Chapter 6 - The alarm didn't sound like an alarm.It sounded like the house itself was screaming.
Red lights pulsed through the corridors.
Security doors slammed shut.
Men shouted into radios.
And Leo stood in the center of the chaos, clutching the key as if it were a toy.
Adrian reached him first.
He dropped to one knee.
"Who gave you this?"
Leo looked frightened.
"A man."
"What did he look like?"
"Like you."
Adrian's expression tightened.
"Exactly like me?"
Leo nodded.
"Same eyes."
My stomach twisted.
Adrian stood.
"Take Leo to the safe room."
Two guards rushed forward.
Leo grabbed my hand.
"No."
Adrian looked at him.
"I want Nora."
The request surprised all of us.
Adrian crouched again.
"Nora goes with you."
Leo shook his head.
"She stays with you."
"Why?"
"Because Mama said so."
Adrian went still.
"What did your mother say?"
Leo whispered,
"She said Nora would come when the door opened."
My blood went cold.
"What door?"
Leo pointed toward the floor.
I looked down.
The key in his hand was engraved with the same black triangle and white line I had seen on my mother's coat.
Adrian saw it too.
He took the key.
"There is only one place in this house that uses this symbol."
"Where?"
"The old basement."
My heart sank.
"You have a basement?"
"Everyone has a basement."
"Not one that requires a secret key."
"Apparently I do."
We descended beneath the estate.
The elevator traveled farther than I expected.
Much farther.
When the doors opened, a corridor stretched into darkness.
The walls were reinforced steel.
No windows.
No decorations.
Just doors.
Adrian inserted the key into the first lock.
Nothing.
Second.
Nothing.
Third.
Nothing.
Fourth.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a laboratory.
My breath caught.
Computers.
Medical equipment.
Hundreds of files.
Photographs.
And along one wall were monitors displaying names.
Adrian stepped inside.
"What is this?"
I whispered.
He looked at me.
"I was hoping you'd tell me."
A screen suddenly flickered on.
A video began.
My mother appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
My knees nearly gave out.
"Nora," she said.
The video was clearly recorded years ago.
"If you're watching this, then I am dead."
My breath broke.
Adrian stood motionless.
My mother continued.
"You won't understand why I lied to you. I needed you to hate the truth more than you hated me."
Tears filled my eyes.
"There is a man who built his empire by buying secrets. He doesn't care about money. He cares about control."
The screen showed a name.
GABRIEL HALE.
My boss.
I whispered his name.
Adrian cursed.
My mother continued.
"Hale is responsible for Project Echo."
The screen changed.
Photographs flashed.
Hospitals.
Shipping docks.
Children.
Police officials.
Then Leo.
As a baby.
My mother held him.
"The boy is the key."
Adrian stepped forward.
"What does that mean?"
The video couldn't answer.
It continued.
"Adrian will tell you that he didn't know."
My mother looked directly at the camera.
"He's telling the truth."
I turned toward Adrian.
Her next words nearly broke him.
"But he doesn't know everything."
The screen changed again.
A document appeared.
SUBJECT ECHO: LEO VOSS.
My mother's voice continued.
"Leo was born with a rare genetic condition. Hale discovered it could be used to access something more dangerous than money."
"What?" I whispered.
"The human body can carry information."
My skin crawled.
"Someone used Leo as a biological key."
Adrian's face turned pale.
The video ended.
Silence.
Then the laboratory lights came on.
Every monitor displayed the same message.
WELCOME HOME, NORA.
I turned.
"Hale is here."
Adrian drew his weapon.
"Nobody leaves this room."
Too late.
The door locked behind us.
A voice came through the speakers.
"Hello, Adrian."
Adrian raised his gun toward the ceiling.
"Hale."
Gabriel Hale laughed.
Then another voice joined him.
A woman's voice.
One I'd heard once before.
The voice from my apartment.
"Hello, Nora."
I stopped breathing.
My mother.
Adrian stared at me.
The speakers hissed.
May you like
And my mother's voice said:
"Open the second door."
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