Chapter 8 - The Red Box
My mind raced through memories of my childhood home.
The red box.
It was an antique fireproof cash box my mother had kept in the bottom of her sewing closet for as long as I could remember. It had a heavy brass lock and sat beneath a loose floorboard near the chimney pipe in the master bedroom.
My mother hadn't just stood by while my father built his trap.
When she locked that front door, she had slipped something into Maisie’s coat pocket—the small brass key to that red box—and told her to run to the old shop where she knew the bakery workers would be preparing morning bread at 4:00 AM.
My mother hadn't abandoned them. She had saved them from my father.
Suddenly, the headlights of a black sedan turned sharply into the alley mouth, illuminating the narrow brick walls in a blinding wave of white light.
The engine idled with a low, guttural purr.
Through the bright glare of the high beams, I saw the silhouette of the driver.
My father.
He stepped out of the sedan, shutting the door with a heavy, metallic thud. He wore his thick cashmere overcoat, his leather gloves holding a heavy iron tire iron he had pulled from his trunk.
He walked slowly down the icy alley toward me, his boots crunching methodically in the snow.
"I knew you'd come here, Clara," he said, his voice echoing off the brick walls, flat and terrifyingly hollow. "You always were too smart for your own good. Just like your mother."
I stood up slowly, stepping back against the rusted side of the dumpster, hiding Maisie's note inside my glove.
"What's in the red box, Dad?" I demanded, my voice steady despite the adrenaline pouring through my veins. "What are you hiding that's worth destroying your own family for?"
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My father stopped ten feet away from me, the iron bar swinging gently at his side.
"Your husband's 'accident' three weeks ago wasn't an accident, Clara," he whispered softly, his eyes reflecting the harsh white glow of his car lights. "Mark found out about the offshore trust accounts I managed for the bank. He was going to the federal auditors on Monday."
