Chapter 5 - The Photograph With Two Names
Ava stared at the photograph.
Her mother stood outside the warehouse.
Beside her was a man Ava had never seen.
But the man was holding a newborn baby.
Ava's breath caught.
“That's me.”
Julian looked at the photograph.
“No.”
Ava turned.
“What?”
“That baby is too young.”
She looked closer.
The photograph had been taken twenty-nine years ago.
She had been born that year.
Her mother's expression was terrified.
The man beside her was Julian's father.
Ava felt sick.
“Why was your father holding me?”
Julian had no answer.
Marcus appeared behind them.
“Because he thought you were dead.”
Ava turned.
“What?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“The night of the fire, your mother gave birth to you.”
Ava stared.
“She gave birth?”
“Yes.”
“My mother never told me.”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at Julian.
“Because someone was watching the hospital.”
Julian's face became rigid.
“My father?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The person who still works for Crosswell.”
Julian's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Before Marcus could answer, the lights went out.
Ava gasped.
Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Julian immediately reached for her.
“Stay with me.”
His hand found hers.
She squeezed it.
A phone rang somewhere in the darkness.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Ava whispered, “Who's there?”
No answer.
Julian's phone illuminated the corridor.
The man in the black jacket was gone.
So was Marcus.
Julian cursed.
Ava looked at the photograph.
There was something written on the back.
She turned it over.
Two names.
Elena Monroe.
And beneath it:
Julian Cross.
Her fingers went cold.
“Julian.”
He looked.
“What?”
She handed him the photograph.
He read the names.
Then stared at her.
“Why would my name be here?”
Ava swallowed.
“I don't know.”
They returned to the Crosswell headquarters before dawn.
Noah met them at the private entrance.
“You disappeared for three hours.”
Julian handed him the photograph.
“Find out who authorized the West Briar clearance.”
Noah looked at it.
Then his face changed.
“You need to see this.”
He opened his tablet.
A security file appeared.
Ava leaned closer.
The file contained footage from the night before.
A man entered the West Briar building.
He walked directly to Ava's apartment.
He carried no weapon.
Instead, he carried a photograph.
Ava watched him place it beneath her father's door.
Then the man turned toward the camera.
Ava gasped.
She knew him.
He had been standing behind Julian in the lobby that morning.
One of the executives.
Noah whispered, “That's Richard Hale.”
Julian's oldest board member.
Julian's face became stone.
“He's been with Crosswell for twenty-two years.”
Ava stared at the screen.
“Then he knows everything.”
“No,” Julian said.
“He knows enough.”
Julian reached for the phone.
But before he could call security, Noah received another alert.
He read it.
“Julian.”
“What?”
“Richard Hale just accessed the private archive.”
Julian's eyes hardened.
“Which archive?”
May you like
Noah looked up.
“The one your father locked before he died.”
