Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE THAT WATCHED US
We were trapped.
Arthur fired at the steel door once.
The bullet ricocheted.
“Don't,” Evelyn snapped. “That door is reinforced.”
Arthur turned.
“How did you get in?”
“You opened the passage.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was supposed to.”
She looked at me.
“Your father asked me to disappear the night before he died.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew they were watching the house.”
“Who?”
She glanced at Arthur.
“Everyone.”
The intercom crackled.
A man's voice filled the room.
“Arthur.”
Arthur went still.
I recognized the voice.
Daniel Rusk.
“Open the door.”
Arthur raised his gun.
“You're the one who started the lockdown.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally figured out who Gabriel was working for.”
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
“Gabriel is dead.”
“Gabriel's network isn't.”
Daniel's voice turned colder.
“And one of them is inside this room.”
Evelyn stiffened.
I looked at her.
Then at Arthur.
Then back at Evelyn.
“Who?”
Daniel laughed softly.
“That's what I want to know.”
The room fell silent.
Arthur lowered his gun.
“You think one of us is a traitor.”
“I know one is.”
The intercom clicked off.
Arthur turned toward Evelyn.
“What did Thomas leave?”
She hesitated.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small memory card.
“Everything.”
Arthur stared.
“Why didn't you give me this before?”
“Because Thomas told me not to trust you.”
The insult landed hard.
Arthur didn't react.
He simply said, “Give it to Norah.”
Evelyn did.
I held the memory card between two fingers.
“What is it?”
“Names. Payments. Dates. Orders.”
“Orders for what?”
Evelyn looked at Arthur.
“Disappearances.”
My stomach twisted.
Arthur's expression became unreadable.
“Can it prove who ordered Thomas's death?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The file is encrypted.”
“How do we unlock it?”
She looked at me.
“Your birthday.”
I blinked.
“Why?”
“Thomas told me the password was the date you were born.”
I suddenly remembered something.
My father used to call my birthday the happiest mistake of his life.
I gave Evelyn the date.
The card unlocked.
A list appeared.
Hundreds of names.
Judges.
Police.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Business owners.
Then I saw one name.
My father's doctor.
Dr. Leonard Voss.
I froze.
That was the doctor who signed my father's death certificate.
My fingers went cold.
“There.”
Arthur leaned over.
“Who?”
I pointed.
His face changed.
“Voss.”
“You know him?”
Arthur nodded.
“He was Gabriel's private physician.”
“Then he lied about my father.”
“Yes.”
A sound came from behind the wall.
Three knocks.
Arthur turned.
“There's another room.”
I frowned.
He touched the stone.
“What?”
“Listen.”
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Then one.
My father used that pattern with me when I was a child.
It meant I love you.
I stepped toward the wall.
“No.”
Arthur grabbed my shoulder.
“Don't.”
But I was already crying.
“Dad?”
Another knock.
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
“That's impossible.”
I placed my hand against the wall.
A voice whispered from the other side.
“Norah.”
I stumbled backward.
Arthur raised his gun.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
The voice came again.
“Norah, don't trust Arthur.”
I looked at Arthur.
He looked at me.
Then the voice laughed.
Not my father's voice.
A man's voice.
Distorted.
Mocking.
May you like
“Because he knows who really killed Thomas.”
The wall exploded.
