Chapter 22: The Man in the Walls
Detective Ellis attempted to trace the transmission.
The signal bounced through servers in four countries.
The monitors shut down before his technicians could locate Mara.
Rosa searched the underground room.
She found food wrappers, fresh batteries, and a folding bed.
Someone had been living beneath the center during the reconstruction.
“They watched us build this place,” she said.
“They watched the opening,” I replied.
Claire examined a wall of photographs.
There were pictures of every staff member.
Schedules.
License plates.
Copies of identification documents.
Noah had an entire section.
Photographs from the hospital.
Medical reports.
His birth certificate.
A lock of dark hair sealed in plastic.
I wanted to tear the room apart.
Instead, I forced myself to study it.
One photograph showed Claire entering a courthouse five years earlier.
Another showed her speaking to Jonathan Vale.
“When was this?” I asked.
Claire’s face lost its color.
“Before I met you.”
“You knew him.”
“I knew of him.”
“That is not what the photograph shows.”
She took the picture.
“I was investigating the Arden Foundation.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t know it was connected to you.”
“Why were you investigating it?”
“My former client disappeared after signing a guardianship agreement.”
“Was she found?”
“No.”
Claire placed the photograph back on the wall.
“I believed Jonathan Vale was laundering property through family courts.”
“Did you work for him?”
“No.”
“Then why does he have a photograph of you?”
“Because I was trying to expose him.”
I wanted to believe her.
But the center had been breached by someone with knowledge of the renovation.
Claire had supervised many of the legal reviews.
She had seen the building plans.
Detective Ellis opened a metal cabinet.
Inside were eleven cell phones.
One began ringing.
The number was blocked.
Ellis answered on speaker.
Mara’s voice filled the room.
“Elena?”
“I’m here.”
“They are listening.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know. It used to be a hospital.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m alive.”
“Who took you?”
“I can’t say his name.”
“Why?”
“Because he has Lily’s medical file.”
Lily had been born with a heart condition.
Someone had controlled her medication to force Mara’s cooperation.
“What do they want?” I asked.
“The ledger.”
“They asked for Noah.”
“The ledger is not complete without him.”
“What does that mean?”
“His blood activates the account.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me where you are.”
“I saw a sign when they brought me in. Saint Orison Maternity Annex.”
Detective Ellis wrote down the name.
The hospital had closed twenty-four years earlier.
Mara began speaking faster.
“Do not trust anyone who knew about the hidden room.”
The line crackled.
“Who knew?” I asked.
“Someone inside the center.”
A door opened near Mara.
She whispered one last sentence.
“He stood beside you when you cut the ribbon.”
The call ended.
Everyone present at the ceremony had stood beside me at some point.
My parents.
Rosa.
Lydia.
Sophia.
Detective Ellis.
Claire.
I looked around the underground room.
Claire was gone.
On the desk where she had been standing lay her center identification card.
May you like
Beneath it was a handwritten message.
I AM SORRY. I HAVE TO FINISH WHAT MY MOTHER STARTED.
