Katrina

Chapter three - Story A

THE THINGS BURIED BENEATH

STORY A — THE PRESENT

For several seconds, Jason said nothing.

The sounds coming from the dining room seemed impossibly distant. A chair scraped against the floor. Someone laughed, unaware that the woman sitting across from him was about to change everything he thought he knew.

Katherine shifted Michelle higher against her chest. The little girl remained asleep, her cheek pressed against her mother's shoulder.

Jason looked at them before returning his attention to Katherine.

"You said you needed to know whether you were too late."

She nodded. "Yes."

"Too late for what?"

"My memories have been coming back."

His expression changed.

"Your memories?"

"Bits and pieces. Sometimes it's a smell or a sound. Sometimes I see something, and suddenly I'm somewhere else entirely. It's difficult to explain."

"You're remembering your childhood?"

"Some of it." She hesitated. "I went back to the house."

"What house?"

"The Mendoza family home. In Miramar."

Jason went still. He remembered the property from his early childhood, back when their families had been close, but he hadn't thought about it in years.

"What were you doing there?"

"I thought seeing the place again might help me understand my memories."

"And did it?"

"Eventually."

She described the hallway outside her father's study, the smell of the garden after rain, and the sound of footsteps crossing the tiles. Little things that made no sense on their own.

Then she told him about the garden.

"There was a little stone fountain. I remembered it from when I was young, but every time I looked at it, I felt as though something was wrong."

"Was something wrong with it?"

"Not that I could see. Nothing was out of place. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible had happened there."

She drew a slow breath.

"I stayed in the house for a few nights, hoping the feeling would pass. It didn't. Eventually, I arranged for the ground near the fountain to be excavated."

Jason stared at her.

"You did what?"

"I had the ground dug up."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't ignore the feeling anymore."

"Katherine, that sounds like something that could have got you arrested."

"I know, Jason."

She answered sharply, then immediately soothed Michelle when the little girl stirred.

Once Michelle had settled, Katherine looked at him again.

"I'm not telling you this because I expect you to understand why I did it. I'm telling you because you deserve to know what I found."

His jaw tightened.

"What did you find?"

"Human remains."

Jason stared at her, waiting for an explanation that would make the words less horrifying.

"Whose?"

"The forensic examination identified them as two people."

"Katherine, whose remains?"

She drew a trembling breath.

"Rafael Mendoza."

Jason's expression emptied.

"And Edward McAllister."

He shook his head.

"No."

"Jason—"

"No."

He stood abruptly, dragging a hand over his face.

"My father died when I was five. He was buried properly. He wasn't killed and buried in some garden."

"I know what you were told."

He turned towards her.

"What does that mean?"

"The forensic findings indicate that both men died much later than the timeline you were given."

"That's impossible. My mum told us he died before we left Cuba."

Katherine's eyes shone.

"Then why do the findings contradict that account?"

He stared at her in disbelief.

"You're telling me my mum lied?"

"I'm telling you that what you were told doesn't match the evidence."

"You expect me to accept that because of some bones you found in a garden?"

"I'm not asking you to accept anything blindly. I'm telling you that I found my father's remains buried alongside yours. I didn't manufacture the evidence, Jason!"

He looked away, struggling to process what she'd told him.

When he finally spoke, his voice was rough.

"How long have you known?"

"Not long. I reported the discovery and waited for the examination. I wanted to be certain."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I was trying to understand what had happened."

"He's my father, Katherine."

"I know."

"Rather than making this information known to us, you'd rather play dead!"

She flinched but remained silent.

Jason pressed his lips together. The anger in his expression couldn't hide the hurt beneath it.

"What happened after you found them?"

"I contacted the police. They opened an investigation, examined the remains, and looked into the circumstances surrounding the discovery."

"Then they'll find out who did it."

Katherine hesitated.

"What?"

"They closed the case."

He stared at her.

"What do you mean, they closed it?"

"After a few days, they said they hadn't found sufficient evidence to establish foul play. They suggested there might be another explanation and closed the investigation."

"Two men disappear, their remains turn up buried together years later, and that's their explanation?"

"They didn't give me anything more convincing."

"And you accepted it?"

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

"Because it didn't make sense. And by then, I'd found something else."

Jason sat down again.

"What?"

"The house was falling apart. Part of my father's study had deteriorated, exposing a concealed space behind the built-in cabinetry. Inside, I found records, correspondence, financial documents, and notes my father and yours had kept."

"What kind of records?"

"Mostly business records connected to M&M Grand Hotels. There were notes about suspicious payments and dealings at several branches."

"Suspicious how?"

"Payments that didn't match the services they were supposed to cover. Companies receiving money without any clear explanation for their involvement. Transactions that raised questions about where the money was coming from and where it was going."

Jason's expression hardened.

"You're talking about fraud?"

"I'm talking about things that concerned our fathers enough for them to investigate."

"Did they find anything?"

"Not enough to prove what they suspected. The records showed they'd been looking into several locations, but they hadn't obtained conclusive evidence. At least, not in the documents I found."

Jason looked towards the floor.

For years, M&M Grand Hotels had represented his father's work and the family legacy that had survived Edward's death. Now Katherine was telling him that his father might have spent his final years investigating criminal activity within the business he'd helped build.

"Why would they keep it hidden?"

"Perhaps they didn't know who they could trust. Perhaps they wanted proof before accusing anyone. I don't know."

"Did you find anything that proved their suspicions were real?"

"Eventually."

She explained how the records had given her somewhere to start. She investigated one of the hotel's location in Cuba and uncovered independent records and transactions that revealed a larger problem.

"I found evidence of an operation using the hotel to disguise the movement of illicit money through legitimate business transactions."

Jason's face hardened.

"Someone was laundering money through one of our hotels?"

"That's what the evidence indicated."

"Who?"

"I don't know everyone involved. But I found enough evidence to expose a significant part of the operation. I haven't uncovered the entire network, and I don't know who's responsible for everything."

"Did you take it to the police?"

"Yes. I brought the evidence to someone I knew who was a senior officer. An investigation followed, and a significant part of the operation was exposed."

Jason studied her.

"You uncovered all of this yourself? While trying to recover your memories and raising a child?"

"I followed the evidence."

"And you did it without telling anyone?"

"Not everyone."

"Who?"

"People who don't need to be involved in this conversation."

His expression darkened, but he didn't push.

Instead, he asked the question that had been waiting behind everything else.

"What does any of this have to do with the people threatening you?"

Katherine went still.

"After I started investigating, I received threats. Warnings to stop asking questions and leave things alone."

"Did you report them?"

"Some of them. I didn't always know who I could safely report them to. That's part of the problem."

"Explain."

"The investigation into my father's death was closed without properly explaining what happened. Then I uncovered evidence of criminal activity connected to the hotels. After part of the operation was exposed, the threats became worse."

She paused, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"They weren't just threats against me anymore."

Jason's expression changed.

"What do you mean?"

"They mentioned my family."

His gaze dropped to Michelle.

"They know she exists," Katherine said. "And they've made it clear that she's not beyond their reach."

Jason's expression turned cold.

"Who are these people?"

"I don't know all their names or how far their influence extends. That's what I've been trying to find out."

"And you've been dealing with this alone?"

"I've been trying to keep Michelle safe."

"That's not what I asked."

She looked away.

"Yes."

He let out a slow breath.

"You show up at my house after three years of everyone thinking you were dead, tell me my father might not have died when I was told he did, and then tell me you've been investigating a criminal operation while someone threatens your child."

Katherine's eyes filled.

"When you say it like that—"

"How else am I supposed to say it?"

She had no answer.

For a moment, the only sound between them was Michelle's soft breathing.

"I just want to keep her safe," Katherine said. "I thought I could keep moving, keep looking for answers, and stay ahead of whoever was behind the threats."

Her voice broke slightly.

"But I can't keep doing it alone."

Something in Jason's expression shifted. Not forgiveness, but the anger in his face began giving way to something more complicated.

"What made you come here tonight?" he asked.

"I received information that made me believe the danger was getting worse. Whoever is behind this may no longer be content with threatening me."

She swallowed.

"I have reason to believe they've sent people to eliminate anyone they think could expose the truth. Me. My family. Yours."

Jason remained silent.

"I don't know whether they've already made a move or whether they've been watching your family," she continued. "That's why I asked if anything unusual had happened here. I needed to know if they'd already reached you."

"You're telling me someone might be coming after my family."

"I'm telling you I can't rule it out."

"And you think they're connected to what happened to our fathers?"

"I think it's possible. The records and threats raise questions I can't ignore. But I don't have proof that the people behind the operation are the same people who killed our fathers."

"Yet."

Katherine lifted her eyes to his.

"Yet."

Jason looked towards the door, beyond which his family continued their evening, unaware that the world outside their home might already be changing.

His mother had told him his father died before they left Cuba. Yet Edward's remains had been buried beside Rafael's, and the evidence contradicted everything Jason had been told about when he died.

Someone had wanted the truth to remain hidden.

Now Katherine believed the same people might be coming after their families.

"Why didn't you go to the authorities when the threats started?" he asked.

"I did when I thought it was safe. But after what happened with the original investigation, I couldn't assume everyone involved would protect me. I needed to understand what I was dealing with before I put more people in danger."

"You could have come here."

The words escaped him before he could reconsider them.

Katherine looked at him, and for a painful moment, neither seemed to know what to do with the sentence.

"You and I weren't exactly in a position to trust each other," she said quietly.

His jaw tightened.

"No. We weren't."

She lowered her gaze.

"I'm not asking you to forget what happened between us. I'm not even asking you to believe every conclusion I've reached."

"Then what are you asking?"

She looked at him again.

"Help me make sure my children remain safe."

Jason stared at her.

"And the rest of the family?"

Katherine's face scrunched up for the briefest moment before she forced herself to hold it together.

"Yeah. That."

It was the smallest answer she could have given him.

After everything she'd told him, Katherine still sounded like someone who had run out of places to hide.

Jason glanced at Michelle, who slept peacefully, unaware of the men whose deaths had brought her mother back to this house or the people who might be searching for them.

He looked back at Katherine.

"All right," he said.

She blinked.

"What?"

"I'm not saying I understand everything you've told me. I'm not saying I believe every part of it without seeing the evidence."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"But if there's even a chance someone is targeting my family, I'm not going to ignore it."

Katherine's shoulders sagged with something dangerously close to relief.

Jason wasn't finished.

"I want the forensic findings. I want to see the records you found in the study, and I want to know exactly what evidence you gave the police."

She nodded.

"All right."

"And Katherine?"

She looked up.

"If someone has threatened my family, I need to know everything you know. Not just the parts you think I can handle."

His eyes held hers.

"Everything relevant to keeping them safe."

For a moment, she looked as though she might argue. Then she nodded again.

"All right."

Jason still had a thousand questions about her disappearance, about Michelle, and about the years he'd spent believing she was gone.

Those questions hadn't disappeared. Neither had the hurt.

But they would have to wait.

Because somewhere beyond the walls of his home, someone might already be watching the people he loved.

And if Katherine was right, the truth about their fathers had never really been buried with them.

It had been waiting.

And now that someone had begun uncovering it, the people who wanted it hidden were no longer willing to wait quietly.