Chapter 4 - The Secret in Sadi's Past
Sadi didn't move.
Desmond looked at her.
“What did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus laughed.
“You really expect him to believe that?”
Sadi's face hardened.
“You're the one standing in his house lying about where you were.”
Marcus stepped closer.
Desmond raised a hand.
“Leave.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Sir—”
“Leave.”
Marcus walked away.
The door closed.
Desmond turned toward Sadi.
“Tell me everything.”
“I don't know what he thinks I know.”
“Then start with your past.”
Sadi sighed.
She sat in the chair opposite him.
“My father worked security.”
Desmond said nothing.
“He worked for a wealthy family.”
“Which family?”
She looked at him.
“Yours.”
Desmond's expression changed.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You never asked.”
“What happened?”
“My father disappeared.”
Desmond stared.
“He was accused of stealing money from your company.”
“I don't remember.”
“Because people like you don't remember people like us.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
Sadi looked away.
“My father always said he was innocent.”
Desmond was silent.
“Then one night, he vanished.”
“Was he ever found?”
“No.”
Desmond lowered his eyes.
“What's his name?”
“Thomas Bennett.”
Desmond's face changed.
He knew that name.
Thomas Bennett had been one of his father's security supervisors.
A loyal employee.
At least, that was what Desmond remembered.
Sadi continued.
“My father left one thing behind.”
“What?”
“A key.”
She pulled a small brass key from the inside pocket of her bag.
Desmond stared at it.
“What does it open?”
“I don't know.”
He reached for it.
She gave it to him.
He turned it over.
A number was engraved on the metal.
17.
Desmond looked toward the archive.
“There's a room seventeen.”
Sadi frowned.
“You said three rooms were locked.”
“There are more.”
They went downstairs.
Room seventeen was behind a false wall.
Desmond used the key.
The door opened.
Inside were boxes.
Old documents.
Photographs.
Financial records.
Sadi picked up a folder.
Her father's name was written across it.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Thomas standing beside Desmond's father.
On the back:
HE KNOWS ABOUT THE SECOND ACCOUNT.
Desmond grabbed another file.
Bank transfers.
Shell companies.
Payments made shortly before the bombing.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Marcus Vale.
Sadi looked at him.
“So he was involved.”
“Maybe.”
“You're still protecting him.”
“No.”
Desmond turned another page.
There was a handwritten note.
If Desmond survives, eliminate the caregiver before she finds the ledger.
Sadi's face went pale.
Desmond looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed.
“My name.”
At that moment, the lights went out.
The room became completely dark.
Sadi heard the lock click.
Someone had locked them inside.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Desmond.”
He recognized it immediately.
Marcus.
“Your caregiver isn't the person you should fear.”
A pause.
May you like
“She never was.”
Then something heavy struck the door from the other side.
