Chapter 6 - We did not sleep that night.Wesley stayed on the couch.
I stayed in the study with the lights off.
At 3:12 a.m., Daniel arrived.
He entered through the back door.
“You brought evidence?”
“Yes.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You said you found it.”
“I found the recording.”
He looked relieved.
“Where is the ledger?”
“I don't know.”
Wesley entered the room.
“That's the problem.”
Daniel looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Daniel said,
“Eight years.”
Wesley lowered his eyes.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew your father's partners were stealing money.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was afraid.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Afraid enough to betray your mother?”
Wesley flinched.
“I didn't know they would target her.”
“You knew they wanted the house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Wesley looked at me.
“Because the house was never just a house.”
I stared at him.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He walked toward the floorboard.
“The ledger.”
I nodded.
“My father hid more than financial records.”
He crouched.
“There's an encrypted drive.”
“What?”
“Inside the wall.”
He pointed at the study's east wall.
“When Dad discovered what they were doing, he copied the entire accounting system.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Did you know?”
I shook my head.
Wesley continued.
“There's a digital archive. Names. Payments. Dates. Bank accounts.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought I could use it as leverage.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You joined them.”
“I infiltrated them.”
“You became one of them.”
Wesley's face tightened.
“I needed access.”
“To what?”
“The people behind Marcus.”
I felt the room grow colder.
“Marcus isn't the top.”
“No.”
“Who is?”
Wesley didn't answer.
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
His face went white.
“What?”
He showed us.
A new photograph.
Emily tied to a chair.
My daughter.
Alive.
Terrified.
A message beneath the image.
MIDNIGHT. HOUSE. BRING THE DRIVE.
I stood.
“They have her.”
Wesley nodded.
Daniel took the phone.
“This was taken recently.”
“How do you know?”
“The timestamp.”
My hands shook.
“We have to go.”
Daniel blocked the door.
“No.”
“My daughter is there.”
“Exactly why you don't go.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We trace the image.”
Wesley looked at him.
“They'll kill her.”
Daniel stayed calm.
“They may not have her.”
“What?”
“Look at the background.”
We all leaned closer.
A steel wall.
A red emergency light.
A narrow window.
Daniel zoomed in.
“That's not local.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the fire regulations are different.”
He enlarged the image.
A faded sign appeared behind Emily.
NORTHSTAR STORAGE
Daniel went still.
“What?”
He pulled out his phone.
Searched.
“There was a NorthStar storage facility outside town. Closed nine years ago.”
“Where?”
“Forty miles north.”
Wesley grabbed his coat.
“I’m going.”
“So am I,” I said.
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
“My daughter is there.”
“You're staying behind.”
I shook my head.
“You don't get to decide that.”
Daniel looked at me for several seconds.
Then finally nodded.
“All right.”
We drove north.
The abandoned facility appeared just after midnight.
We parked two hundred yards away.
No lights.
No guards.
Only an old sign swinging in the wind.
We entered through a broken side door.
The building smelled of dust and metal.
Then we heard something.
A woman's voice.
“Mom?”
Emily.
I ran.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
I stopped.
We listened.
Again.
“Mom?”
Then another voice.
A man.
“Come closer.”
Wesley stepped forward.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
A figure emerged from the darkness.
Marcus.
He smiled.
“Welcome.”
Wesley moved toward him.
“Where's Emily?”
Marcus shook his head.
“She's safe.”
“Show me.”
Marcus pointed behind us.
We turned.
A light came on.
Emily stood in the doorway.
Unbound.
Alive.
My relief lasted exactly two seconds.
Because she was smiling.
Not crying.
Not afraid.
Smiling.
She walked toward us.
“Mom.”
I stared at her.
Something was wrong.
Then she whispered,
“You found the recorder.”
Wesley froze.
Emily looked at me.
And said,
May you like
“Good.”
“Now we can finally finish what Dad started.”
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