Water-stained.
The name LILY was written across it.
"I've carried this for twenty-three years."
Lily's hands began shaking.
"Who are you?"
The man swallowed.
"My name is Caleb Morgan."
He looked toward the dark railroad tracks.
"And I made your father a promise."
Lily stared at him.
"My father is dead."
Caleb's expression changed.
"No."
He handed her the envelope.
"Your father is alive."
Lily couldn't breathe.
Caleb continued.
"And someone has spent twenty-three years making sure you never find him."
THE PROMISE
Lily didn't open the envelope immediately.
She sat in Caleb's pickup while rain hammered the roof.
The truck smelled faintly of coffee, leather, and old paper.
Caleb drove without saying much.
Finally, Lily broke the silence.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere safe."
"I don't know you."
"I know."
"Then why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
Lily looked at him.
Caleb kept his eyes on the road.
"Trust has to be earned."
"Then tell me everything."
He remained silent for several seconds.
Then he said:
"Your father saved my life."
Lily frowned.
"When?"
"Twenty-four years ago."
"What happened?"
Caleb's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"I was working security for a construction company. Your father was investigating the company because workers were disappearing from payroll. Money was being stolen. Safety inspections were being falsified."
"And?"
"Daniel discovered something much bigger."
Lily waited.
"The company wasn't just stealing wages."
Caleb looked at her.
"They were buying judges, police officers, and city officials."
Lily felt a chill.
"Who owned it?"
"Victor Sloan."
The name meant something.
Lily had heard it before.
Victor Sloan had become one of the richest businessmen in the state.
His company now owned hotels, warehouses, apartment buildings and several construction firms.
"He's still alive?"
"Very much."
"Why didn't my father expose him?"
"He tried."
Caleb's voice became quiet.
"That's when they came after him."
Lily looked down at the envelope.
"What happened?"
"Your father came to me three weeks before he disappeared."
Caleb pulled the truck into an old roadside station.
"He had already been attacked twice."
"Why you?"
"Because I was the only person he trusted."
"And my mother?"