Chapter 7: The Director
The steel doors slammed shut with a deafening boom.
A row of thick locking bolts shot into place.
The sound echoed through the underground archive like a prison sealing itself.
Marcus instinctively rushed toward the nearest exit.
He shoved both hands against the steel.
It didn't move.
Not even a fraction.
Detective Reeves joined him.
Together they pushed with everything they had.
Nothing.
"They're hydraulic," Reeves muttered.
"They're controlled remotely."
Marcus stepped back, breathing hard.
Every escape route was gone.
The emergency lights painted the room in a dim crimson glow.
Faces looked ghostly.
Blood appeared almost black.
Victoria stood perfectly still.
The remote detonator had slipped from her fingers and landed on the concrete.
She didn't even notice.
Marcus had never seen her afraid before.
Not during court.
Not during the inheritance battle.
Not even while pointing a gun at him.
But now...
She looked terrified.
A hidden speaker crackled overhead.
Then the same calm voice returned.
"Good afternoon."
No one answered.
"My name isn't important."
"You may call me..."
"...Director."
The voice carried no emotion.
It sounded almost pleasant.
Like someone introducing himself at a business meeting.
Marcus clenched his fists.
"Show yourself."
A soft chuckle echoed through the chamber.
"I've been watching you for years, Marcus."
Every head turned upward.
Tiny black camera lenses emerged from the ceiling one by one.
Marcus counted them.
Eight.
No...
Ten.
This room had been under surveillance long before today.
The Director continued.
"Victoria."
"You've disappointed me."
Victoria finally spoke.
"I protected him for thirty-one years."
"You failed."
"I delayed you."
"You delayed the inevitable."
Marcus stared at his sister.
"What is he talking about?"
She closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
Marcus stepped closer.
"No more apologies."
"No more half-truths."
"Tell me."
Silence.
Then...
Victoria slowly looked at him.
"When Mom and Dad adopted you..."
"...they didn't know who you really were."
Marcus frowned.
"I was an orphan."
Victoria shook her head.
"No."
"You were stolen."
The words landed like stones.
Marcus's heartbeat quickened.
"What?"
Benjamin Hart lowered his head.
"I should've told you years ago."
Marcus looked between them.
"Someone explain this."
Hart took a long breath.
"Thirty-one years ago..."
"...a private adoption agency disappeared overnight."
"Officially, it went bankrupt."
"In reality..."
"...its records were destroyed because they connected hundreds of missing infants to wealthy buyers."
Marcus stared.
"My parents weren't buyers."
"No."
Hart answered immediately.
"They were victims too."
"They believed every document was legitimate."
Marcus slowly nodded.
That much, at least, fit everything his mother had written.
The Director interrupted.
"Benjamin."
"You always did enjoy speeches."
Hart ignored him.
"Most of those babies were never identified."
"But one..."
He looked directly at Marcus.
"...was."
Marcus felt a knot tighten in his stomach.
Victoria whispered,
"Your birth certificate wasn't fake."
Marcus frowned.
"But I was adopted."
"Yes."
"So?"
She swallowed hard.
"The name on your original birth certificate..."
"...wasn't Marcus."
Silence.
Marcus could barely breathe.
"What was it?"
Victoria hesitated.
For just a second.
Then she answered.
"Michael."
The name meant nothing.
Marcus waited.
"Who's Michael?"
Nobody answered.
Even the Director remained silent.
Then Hart quietly said,
"Michael Beaumont."
The surname hit Reeves first.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
Marcus looked at the detective.
"You know it?"
Reeves nodded slowly.
"The Beaumont family."
"They disappeared thirty-one years ago."
Marcus frowned.
"I've never heard of them."
Reeves looked pale.
"Because somebody erased them."
The Director laughed.
"I see someone finally did his homework."
Marcus looked back toward the hidden speaker.
"What happened to them?"
The Director answered with chilling calm.
"They owned something."
"What?"
"They refused to sell."
Marcus frowned.
"Sell what?"
"A technology patent."
Marcus blinked.
This wasn't what he expected.
Not money.
Not inheritance.
A patent?
Hart continued.
"Marcus..."
"Your biological father wasn't a businessman."
"He was an engineer."
"He developed an encryption system decades ahead of its time."
Marcus looked confused.
"Encryption?"
Reeves understood immediately.
"Oh God..."
Hart nodded.
"It was worth billions."
Marcus laughed in disbelief.
"This is insane."
Victoria quietly replied,
"I wish it were."
The Director continued almost proudly.
"When negotiations failed..."
"...the Beaumont family disappeared."
Marcus whispered,
"They were murdered?"
"No."
"Most of them."
Marcus's stomach twisted.
"Most?"
The voice paused.
Then came the answer.
"The baby survived."
Silence.
Marcus suddenly understood.
"No..."
The Director finished the sentence.
"You."
Marcus stumbled backward.
Every memory.
Every discovery.
Every lie.
They all shifted again.
He wasn't simply an adopted child.
He had been the last surviving member of another family.
Sarah.
Leo.
Marcus suddenly understood why they were in danger.
Not because of the inheritance.
Because of him.
Victoria began crying.
"I was nineteen when I found out."
Marcus looked at her.
"Mom showed me the adoption papers."
"I thought they were ordinary."
She laughed bitterly.
"They weren't."
"Someone had been searching for you."
Marcus whispered,
"So you hid me."
She nodded.
"I destroyed records."
"I changed files."
"I bribed people."
"I lied."
"I did everything I could."
Marcus stared.
"And Mom?"
Victoria's tears fell freely.
"She wanted to tell you."
"I begged her not to."
Marcus's voice grew colder.
"So instead..."
"...you poisoned her."
Victoria covered her face.
"I only wanted to keep her confused enough that she couldn't reveal your identity."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"You killed her."
Her shoulders shook.
"I know."
The Director interrupted.
"A touching family reunion."
"But we're wasting time."
One of the steel cabinets suddenly clicked open by itself.
Inside...
A large monitor switched on.
Static flickered.
Then the image cleared.
Sarah gasped.
Leo.
He was sitting inside a small white room.
Unharmed.
Reading a children's book.
Marcus rushed toward the screen.
"LEO!"
The boy couldn't hear him.
The feed was one-way.
The Director spoke again.
"He is safe."
"For now."
Marcus slammed his fist against the cabinet.
"If you touch him..."
"I won't."
"I don't need children."
Marcus frowned.
"Then why take him?"
The Director answered simply.
"Motivation."
The screen split into two images.
The second camera showed another room.
Marcus stopped breathing.
Caleb.
Alive.
Weak.
Connected to oxygen.
He looked older than on the cassette.
But unmistakably alive.
Marcus whispered,
"He's alive..."
Victoria nodded.
"I found him before they did."
"I've been hiding him."
Marcus looked at her in disbelief.
"You told me he died."
"So they'd stop looking."
The Director sighed.
"Victoria..."
"You've become sentimental."
She looked toward the ceiling.
"No."
"I became family."
Suddenly...
Every monitor in the room flashed red.
An alarm sounded.
A computerized voice echoed through hidden speakers.
"Unauthorized access detected."
The Director stopped speaking.
For the first time...
He sounded surprised.
"What?"
One by one...
The camera feeds went black.
The lights flickered.
Then a new face appeared on every screen.
A young woman.
Dark hair.
Late twenties.
Wearing a black hoodie.
She smiled directly into the camera.
"If you're hearing this..."
"...I finally hacked his network."
Marcus frowned.
He had never seen her before.
The woman looked straight into the camera and said one sentence that made Victoria collapse into a chair.
"Hello, Marcus."
May you like
"I'm your sister."
End of Chapter 7
