Page 30 of Devil's Riches

He got up and stepped over to an exquisitely-wrought cabinet that sat near the first row of bookshelves. When he returned, he had a silver laptop in his hands.

He placed it down in front of me and opened it up. “Here.”

I took a deep breath and lowered my hands to the keyboard as a clear image of my father’s letter flashed in my mind. Ten minutes later, I had the whole thing typed out and ready to show to Nate.

My darling Alexandra,

Happy 16th birthday! I hope you’re having a fantastic day.

I wish I could be there to celebrate what a wonderful young woman you’ve become, but unfortunately, if this letter has made it to you, it’s because I’m gone. I also wish I could sit here and write out all the fatherly advice that I wanted to give you on such a momentous occasion, but I am short on time and paper, so this will have to do.

I want to ask you to do something for me, darling.

No doubt you’re wondering why I’m asking you and not your sister or mother. Please allow me to explain. It’s not because I love or trust them any less—of course I don’t—it’s because of what I see in the three of you.

Your sister has always taken after your mom: imaginative, creative, passionate, sensitive, and gentle. My two artists.

You were always like a mini-me. A budding journalist. Inquisitive, resourceful, decisive, and hard-nosed. You don’t take no for an answer, and you don’t give up. Now that you’re no longer a child, I have a feeling those qualities will be even stronger within you.

That’s why I want to ask this favor of you (and of course, feel free to ask your mother and sister for help if you need it. This doesn’t have to be a secret. I just have a feeling that you will be the one to see this through to the end due to that wonderful stubborn streak you inherited from me).

Here is my request.

As you continue to grow and think about your future, don’t give up on me or my case. Look at what happened to me, and other people like me, and find out why things like that end up happening in this world. Get those answers for yourself, and then do what you want with that information to make things right for everyone. After all, people should get what they deserve in life, shouldn’t they?

I know I am being very vague, but I think you understand what I am saying by now.

I wish I could help by telling you where to begin your studies and where to look for more information. Unfortunately, I can’t be specific about anything, because I know the guards are reading these letters before they take them from me, and I’m sure anything with the ‘wrong’ sort of material/information will be burned as per the request of those who put me here (Hello, guards. Nothing to see here—just a letter with some future career advice for my beautiful daughter!).

Have a wonderful life, darling. I love you more than anything, and I wish you nothing but success and happiness.

Love,

Dad

PS. Please help your mom take care of the books from my study at home. I asked her to hold onto them for you a long time ago, even if you were forced to move away from Avalon. Whenever you get a chance, please read the books as well. There should be lots of educational things in those texts that will help you with issues you might run into as you get older and learn more about the world.

PPS. Remember, if you’re ever feeling completely lost, look up to the sky, think of me, and let the stars guide you home.

Nate’s brows furrowed as he scanned the pages. Then he pushed the laptop aside and looked at me again. “He obviously intended for you to read between the lines and clear his name with whatever he was keeping in his study.”

I nodded. “Yup. He couldn’t say anything outright because the prison guards might’ve confiscated the letter.”

“What does this part mean?” he asked, pointing to the very last line. “About the stars guiding you home?”

“I think it meant that I’d have to come home to investigate everything. To Avalon, I mean.”

“Hm. Okay. So what did you find?”

“Not much.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “He kept all his notes on the case hidden in books, so the police didn’t find them when they searched his study, but most of them were ruined before I got to them.”

“How?”

“When we moved away from the island, a lot of the boxes ended up with water damage because of a leak somewhere, and most of his books were destroyed by that, including the notes.”

“Shit.”

“Not all of it was lost, though,” I went on. “There were a lot of pages that had visible words. Sometimes entire strings of them. Not enough to form entire paragraphs, but enough for me to get an idea of what happened back then.”

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