The passage beneath the warehouse was barely wide enough for one person.
Cameron went first.
I followed.
Adrian came behind me, with Mariana close behind him.
The sound of footsteps above us disappeared.
For several seconds, all we could hear was our breathing.
Then Cameron stopped.
A steel door blocked the passage.
He inserted the key.
The lock opened.
Beyond it was a small underground room.
Shelves lined every wall.
Boxes filled the floor.
Old financial records.
Photographs.
Contracts.
Tapes.
Hard drives.
It was the archive.
The original Northstar archive.
I stared at it.
“This is what everyone was searching for.”
Cameron nodded.
“Your mother spent years collecting it.”
“Why didn't she destroy it?”
“Because destroying it would have erased the proof.”
He opened a metal cabinet.
Inside was a black ledger.
Its cover was cracked with age.
He handed it to me.
The first pages contained names and payments.
Then came companies.
Insurance firms.
Investment accounts.
Political donations.
Private transfers.
People who had been paid to look away.
I turned pages faster.
Marcus Hale appeared repeatedly.
So did Manuel Vega.
But there were others.
People I had never heard of.
Judges.
Accountants.
Executives.
Attorneys.
And then I saw a familiar name.
Adrian.
My hands stopped.
He was listed beside a transfer made when he was nineteen.
I looked at him.
“What is this?”
He stepped closer.
“I don't know.”
“You're listed here.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't get to say that. You have known about this ledger.”
“I knew my name was somewhere in my father's records. I didn't know what it meant.”
The entry showed money transferred into an account under Adrian's name.
The amount was small compared with the others.
But it was enough to make me realize something.
They had been preparing him.
Using him.
Training him.
Creating debts.
Creating dependence.
Adrian looked sick.
“My father used me.”
Cameron said nothing.
I continued reading.
Another entry appeared.
This one was dated the year I was born.
*ELENA LEWIS — PROTECTED IDENTITY.**
Beside it was a note:
*Marcus ordered removal. Manuel refused.**
My heart stopped.
“Your father protected me?”
Cameron nodded.
“For the first time in his life, Manuel chose his family over Northstar.”
That decision had consequences.
The ledger showed threats against Manuel.
Then Daniel.
Then Marisol.
The final page written by my mother was dated two weeks before she disappeared.
She wrote that she had hidden the ledger because she believed Marcus was preparing to eliminate everyone who could testify.
She had asked Cameron to protect me.
Then she wrote one sentence that made me cry.
*If Lena ever returns, tell her I loved her every day I was gone.**
I pressed my fingers against the page.
Adrian stood several feet away.
He didn't touch me.
Maybe he finally understood that some pain needed space.
Cameron opened another box.
Inside were photographs of Marcus.
There were dozens.
Meetings.
Hotels.
Parking garages.
Airports.
Then one photograph showed Marcus standing beside Martin.
Cameron pointed.
“That's why Martin disappeared.”
“What happened between them?”
“Martin tried to take the ledger.”
“But he failed.”
“No.”
Cameron shook his head.
“He succeeded.”
I looked at him.
“Then why is the ledger here?”
“Because Martin split the evidence.”
My mind raced.
The pendant contained one portion.
The warehouse contained another.
The remaining evidence had been sent to federal investigators years ago.
Except the investigators never received it.
“Where did it go?”
Cameron pointed to the ledger.
“Inside.”
I opened the back cover.
There was a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small memory card.
Mariana took it carefully.
“This could contain everything.”
A sound came from the passage.
Footsteps.
Cameron froze.
“He found us.”
Adrian moved toward the door.
“There's another exit.”
Cameron shook his head.
“No.”
Then the door opened.
Marcus Hale stood there.
He was older than the photographs, but his presence filled the room.
He looked at me.
Not Adrian.
Me.
“You look like your mother.”
I couldn't speak.
He smiled faintly.
“Marisol always believed she could outrun consequences.”
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
His expression changed.
For the first time, I saw something like regret.
“She disappeared because she knew what I would do if she stayed.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
He looked toward the ledger.
“That is the answer.”
Marcus stepped forward.
Adrian blocked him.
Marcus laughed.
“Your father taught you nothing.”
“He taught me enough.”
“He taught you how to steal.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You taught him how to survive.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Perhaps.”
Then he pulled out a phone.
“Do you know what happens if that ledger leaves this building?”
I held it tighter.
“Justice.”
Marcus smiled.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
A distant explosion shook the warehouse.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Mariana screamed.
Cameron grabbed the ledger.
“Move!”
We ran.
The passage behind us began filling with smoke.
Marcus did not chase us.
He didn't need to.
The warehouse above was burning.
And the only exit led directly into the night.
Click here to continue reading: PART 16: The Choice I Made for Lucy
I Thought My Husband Was Planning a Baby Shower Speech Until One Message Made Me Question Everything I Knew About Him
Part 15 of 20
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