Chapter 5 - THE DRAWING INSIDE THE WALL
The next morning, Sloan visited her father's care facility.
Arthur Bennett sat beside the window in a faded blue cardigan.
His hair had turned almost completely white.
His left hand rested motionless on the arm of his chair.
But his eyes still followed the world.
Sloan kissed his forehead.
"Hi, Dad."
Arthur smiled faintly.
She sat beside him.
"I met someone."
His eyebrows lifted.
"Don't look at me like that," she said. "It's complicated."
Arthur made a small sound.
Sloan laughed.
"Very complicated."
Then she placed the Harbor Street photograph in front of him.
His expression changed immediately.
His fingers tightened.
"Dad?"
Arthur stared at the photograph.
His breathing quickened.
Sloan leaned forward.
"Do you remember this building?"
He nodded.
"Do you remember what you found?"
Arthur tried to speak.
The words came slowly.
"Wall."
Sloan frowned.
"What wall?"
His hand trembled.
"Blue."
She stared.
"Blue wall?"
Arthur nodded urgently.
Then pointed toward the photograph.
"Inside."
Sloan's heart began pounding.
"Dad, was something hidden inside a blue wall?"
He nodded again.
Tears filled his eyes.
Then he whispered:
"Don't... trust... Hayes."
Sloan froze.
She had never heard her father speak Preston's name since the stroke.
Arthur gripped her hand.
"Drawing."
"What drawing?"
He swallowed.
"Your... drawing."
Sloan stared at him.
Then remembered.
When she was seventeen, she'd helped her father create a detailed restoration sketch of Harbor Street.
She had drawn a blue wall on the east side of the building.
A wall that hadn't appeared in the original plans.
And she'd hidden a small star in the corner of the drawing as a joke.
Arthur had laughed.
Then told her to keep the sketch safe.
Sloan's breath caught.
May you like
The drawing wasn't lost.
She knew exactly where it was.
