Chapter 6 - THE NUMBER NINETEENThe number meant nothing to Marcus.
But Claire reacted immediately.
“Nineteen.”
She whispered it again.
Emily frowned.
“What?”
Claire looked at her sister.
“Dad used that number.”
“When?”
“When I was a child.”
Victor had been obsessed with numbers.
He used them instead of names.
House number nineteen.
Drawer nineteen.
Hotel room nineteen.
He once told Claire that numbers could hide things people would never notice.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“So the key is connected to nineteen.”
Emily nodded.
“Probably.”
Officer Davis entered the room.
“Where is Julian?”
“Gone.”
Davis looked annoyed.
“Victor?”
“Also gone.”
Davis examined the footage.
“This is organized surveillance.”
Marcus said:
“They've been watching Claire for months.”
Davis nodded.
“Possibly longer.”
Claire stared at the footage.
“My father knew I would find the basement.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“He wanted you to find it.”
“Why?”
“So you'd find me.”
Claire frowned.
Emily explained.
“He knew if you believed I was dead, you wouldn't stop searching for answers.”
Marcus suddenly looked at the laptop.
“The video.”
“What?”
“The message.”
He replayed it.
Victor's voice:
“He'll lead us to the final account.”
Marcus stared at Claire.
“That means you know where the account is.”
Claire thought.
“I don't.”
Emily shook her head.
“Maybe you do.”
Claire stared at her.
“I've never seen it.”
“You might have.”
“How?”
Emily looked toward Lily.
Lily was sitting quietly nearby.
Emily knelt beside her.
“Sweetheart, do you remember Grandpa giving you something?”
Lily nodded.
“A little key.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“What key?”
Lily reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a tiny silver key.
Marcus stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grandpa gave it to me.”
“When?”
Lily looked confused.
“Before he disappeared.”
Claire's heart raced.
Her father's disappearance.
The supposed death.
The years of secrets.
And now the key.
Emily examined it.
“Nineteen is engraved here.”
Officer Davis took a photograph.
“We need to identify what this opens.”
Marcus noticed a second marking.
A tiny triangle.
He remembered it.
“Wait.”
He opened the red folder.
One of the bank documents had the same triangle.
“This symbol appears on the trust.”
Claire stared.
“What's the account number?”
Marcus scanned the page.
Then he stopped.
“There isn't one.”
“What?”
“The document refers to a box.”
“A bank box?”
“No.”
He flipped the page.
“Storage unit.”
Claire felt a chill.
“Where?”
Marcus read the address.
His face changed.
“What?”
He looked at Claire.
“It's only six miles from here.”
Davis immediately stood.
“We're going.”
Julian had anticipated everything.
The house.
The basement.
The cameras.
The hidden room.
Maybe even the police.
But there was one thing he couldn't erase.
The account.
The storage unit.
The last evidence.
They reached the facility twenty minutes later.
Unit 19 was at the end of a dark corridor.
The lock was already open.
Davis drew his weapon.
“Back up.”
He opened the door.
Inside sat dozens of sealed boxes.
Each labeled with a name.
Claire.
Emily.
Marcus.
Lily.
Marcus stared.
“My name is on one.”
Claire looked at the box labeled with Lily's name.
It was larger than the others.
Marcus reached toward it.
Davis stopped him.
“Don't.”
A technician opened it carefully.
Inside were photographs.
School records.
Medical records.
Bank statements.
Travel documents.
And one red envelope.
On the front:
OPEN ONLY AFTER CLAIRE LEAVES JULIAN.
Claire slowly opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Her father's handwriting.
Claire,
If you are reading this, Julian has already betrayed me.
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
The letter continued.
But there is a truth even Julian does not know.
You were never my daughter.
Claire stopped.
The room went silent.
Emily stared at her.
Lily looked confused.
Marcus could barely breathe.
Claire turned the page.
May you like
At the bottom was one sentence.
Your real father is still alive.
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