Chapter 5 - Vanessa's SecretVanessa drove to a private apartment she had never told Adrian about.
No photographs.
No company records.
No name on the mailbox.
She entered, locked the door, and immediately opened a hidden safe.
Inside were three passports.
Two phones.
A black USB drive.
And a thick envelope marked:
ELLISON FAMILY ARCHIVE
Vanessa stared at it.
Then she heard the elevator stop outside.
She froze.
Nobody knew about this apartment.
Nobody except one person.
The doorbell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
“Vanessa.”
She backed away.
“Who is it?”
“Daniel.”
She exhaled.
“Go away.”
“We need to talk.”
She opened the door only a crack.
Daniel Cross slipped inside.
He looked exhausted.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Neither should you.”
She shut the door.
“You resigned.”
“I was forced out.”
“What do you want?”
He looked at the safe.
“You know what I want.”
Vanessa stiffened.
“You said the emails would only scare Claire.”
“I said we would scare her into signing the transfer.”
“You said Adrian would cooperate.”
“He would have.”
“He hit her.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“That wasn't part of the plan.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Apparently Adrian has his own ideas about violence.”
Daniel looked at her carefully.
“Where is the file?”
“Safe.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You don't understand what that file contains.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She pulled the envelope from the safe.
“It contains everything about Claire's mother.”
Daniel went silent.
“And if the Ellisons discover who leaked it,” Vanessa continued, “none of us survive.”
Daniel stared at the envelope.
“Your mistake was believing the file belonged to you.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Both froze.
Daniel whispered.
“Who's outside?”
Vanessa shook her head.
The footsteps stopped.
Then came three knocks.
Daniel reached inside his jacket.
Vanessa whispered:
“Don't.”
A woman's voice followed.
“Vanessa?”
She recognized it.
Claire.
Her face turned white.
Impossible.
The door opened.
But Claire wasn't standing there.
A security team rushed in.
Vanessa screamed.
Daniel ran for the back exit.
He made it two steps.
A guard blocked him.
I entered last.
Calm.
Dry.
Composed.
Vanessa stared at me.
“How?”
I looked at the envelope in her hand.
“You're not very good at hiding things.”
She laughed nervously.
“You think this means you won?”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“I think it means you're finally going to explain.”
Vanessa tightened her grip.
“You don't know what you're holding.”
“Then tell me.”
She glanced at Daniel.
He looked terrified.
That was when I understood.
Whatever was inside the envelope was dangerous enough to scare both of them.
I reached for it.
Vanessa pulled it back.
“You can't have this.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother stole it.”
Everything inside me went still.
“What did you say?”
“She stole confidential research from Richard Mercer.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Daniel.
He looked away.
“Is that why you targeted me?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You were never the target.”
“Then who was?”
She hesitated.
“Your father.”
My heart dropped.
Vanessa's voice became a whisper.
“Your father destroyed my family twenty years ago.”
I stared at her.
“My father doesn't even know you.”
“He knows my father.”
That stopped me.
“Who was your father?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Jonathan Vale.”
Ethan, standing behind me, suddenly spoke.
“Jonathan Vale was Richard Mercer's former chief engineer.”
I turned.
“What happened to him?”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“He disappeared twenty-three years ago.”
Vanessa corrected him.
“He didn't disappear.”
She looked at me.
“He was killed.”
Silence filled the apartment.
Then she handed me the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Richard Mercer.
Jonathan Vale.
And my father.
All four standing around a laboratory table.
On the back of the photograph, in my mother's handwriting, were six words.
The person you trust betrayed everyone.
I stared at them.
May you like
Then I looked at my father's name.
For the first time in my life, I wondered whether the man who had spent twenty years protecting me had also been hiding the reason I needed protection.
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