Chapter 6 - THE SIGNATURE AT GATE FOUR
By eight the next morning, my daughter's life had already changed.
She hadn't slept much.
Neither had I.
We'd spent the night in a secured guest suite at the Whitlock estate because Raymond Pike was still missing.
Madeline sat at the breakfast table, coloring a picture of our old house.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are we going home today?”
I wanted to tell her yes.
Instead, I pulled out the chair beside her.
“We're going home when it's safe.”
She frowned.
“Can we take Daddy's picture with us?”
I swallowed.
“Of course.”
“Good. I don't want him to be lonely.”
I held her for a long moment.
Then Nathaniel arrived.
He wasn't wearing the expensive dinner jacket from the previous evening.
His sleeves were rolled up, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“I've contacted the state investigators handling the attempted abduction,” he said. “They've taken copies of the security recordings.”
“Have they found Raymond?”
“Not yet.”
I nodded.
“What about Gate Four?”
“It's still under a Whitlock-managed lease. The property supervisor agreed to meet us there.”
I looked at Madeline.
Nathaniel understood immediately.
“She's staying with you unless you decide otherwise. We can arrange to review the records here.”
I thought about the forged documents.
The missing notebook.
The man who'd tried to take my daughter.
“No,” I said. “I need to see the place.”
Madeline would remain with Margaret and Cora Bell, the catering assistant who'd warned us the previous night, in the estate's secured family wing. Owen arranged for vetted officers to guard the entrance and for me to check on her directly.
Before leaving, I knelt beside her.
“You remember what we talked about?”
She nodded.
“No going anywhere unless Mommy says.”
“Exactly.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Come back soon.”
Those three words hurt more than anything Brielle had said.
Because Daniel had once promised the same thing.
And never returned.
Gate Four stood beside a neglected industrial road overlooking the Savannah River.
Rust covered the chain-link fencing.
An old loading warehouse sat beyond the entrance, its windows dusty but intact.
The property supervisor was a sixty-eight-year-old man named Earl Porter.
He wore faded work boots and a canvas jacket.
When Nathaniel introduced me, Earl removed his cap.
“Daniel Brooks's wife?”
“Yes.”
The older man's face changed.
“I should have spoken to you years ago.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Then speak to me now.”
Earl led us into the former gate office.
He explained that the property still contained archived maintenance and access records, retained because of a long-running insurance dispute.
“These weren't all computerized back then,” he said. “Some records are carbon copies.”
He opened a steel filing cabinet.
Inside were dated access sheets, loading permits, and gate registers.
Earl found the week of Daniel's death.
“Raymond Pike came here that evening,” he said. “He wasn't alone.”
“Who was with him?” Nathaniel asked.
“A woman driving a gray sedan.”
“Brielle Montgomery?”
Earl hesitated.
“I saw her face for only a moment. I can't swear to it without seeing a photograph.”
Nathaniel showed him a picture.
Earl looked carefully.
“Yes. That's her.”
I gripped the edge of the desk.
“What were they doing?”
“Meeting someone from Caldera Freight. They used to compete with Whitlock for warehouse access.”
Nathaniel's expression darkened.
“Caldera tried to force us out of the river terminals five years ago.”
Earl nodded.
“I remember.”
He turned another page.
At 9:12 that evening, a private vehicle registered to Raymond Pike entered Gate Four.
At 9:14, a gray sedan arrived.
At 9:19, a Whitlock security vehicle followed.
I looked at the times.
“Daniel's warning was logged at 9:17.”
Earl lowered his voice.
“He was here around then. I heard him arguing with Raymond near the gate.”
“What about?”
“Daniel said the route had been sold. Raymond told him to mind his own business.”
Nathaniel stood very still.
Earl continued.
“They grabbed each other's arms. Daniel's watch hit the metal gatepost. I heard the glass crack.”
My heart stopped.
The watch.
The cracked face.
The one Raymond had worn while approaching Madeline.
“Daniel was wearing it?”
Earl nodded.
“Raymond took it off him during the argument. Said he needed to check something about the damage.”
“Did he give it back?”
“Not while I was watching.”
I pressed my wedding ring against my lips.
That watch hadn't been lost during the attack.
Raymond had taken it before Daniel died.
Earl opened one final folder.
“This might explain why everyone was afraid to challenge the arrangements.”
He placed a property-access authorization on the desk.
It gave outside security contractors permission to use Gate Four during the week of the attack.
Caldera Freight appeared among the approved service companies.
At the bottom was a signature.
Nathaniel Whitlock.
I stared at it.
Earl looked uncomfortable.
“That's why I never questioned the arrangement, ma'am. It came straight from the family.”
Nathaniel picked up the paper.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then he said something I hadn't expected.
“Evelyn, that signature isn't forged.”
May you like
He looked directly into my eyes.
“It's mine.”
