Chapter 6 - The Archive Nobody Was Supposed to Find
We reached Storage Facility Seventeen forty minutes later.
The building sat behind an industrial district near the river.
Daniel brought two security officers.
Grant insisted on coming.
I didn't want him there.
But I needed answers.
The door to Unit R-17 was locked.
Daniel entered the access code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Then Grant stepped forward.
“I know another code.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“My grandfather gave it to me.”
“My grandfather.”
“Yes.”
He entered six numbers.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Documents.
Photographs.
Bank records.
A locked metal cabinet.
Daniel walked directly toward it.
“That's it.”
“What?”
“The original archive.”
We opened the cabinet.
Inside was the red folder.
My hands shook.
I opened it.
The first page contained a list of names.
Executives.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Private investigators.
People who had received money from a hidden account.
At the bottom of the page was a handwritten note.
The person who ordered it is not on this list.
I turned the page.
There was another photograph.
My grandfather.
Grant.
Adrian.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
I stared at her face.
I knew her.
But I couldn't remember from where.
Grant whispered, “No.”
I looked at him.
“You know her.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He swallowed.
“Your mother.”
I dropped the photograph.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Grant nodded.
“I know.”
“Then why is she here?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel picked up the photograph.
“Because she wasn't dead.”
The room went silent.
I felt something inside me break.
For years, I had believed my mother died in a car accident overseas.
My grandfather had told me so.
My entire family had mourned her.
Grant had never mentioned seeing her.
Until now.
“Where is she?”
Grant looked at me.
“I don't know.”
Daniel examined the photograph.
“There's a date.”
Six years ago.
Three months before my wedding.
I turned toward Grant.
“You saw her before we married.”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She asked me to stay away from you.”
“What did she say?”
“That you were in danger.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And you married me anyway.”
“I loved you.”
“Then why did you betray me?”
His eyes filled.
“I thought leaving you was the only way to keep you alive.”
Before I could answer, a sound came from the back of the unit.
A metallic scrape.
Daniel raised his hand.
Everyone froze.
Another scrape.
Then a voice.
“Eleanor?”
I knew it.
I knew that voice.
I hadn't heard it since I was twelve.
My heart stopped.
“Mom?”
May you like
The hidden door behind the archive began to open.
And a woman's trembling hand appeared through the gap—
