Chapter 14 - THE RECORDINGThe warehouse smelled like rust and rain.
We entered through the rear door.
Hale led.
Daniel followed.
Caleb stayed close to me.
Ryan came last.
The place was empty.
Almost.
A projector flickered to life.
A screen descended from the ceiling.
Then Martin appeared.
Not live.
A recording.
“I knew you'd come.”
He sat at a desk.
Older now.
Tired.
But unmistakably the man from my memory.
He placed a cassette on the table.
“This is the truth.”
The recording began.
Nine years earlier.
A younger Ryan.
A younger Vane.
My father.
They were standing around a table.
My heart sank.
Ryan stared at the screen.
“I've never seen this.”
Hale didn't answer.
The audio continued.
Vane said:
“She can't know about Package 18.”
Ryan replied:
“She doesn't know.”
My father said:
“She will if she checks the manifests.”
Martin spoke.
“Then change the route.”
My father looked shocked.
“No.”
Martin said:
“Then she'll expose all of us.”
I froze.
Ryan looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
The recording continued.
Vane:
“There's an easier option.”
My father's voice:
“No one touches Audrey.”
Martin:
“Then keep her away from the convoy.”
My younger voice suddenly appeared in the background.
“Dad?”
Everyone on screen turned.
I was standing at the tent entrance.
I had heard them.
I had known.
Not everything.
But enough.
Then Martin looked directly toward me.
The recording ended.
I could barely breathe.
“I saw them.”
Caleb nodded.
“You did.”
“Why don't I remember?”
“Because the explosion injured you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“They erased it.”
Hale stared at me.
“What?”
“After the attack, I was sedated.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“By who?”
I remembered the hospital.
A doctor.
A voice.
“Don't tell them what you saw.”
My father whispered:
“Martin had a doctor.”
I looked at him.
“You helped him.”
Dad began crying.
“I thought I was saving you.”
“You hid everything.”
“I was afraid.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“Audrey…”
I turned toward him.
“You knew.”
“I knew about the money.”
“You knew enough.”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“With stolen money.”
“I didn't know how else.”
I looked at the screen.
Then Martin appeared again.
This time live.
A camera somewhere in the warehouse.
“Beautiful, isn't it?”
Everyone turned.
His voice came from the speakers.
“Family.”
Hale shouted:
“Show yourself.”
Martin laughed.
“No.”
A red light blinked on the wall.
Then a timer appeared.
10:00.
Ryan stared.
“What is that?”
Martin's voice came through.
“You wanted the truth.”
The timer started.
“Now you can have all of it.”
9:59.
9:58.
Daniel moved toward the exit.
Locked.
Hale tried another door.
Locked.
Caleb's face turned pale.
“I know this room.”
“How do we get out?”
Caleb pointed toward the floor.
“There.”
A hidden hatch.
Hale opened it.
Darkness below.
Then Martin's voice whispered one final sentence.
“Only one of you knows the way out.”
The timer reached:
09:11
Ryan looked at us.
May you like
Then said:
“I do.”
