Chapter 12 - My Grandfather's Last Secret
I ran to him.
Grandpa could barely stand.
I wrapped my arms around him.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he whispered,
“You shouldn't have come.”
I laughed through tears.
“You always taught me never to leave a job unfinished.”
His eyes filled.
“You were listening.”
I helped him sit.
Mason secured the door.
“We have maybe five minutes,” he said.
Grandpa nodded.
“Then listen.”
He pointed to the floor.
Beneath us was a massive steel hatch.
“What is that?”
“The original waste vault.”
“Elias said it held evidence.”
“He lied.”
Grandpa looked at me.
“It holds something worse.”
He handed me a key.
“Open it.”
I hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because they have spent twenty-seven years trying to destroy what's inside.”
I inserted the key.
The hatch opened.
Cold air rushed upward.
Below was a chamber full of steel drums.
But they weren't chemical barrels.
They were evidence containers.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
Tapes.
Documents.
Everything Redwood had tried to erase.
Grandpa whispered,
“They stored the original records here.”
“Why?”
“Because after the first investigation failed, someone inside the company decided the only safe place for evidence was somewhere the company would never search.”
“Who?”
Grandpa looked at me.
“Me.”
I stared.
“You built this?”
“Yes.”
“How did you keep it hidden?”
“Your grandmother helped.”
I froze.
“You said she betrayed Sarah.”
“She did.”
“Then why help you?”
“She regretted it.”
Grandpa opened a box.
Inside was a letter.
My grandmother's handwriting.
Henry, I know what I did. I know Sarah will never forgive me. But Robert is still being threatened. Elias says they will kill him. I chose my son over my daughter. I have spent every day regretting it.
I couldn't stop reading.
“She protected Robert.”
Grandpa nodded.
“Because he was blackmailed.”
“By Elias?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your uncle was responsible for the death of the teenage farmhand in 1999.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He was driving the truck.”
“The accident?”
Grandpa nodded.
“Elias made him believe they could cover it up.”
“And Sarah found out.”
“Yes.”
“So Robert didn't kill her.”
“No.”
“He was just afraid.”
“He was also guilty.”
I looked at the vault.
“And you?”
Grandpa lowered his head.
“I helped bury the truth.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought keeping my family alive mattered more than justice.”
His voice broke.
“I was wrong.”
A metallic bang echoed through the tunnel.
Mason looked up.
“They're coming.”
Grandpa reached into another box.
He pulled out a small hard drive.
“This contains everything.”
“Then upload it.”
“There's no signal down here.”
“I can carry it.”
“No.”
He grabbed my hand.
“You need to understand.”
His eyes were desperate.
“The reason Redwood wants this property is not only the evidence.”
“Then what?”
“The farm sits above the old Blackwater reservoir.”
“And?”
“The reservoir is connected to three counties.”
I frowned.
“If the vault is opened incorrectly, the contaminated groundwater will enter the river.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then why open it?”
“We didn't.”
Elias had.
He intended to destroy the evidence by flooding the vault.
Grandpa pointed toward the steel pipes.
“The pumps are already running.”
Mason looked horrified.
“How long?”
Grandpa answered,
“Twenty minutes.”
I looked at the vault.
“We have to stop them.”
Grandpa shook his head.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the only shutoff is aboveground.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward the ceiling.
“Under the farmhouse.”
“The house is burning.”
“Yes.”
“Then we're going back.”
Grandpa grabbed my wrist.
“Hannah.”
“What?”
“There is one more thing.”
I waited.
He looked at me.
“Sarah is not the only person I hid from them.”
Behind us, a small door opened.
A young woman stepped into the chamber.
May you like
She was holding a gun.
And she had my face.
