Chapter 5 - Adrian dragged me to the floor before the second shot.The room erupted into chaos.
Guards shouted.
Weapons fired.
Glass exploded.
Someone kicked the front door open.
By the time the lights returned, the hallway was empty.
The assassin was gone.
Adrian grabbed my shoulders.
"Are you hit?"
"No."
"Look at me."
I did.
His hands were shaking.
Barely.
But they were.
"You could have died."
"So could you."
"That's different."
"Why?"
His eyes hardened.
"Because I'm harder to replace."
That wasn't the answer I'd expected.
I looked away.
Then I heard a noise behind the wall.
A faint metallic click.
Adrian turned.
"What was that?"
"I don't know."
He pulled a flashlight from his pocket.
We searched the bedroom.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the tapping.
Three times.
I approached the wall.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Something clicked.
A narrow section of plaster opened inward.
Behind it was a small room.
No larger than a closet.
Inside were boxes.
Dozens of them.
Documents.
Photos.
Money.
And a child's drawing.
I stepped inside.
The drawing showed three people.
A woman.
A little boy.
And a man with black hair.
I knew the woman.
My mother.
The little boy was Leo.
I stared.
"That's impossible."
Adrian entered behind me.
His eyes went to the drawing.
"When was this made?"
I picked it up.
On the back was a date.
Six years ago.
Leo had been an infant.
"He couldn't draw this."
"No."
Adrian's voice was quiet.
"Someone drew him."
I found another photograph.
My mother holding baby Leo.
She was smiling.
And standing beside her was Adrian.
But there was something wrong.
They looked intimate.
Not romantic.
Familiar.
Like family.
I turned toward him.
"You told me you barely knew her."
"I said I knew of her."
"You lied."
His eyes locked on mine.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Before he could answer, I found a file.
The cover carried a single name.
PROJECT ECHO.
My fingers trembled.
Adrian's expression changed instantly.
"Put that down."
"No."
"Nora."
"You've known about this."
"Put it down."
I opened the file.
The first page contained photographs of people.
Some dead.
Some alive.
Some missing.
Then I saw my mother's name.
ELENA BENNETT. PRIMARY MEDICAL CONTACT.
Beneath it:
SUBJECT: LEO VOSS.
I looked at Adrian.
"Why is your son in this?"
He said nothing.
I flipped the page.
The next line made my blood freeze.
TRANSFER AUTHORIZED BY ADRIAN VOSS.
I stepped back.
"You gave them your son?"
"No."
The word came out like a gunshot.
"Then why is your name here?"
"I didn't authorize anything."
"The file says you did."
"It's forged."
"You expect me to believe that?"
He moved toward me.
"I don't care what you believe right now."
"Then tell me the truth!"
His jaw tightened.
"The truth is that six years ago someone inside my organization betrayed me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then why didn't you find them?"
"Because everyone I trusted was already dead."
Silence.
I looked down at the photographs again.
One image stopped me.
A woman in a medical gown.
Pregnant.
Beside her stood my mother.
I recognized the woman.
Leo's mother.
Adrian's wife.
I stared at the name beneath the picture.
MAYA VOSS.
The next photograph showed Maya smiling at my mother.
Then came another.
Maya in a hospital bed.
A monitor beside her.
A doctor signing papers.
Then a final line:
MATERNAL DEATH CONFIRMED. CHILD SURVIVED.
I looked at Adrian.
"How did she die?"
"Complications during childbirth."
"That's what you told everyone?"
"Yes."
I pointed at the photograph.
"Then why is there a second report?"
He didn't answer.
I opened it.
Cause of death: poisoning.
My heart stopped.
"Your wife was murdered."
His face went completely empty.
"I know."
"And you knew?"
"For six years."
"Then why did you let people think it was an accident?"
"Because the person who killed her wanted me to know he could do it again."
I stared.
"What?"
"He left a message."
"What message?"
Adrian looked at Leo's drawing.
"He told me the next person would be my son."
My hands went cold.
"And that's why you're so protective of him."
"That's part of it."
I frowned.
"What's the other part?"
He looked directly at me.
"Because Maya wasn't supposed to die."
Something in his voice made me stop.
He stepped closer.
"She was supposed to disappear."
I whispered,
"Why?"
"Because she knew the location of Project Echo."
I looked at the files.
"What is Project Echo?"
Adrian's eyes shifted to the door.
Before he could answer, Leo's voice came from the hallway.
"Papa?"
Adrian spun around.
Leo stood there alone.
The guards were gone.
His face was pale.
"Papa..."
He held up something in his tiny hand.
A key.
"Where did you get that?"
Leo pointed toward the staircase.
"A man gave it to me."
Adrian's entire body went rigid.
"What man?"
Leo swallowed.
"The one who looks like you."
Then the house alarm exploded.
Every window shattered at once.
And the entire estate dropped into darkness.
May you like
On the wall in front of us, illuminated by emergency red lights, four words appeared.
THE BOY KNOWS EVERYTHING.
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