Chapter 5 - The Secret Behind My Name
The person inside the hidden passage whispered my name again.
"Cecilia."
I froze.
Not because someone knew my name.
That had happened too many times already.
But because I knew that voice.
It wasn't a stranger.
It wasn't one of the people hunting Elena.
It was someone I had heard every day for three years.
Someone who knew my coffee order.
Someone who knew when my shift started.
Someone who had smiled at me while pretending nothing was wrong.
Dale Mercer.
My station supervisor.
I turned toward Elena.
She was staring at the darkness inside the hidden passage.
Her face had lost all color.
"You know him," I whispered.
She didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
My phone was still connected.
"Who is there?" Massimo demanded.
I didn't respond.
I couldn't.
Because my mind was trying to understand something impossible.
Dale was the person who fixed the station heater.
The person who complained about broken ticket machines.
The person who brought me leftover sandwiches when I worked late.
The person who told me to stay away from Massimo.
The person who acted like he was protecting me.
But now he was standing inside a secret room hidden behind my bedroom wall.
A room full of files about Massimo.
A room full of pictures of me.
"Elena."
Her eyes moved toward me.
"How long?"
I swallowed.
"How long have you known about this?"
She looked away.
"Not long."
"That's not an answer."
Her silence made my anger grow.
"You brought me into this."
"No."
Her voice became urgent.
"I tried to keep you away."
I pointed toward the hidden room.
"Someone built a secret room in my apartment."
She looked at the files.
"Someone who wanted to watch you."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Because a sound came from the passage.
A slow step.
Then another.
Someone was walking closer.
I grabbed the nearest object I could find.
A heavy candle holder.
It was ridiculous.
Completely useless.
But sometimes fear made people hold onto anything.
Elena noticed.
"You won't need that."
"That's easy for you to say."
She looked at me.
"I spent six years hiding from people like this."
Her voice dropped.
"I know what they do."
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared at the entrance of the hidden passage.
Then a man stepped into the room.
"Dale."
The name left my mouth before I could stop it.
He looked older than he did at the station.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like the friendly mask had finally been removed.
His eyes moved from me to Elena.
Then to the phone.
"Massimo is listening, isn't he?"
I tightened my grip on the phone.
Massimo answered before I could.
"Hello, Dale."
The change in Dale's face was immediate.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not the fake kind.
Not the kind people showed when they wanted sympathy.
The kind that appeared when someone realized a plan had failed.
"Massimo."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"How long have you known?"
Massimo didn't answer.
Dale laughed quietly.
A tired laugh.
"I should have known."
"Known what?" Massimo asked.
"That Elena would find a way back to you."
I looked between them.
"You two know each other."
Dale looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Cecilia."
Those words hurt more than anger would have.
Because they confirmed everything.
He knew.
He had always known.
"How long have you been lying to me?"
His expression changed.
Not guilt.
Regret.
"Since before you started working at Hawthorne Junction."
I felt the room spin.
Before I started working there.
The photograph.
The one showing me behind Massimo seven years ago.
It suddenly made sense.
Except it didn't.
"Why am I in that picture?"
Dale didn't answer.
Massimo did.
"Cecilia."
His voice was quiet.
"Because you were never supposed to be there."
I looked at the phone.
"What does that mean?"
Silence.
Then Elena stepped forward.
"Massimo."
"No."
His voice stopped her.
"You don't get to protect her anymore."
Elena looked hurt.
"I was trying to protect both of you."
"By disappearing?"
"By surviving."
The room became silent.
Six years of pain stood between them.
Six years of unanswered questions.
Six years of believing someone was gone.
Then Dale spoke.
"There is something you both need to understand."
Nobody looked at him.
But he continued.
"The night Elena disappeared wasn't the beginning."
My eyes moved toward him.
"It was the ending."
Massimo's voice became cold.
"Explain."
Dale looked at the files around the room.
"This room wasn't built to watch Cecilia."
He picked up an old folder.
"It was built to protect her."
I stared.
"What?"
Dale handed me the folder.
My name was written on it.
Cecilia Rowan.
My hands became cold.
I opened it.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Records.
But the first page was the one that made my heart stop.
My birth certificate.
Except the name of my father had been covered.
Someone had written over it.
A handwritten note.
"She cannot know who she belongs to."
I looked at Dale.
"What is this?"
He didn't answer.
Massimo did.
"Cecilia."
His voice sounded different.
Careful.
Like he was afraid of the words.
"Your father wasn't a random man."
I looked at him.
"Who was he?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Dale slowly looked toward the door.
"The person who ordered Elena's disappearance."
The air left my lungs.
"No."
Dale nodded.
"I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
He looked at the documents.
"Everything connects back to one person."
Massimo stepped closer to the phone.
"Say the name."
Dale hesitated.
And that hesitation terrified me.
Because whatever name he was afraid to say was powerful enough to scare everyone in the room.
Finally, he whispered:
"Richard Vale."
Massimo went silent.
Elena closed her eyes.
And I knew immediately.
That name mattered.
"Who is Richard Vale?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then Massimo said:
"The man who taught me everything."
I stared.
"The man who raised me."
The room felt smaller.
"The man I trusted more than anyone."
Dale looked at me.
"And the man who has been looking for you for seven years."
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
One photo.
I opened it.
My hands started shaking.
It was a picture of the hidden room.
Taken moments ago.
From inside.
The message underneath had only six words.
"Don't trust the man beside you."
I looked around.
Elena was beside me.
Dale was beside me.
The phone was in my hand.
Then another message arrived.
This time with a name.
A name that made Massimo's voice turn into a warning.
"Cecilia..."
I looked at the screen.
The sender was not unknown anymore.
It had a name.
Marcus.
Massimo's own bodyguard.
May you like
And the message said:
"Boss is not who you think he is."
