Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Red Folder
The whisper vanished as quickly as it came.
Daniel reached for the door.
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
The hallway remained silent.
Grant stood behind us.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
Nobody was there.
Daniel opened the door carefully.
An envelope lay on the floor.
No name.
No address.
Inside was a single photograph.
I recognized the woman immediately.
Madison.
But she wasn't with Grant.
She was standing beside a man I had never seen before.
Behind them was a vault.
The same vault from my grandfather's security report.
I looked at Grant.
He closed his eyes.
“You knew.”
“I knew she was involved with someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel took the photograph.
“That's Adrian Cole.”
Madison's brother.
I remembered the surname.
Cole.
Madison Cole.
“Was he connected to the bank?”
Daniel nodded.
“He worked for a subsidiary.”
“Until when?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why was he fired?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Fraud.”
I stared at the photograph.
The unknown number sent another message.
Ask Madison why she chose Grant.
I didn't sleep that night.
The next morning, I went to the bank.
Grant was already there.
So was Madison.
She stood in the executive lobby wearing a cream coat, sunglasses, and the same diamond ring.
She looked at me.
“Emma.”
I stopped.
“Don't call me that.”
Her expression shifted.
“Eleanor.”
Grant appeared behind her.
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
Madison stepped forward.
“You think you know everything.”
“I know enough.”
“You don't.”
She removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were frightened.
Not arrogant.
Frightened.
“My brother is missing.”
I stared at her.
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Why didn't you tell Grant?”
“I did.”
I looked at him.
Grant didn't deny it.
Madison continued.
“Adrian was investigating the money transfers.”
“Why?”
“He found out someone was using his credentials.”
Daniel arrived.
He listened carefully.
Then asked, “Where is the red folder?”
Madison froze.
I noticed.
“What red folder?”
She looked at me.
“The one your grandfather kept.”
My pulse quickened.
“What does it contain?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Everyone who was paid.”
“Paid for what?”
Madison's lips trembled.
“The night your grandfather died.”
Grant stepped closer.
“Madison.”
She looked at him.
“I can't keep lying.”
The lobby suddenly became quiet.
A security guard approached.
“Miss Vale?”
“Yes?”
“We found this in the parking garage.”
He handed me a small black box.
I opened it.
Inside was my grandfather's old watch.
The one he had been wearing the night he died.
I knew it because I had buried him with it.
Except he wasn't wearing it now.
My fingers tightened around the box.
There was something engraved on the back.
A number.
R-17.
Daniel saw it.
His face changed.
“That's not a serial number.”
“What is it?”
“An archive designation.”
“Where?”
He looked toward Grant.
Grant whispered the answer.
“Storage facility seventeen.”
Madison stepped back.
“I've never been there.”
Grant looked at her.
“You're lying.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Her face turned white.
She handed the phone to me.
A man's voice came through.
“Eleanor Vale.”
“Yes?”
“Your grandfather didn't die that night.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
The line went dead.
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Who was that?”
I looked at Grant.
He looked just as shocked.
May you like
Then Madison whispered—
“My brother.”
