open this, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“Sometimes people hide the truth because they are afraid.”
She released the folder.
“Sometimes they hide it because they are trying to protect someone.”
Daniel carried the folder to a nearby table.
He sat down.
The chair was uncomfortable.
The kind of uncomfortable designed to keep people from staying too long.
He opened the folder.
The first pages were ordinary.
Property information.
Estate paperwork.
Tax documents.
Nothing that explained why Claire had spent months secretly investigating her father.
Then he found a letter.
Not the one Ethan mentioned.
Another one.
The handwriting was Claire's.
Daniel knew it instantly.
He had seen it on birthday cards.
Grocery lists.
Notes she left on the refrigerator when she wanted him to remember something.
The letter was dated two weeks before she left.
Daniel read the first line.
I know you think I am making this harder than it needs to be.
He stopped.
The words felt like a conversation that had been waiting years to happen.
He continued.
I know you think I am searching for something that is not there.
I know you think I am turning every problem into a bigger problem.
Daniel looked away.
The records office blurred for a moment.
Because that was exactly what he had said.
Not those exact words.
But close enough.
He had stood in their kitchen.
He had watched her stack papers across the table.
He had watched her refuse to explain.
And he had chosen frustration because frustration felt easier than fear.
The letter continued.
But I need you to understand that I am not trying to punish you by keeping you out of this.
Daniel swallowed.
The sentence hurt more than anger would have.
She had not been trying to shut him out.
She had been trying to keep something away from him.
The next paragraph was missing.
A page had been removed.
Daniel turned the paper over.
Nothing.
Someone had taken it.
Not damaged.
Not lost.
Removed.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Rebecca.
Where are you?
May you like
Daniel stared at it.
He typed.
