Chapter 4 - The Room Beneath the StairsMaxwell pulled Clara through the back door.
They ran across the compound.
The intruder entered from the front.
Maxwell knew the backyard had a narrow opening beside the drainage wall.
They squeezed through it.
Clara nearly fell.
Maxwell caught her.
“Keep moving.”
They reached the street.
A vehicle sped past.
No one stopped.
Maxwell looked back.
The house remained dark.
He didn't know whether the intruder had followed them.
Clara was breathing heavily.
“Where are we going?”
“To the workshop.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody knows we're going there tonight.”
He called a taxi from his phone.
Twenty minutes later, they reached the workshop.
Maxwell checked every corner.
Nothing.
He locked the door.
Clara sat on a stool.
“I don't understand any of this.”
“Neither do I.”
“You need to tell me everything.”
Maxwell sat opposite her.
“When I left home, my father took my passport, my certificates, my bank cards, everything.”
Clara listened.
“He said I needed to learn how to survive without the family.”
“And now?”
“Now someone is trying to stop me from discovering what he was hiding.”
Clara looked at him.
“What if your father knows?”
“He does.”
“What if he wants you back?”
“Then why threaten me?”
Clara had no answer.
Maxwell remembered the ledger.
He looked at his old laptop.
“I need access to the family archive.”
“What archive?”
“My father kept copies of everything.”
“Where?”
“In the house.”
“The house you just escaped from?”
“Yes.”
Clara stared at him.
“You want to go back?”
“No.”
He paused.
“I want someone else to go.”
He looked at Clara.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Clara…”
“No.”
“It has to be someone he doesn't suspect.”
She stared at him.
“Why me?”
“Because your name is on that ledger.”
“I don't even know what my name is doing there.”
“That's exactly why.”
Clara remained silent.
After several minutes, she finally spoke.
“Fine.”
They waited until midnight.
Then Clara drove toward the Onochie residence.
She parked two streets away.
Maxwell gave her a small camera.
“Get into the house.”
“How?”
“The old side entrance.”
“Who left the key there?”
“My father.”
“That sounds like a terrible plan.”
“It is.”
She stared at him.
“Then pray.”
Clara disappeared into the darkness.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then forty.
Then fifty.
Maxwell called.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
His chest tightened.
Then his phone buzzed.
One photograph.
Clara had entered the old study.
Another photograph arrived.
A locked steel cabinet.
Another.
A folder marked:
M.A.O.
Maxwell's initials.
Then a final message.
I FOUND THE ROOM.
Seconds later, Clara called.
“Maxwell.”
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“Come here.”
“No.”
“Maxwell, listen to me.”
Her voice was shaking.
“There are documents everywhere.”
“What documents?”
“Company records. Property deeds. Bank transfers.”
“Take pictures.”
“I already did.”
“Then leave.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then Clara whispered.
“Because your name isn't the only one on these documents.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maxwell…”
She began breathing faster.
“Your father has been transferring money into an account for years.”
“Whose account?”
“Your name is on it.”
“That makes no sense.”
She hesitated.
Then said:
“It's not your personal account.”
“What is it?”
“A trust.”
“For what?”
There was a loud sound in the background.
Clara screamed.
Someone had entered the study.
“MAXWELL!”
The call went dead.
Maxwell grabbed his keys.
He drove toward the estate.
He knew it was dangerous.
But Clara had gone in for him.
He wasn't leaving her there.
When he reached the gate, two security men were standing outside.
They recognized him.
One of them froze.
“Chief's son?”
Maxwell stopped.
The other man lifted a radio.
“Call the chief.”
Maxwell stepped forward.
“Where is Clara?”
The guard's face changed.
“I don't know anyone named Clara.”
Maxwell stared at him.
“She came here twenty minutes ago.”
The guard looked away.
Then the estate's main doors opened.
Chief Onochie stepped outside.
He looked directly at Maxwell.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Chief said:
“You finally came home.”
Maxwell's jaw tightened.
“I came for Clara.”
Chief looked behind him.
Then back at his son.
“Who told you she was here?”
Maxwell said nothing.
Chief sighed.
“Maxwell, you have no idea what kind of danger that girl has brought to this family.”
“Where is she?”
Chief didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
“Come inside.”
“No.”
“Come inside, and I'll show you the room your mother never told you about.”
Maxwell's eyes narrowed.
“The room beneath the stairs?”
Chief went still.
“How do you know about that?”
Maxwell stared at him.
“Because I remember.”
Chief's expression changed.
For the first time, Maxwell realized something.
May you like
His father was not surprised that he had returned.
He was terrified that Maxwell remembered.
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