PART 8 — THE CHURCH UNDER THE HILL
Nobody spoke.
The photo on my phone showed Caleb tied to a chair.
Blood on his shirt.
A sheriff’s badge behind him.
But no face.
Jeremy stared at it.
“That could be fake.”
I looked at him.
“So could half our lives.”
He flinched.
Tyler leaned closer.
“Can you zoom in?”
I did.
The badge was real enough to scare me.
Gold shield.
County markings.
But the man’s face had been cut out of the frame.
Emma whispered, “Is that Detective Price?”
“I don’t know.”
Lacey looked at Jeremy.
“What if Caleb sent us to the church because someone forced him?”
That possibility hit hard.
I looked back at the coordinates.
Old Baptist church outside Culleoka.
Under the floor beneath the pulpit.
Jeremy said, “We can’t go.”
Tyler looked at him.
“Five minutes ago you wanted to find Caleb.”
“I still do.”
“Then?”
Jeremy pointed at the photo.
“This could be a trap.”
I said, “It probably is.”
Everyone looked at me.
“But that doesn’t mean the box isn’t there.”
Jeremy stared at me.
“You’re seriously thinking about going.”
“Yes.”
“Jill.”
“That box may have the only documents Randall couldn’t burn.”
“And if Price is waiting?”
“Then we don’t walk in blind.”
Tyler crossed his arms.
“What’s the plan?”
I looked at him.
“You’re not coming.”
He laughed.
“Sure.”
“Tyler.”
“Mom, nobody in this family has listened to you all day. I’m starting a tradition.”
Despite everything, Emma almost smiled.
I didn’t.
“You’re sixteen.”
“And apparently my family is involved in a six-million-dollar fraud case.”
“That doesn’t make you an adult.”
“No. But it makes pretending I’m not involved kind of stupid.”
He was right.
I hated that he was right.
Lacey said quietly, “I can stay with them.”
Emma immediately said, “No.”
“Emma.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Jeremy rubbed his forehead.
“This is insane.”
I looked at him.
“No. Insane was hiding two children and a second marriage.”
He closed his eyes.
“Fair.”
I pointed at his truck.
“We don’t go straight to the church.”
“What do we do?”
“We find somewhere public. We call Melissa.”
I tried again.
This time she answered.
“Jill?”
Her voice was low.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m at a gas station south of town.”
“Good. Stay somewhere with cameras.”
That made me look around immediately.
“Melissa, Price took the black folder.”
Silence.
“Melissa?”
“I heard you.”
“Do you trust him?”
She took too long.
“That is not an easy question.”
“That’s becoming a popular answer.”
“Jill, I have worked with Price twice.”
“And?”
“He helped.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s clean.”
“No.”
“Did he ask you for the divorce file?”
“Yes.”
“Did he delete it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could he?”
“With access and the right person helping, maybe.”
I told her about Caleb.
The message.
The church.
The photo.
She stopped me.
“Do not go there.”
Jeremy nodded immediately.
I ignored him.
“Why?”
“Because if somebody is baiting you, they want you isolated.”
“What if the evidence is real?”
“Then we preserve ourselves first.”
I almost laughed.
“Melissa, preservation hasn’t exactly gone well today.”
She went quiet.
Then said, “Send me the coordinates.”
I did.
She typed something.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“There’s an old Harmony Baptist Church near those coordinates.”
Jeremy’s face changed.
“That’s it.”
Melissa continued.
“It closed eleven years ago.”
“Who owns it?”
Pause.
Then she said, “A holding company.”
My stomach tightened.
“What company?”
“RMC Property Solutions.”
Randall.
Nobody needed to say it.
Jeremy whispered, “Of course.”
Melissa continued.
“Jill, listen carefully. If that company owns the property, do not enter.”
“What about Caleb?”
“If he’s there, call law enforcement.”
I looked at the photo.
“And which law enforcement do I trust?”
She didn’t answer.
Exactly.
Then Melissa said, “There may be another way.”
“What?”
“I can call a state investigator.”
“Not county?”
“No.”
“Do it.”
“I will.”
“But Melissa.”
“Yes?”
“Do not tell Price.”
Silence.
Then she said, “Understood.”
We ended the call.
Jeremy looked at me.
“We wait.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Jill.”
“If Caleb is actually tied up somewhere, waiting could get him killed.”
“And walking into Randall’s property could get us killed.”
Tyler said, “Both of you are right.”
We looked at him.
He shrugged.
“I hate it too.”
Then Emma spoke.
“What if we don’t go inside?”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“We can drive close enough to see the church.”
Jeremy frowned.
“Still risky.”
“But better than walking in.”
I looked at Lacey.
She looked exhausted.
Scared.
But steady.
“I think we need to know if Caleb is really there.”
That decided it.
We left the gas station.
This time Tyler rode with Jeremy.
Emma and Lacey stayed with me.
We turned off the main road twenty minutes later.
The countryside got darker.
Fields.
Trees.
Old fences.
Very few houses.
Then I heard it.
A train horn.
Far away.
I looked at Emma.
She looked back.
“Caleb said train.”
I nodded.
Then, a few minutes later, we crossed a narrow bridge.
Water moved black beneath it.
Train.
Water.
My hands tightened on the wheel.
The church came into view around a bend.
Small.
White paint peeling.
Old steeple.
No lights.
No cars.
Jeremy flashed his headlights behind me.
I pulled over half a mile away.
We parked behind a line of trees.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then the church bell rang.
Six slow strikes.
Emma whispered, “Oh my God.”
I checked the time.
6:00 PM.
Train.
Water.
Bell.
Caleb had described this place.
Jeremy stared toward the church.
“He was here.”
“Or the archive is.”
Tyler said, “Look.”
A light flickered inside the church.
Once.
Then disappeared.
Jeremy grabbed the door handle.
I stopped him.
“No.”
“That could be Caleb.”
“That could be anybody.”
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
YOU CAME.
I looked toward the church.
Another message.
BAD IDEA.
Jeremy whispered, “Someone sees us.”
We all ducked instinctively.
Then another message came.
LEAVE THE CAR.
WALK TO THE SIDE DOOR.
ALONE, JILL.
Jeremy shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
I typed:
SHOW ME CALEB.
No response.
Then a new photo arrived.
Caleb.
Same chair.
Same blood.
But this time there was a clock visible on the wall behind him.
5:57.
Three minutes ago.
He was alive.
Jeremy grabbed the phone.
“He’s there.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Look at the wall.”
I zoomed in.
There was faded wood paneling.
A cross.
Church basement.
Maybe.
Then Caleb’s head lifted in the photo.
His eyes looked toward whoever was holding the camera.
He looked terrified.
I typed:
I NEED TO HEAR HIS VOICE.
A video arrived.
Five seconds.
Caleb looked into the camera.
“Jill, don’t—”
The video cut.
Jeremy cursed.
“That’s enough.”
He started toward the road.
I grabbed his jacket.
“If they wanted you, they would’ve asked for you.”
“That’s my son.”
“Maybe.”
His face broke.
I regretted saying it immediately.
But Randall’s claim hung between us.
Caleb might not be Jeremy’s son at all.
Jeremy whispered, “I raised him in every way I was allowed to.”
“You hid him.”
“I know.”
“But you love him.”
“Yes.”
That part was real.
Whatever the blood test might say.
I looked back at the church.
Then at Tyler.
“You stay with Lacey and Emma.”
Tyler opened his mouth.
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Mom.”
“No.”
For once, he listened.
Jeremy and I crossed the road.
We stayed low behind an old stone wall.
No lights.
No talking.
The church looked dead from up close.
Windows boarded on one side.
Weeds waist high.
The side door stood slightly open.
Exactly as the message said.
Jeremy whispered, “This is wrong.”
“I know.”
We reached the steps.
Then something moved inside.
Jeremy pulled me back.
A shadow crossed the hallway.
Then disappeared.
I whispered, “Call Caleb.”
Jeremy did.
We heard a phone ringing.
Inside the church.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
Jeremy’s face changed.
“He’s inside.”
Maybe.
We stepped through the door.
The smell hit first.
Dust.
Mold.
Old wood.
The sanctuary was empty.
Broken pews.
A torn hymn book on the floor.
The pulpit stood at the front.
I looked down.
Under the pulpit.
The box.
That was why we were here.
Jeremy started forward.
I stopped him.
“Caleb first.”
We listened.
Nothing.
Then a muffled sound came from below.
Basement.
Jeremy found the door beside the choir loft.
Locked.
He kicked it once.
Twice.
The old frame cracked.
We went down.
Dark stairs.
Jeremy used his phone flashlight.
At the bottom was a narrow hallway.
Storage rooms.
Old Sunday school signs.
Then we heard breathing.
Heavy.
Someone was there.
“Caleb?”
No answer.
Jeremy moved faster.
“Caleb?”
A chair scraped.
We reached the last room.
Jeremy pushed open the door.
Empty.
Except for one chair.
Rope tied around it.
Blood on the seat.
And a phone lying on the floor.
Caleb’s phone.
Still warm.
Jeremy picked it up.
“Oh God.”
Then the basement lights came on.
Bright.
Harsh.
I turned.
A man stood at the end of the hallway.
Sheriff’s badge.
Gun at his side.
Samuel Price.
Jeremy stepped in front of me.
Price raised both hands.
“Easy.”
I stared at him.
“Where is Caleb?”
Price looked confused.
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“Jill—”
“WHERE IS HE?”
Price looked at the bloody chair.
Then his face changed.
“You need to get out.”
Jeremy laughed bitterly.
“That’s convenient.”
Price reached for his phone.
Jeremy stepped closer.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Price froze.
“You think I did this?”
I held up my phone.
“We got a picture of Caleb with a sheriff’s badge behind him.”
Price slowly looked down at his own badge.
“That’s not mine.”
“How would we know?”
“Because mine has a blue center seal.”
I zoomed in on the photo.
My stomach dropped.
The badge behind Caleb had a black center.
Jeremy stared.
Price said, “That’s a reserve deputy badge.”
“Whose?”
Price’s face tightened.
“Randall’s brother.”
Silence.
Jeremy whispered, “Randall has a brother?”
“Half brother.”
“What’s his name?”
“Wade Mercer.”
I looked at Price.
“Is he law enforcement?”
“Volunteer reserve deputy. Barely active.”
“Then why is he here?”
Price looked at the blood.
“Because this was never about making Randall look clean.”
“What?”
Price stepped closer.
“It was about making me look dirty.”
Before I could answer, a loud crash came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Several.
Price drew his gun.
“Behind me.”
Jeremy snapped, “No.”
Price hissed, “If Randall’s people are here, argue later.”
Then a voice echoed from the sanctuary.
“Samuel!”
Price’s face went white.
He knew the voice.
“Wade.”
Another voice laughed.
“Nice of you to bring everybody together.”
Then I heard a sound that froze my blood.
Tyler shouting outside.
“Mom!”
I ran toward the stairs.
Jeremy grabbed me.
“No!”
“TYLER!”
A gunshot exploded upstairs.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Lacey screamed outside.
Emma screamed too.
Price pushed past us.
“Stay down!”
Then another gunshot.
And silence.
Jeremy and I ran up after him.
The sanctuary doors were open.
Tyler was on the floor near the entrance.
I screamed his name.
He lifted his head.
“I’m okay!”
Relief nearly knocked me over.
He pointed outside.
“They took Emma!”
Lacey was crying beside him.
I ran to the door.
A dark pickup tore down the gravel road.
Emma was in the back seat.
Jeremy shouted, “No!”
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
BRING REBECCA’S BOX TO THE OLD MILL BY 8:00.
Another.
COME ALONE.
Then:
OR EMMA DIES.
I stared at the screen.
Jeremy looked at me.
Price looked at me.
Lacey was sobbing.
And behind us, beneath the pulpit floorboards, the box everyone had been killing to find was still waiting.
PART 6 — THE MAN I WAS TOLD NOT TO TRUST
