Chapter 15: Hawthorne House
Leah left the city through the underground parking garage beneath Daniel’s apartment.
Nina drove.
Adrian sat in the back seat beside Leah, reviewing the fake hotel video frame by frame.
“It’s more sophisticated than the Caldwell footage,” he said.
“So they learned,” Leah replied.
“Or Caldwell learned from them.”
Inside Eleanor’s notebook, Leah had found a hand-drawn map and one sentence.
THE ORIGINAL RECORDS WERE NEVER IN THE TOWER.
The map led north of the city.
To Hawthorne House.
The property had been abandoned since the fire. Ashford Holdings had sold the surrounding land, but the damaged building remained behind a rusted fence because environmental reports declared it unsafe.
Nina stopped the car near an old service road.
“You’re sure about this?” she asked.
“No,” Leah said.
They climbed through a break in the fence.
Hawthorne House stood beyond a line of dead trees.
The main roof had collapsed long ago. Blackened brick walls rose from weeds and broken stone.
Leah stopped at the edge of the property.
A memory flashed through her mind.
Smoke.
A woman shouting.
A blue sweater scratching her neck.
Then it was gone.
Adrian took her hand.
“We can leave.”
“No.”
They entered through the west wing.
Most rooms were empty.
In the basement, Nina found a metal door concealed behind burned shelving.
The lock had been replaced recently.
Adrian used a tool from the emergency kit to force it open.
Beyond the door was a narrow corridor.
The lights worked.
Someone had maintained the underground section.
They passed small rooms containing desks, filing cabinets, and old recording equipment.
On one wall, photographs showed Ashford employees entering Hawthorne House with their families.
Some faces were crossed out.
Others were marked with dates.
Leah found Nora Ellis’s photograph near the end of the wall.
It had been added recently.
Beneath it was a photograph of Mara.
Adrian opened a cabinet.
Inside were updated Courage Fund case files.
Addresses.
Medical reports.
Children’s school locations.
Every confidential detail the foundation possessed.
“They have access to everything,” Nina whispered.
A sound echoed from deeper in the corridor.
Footsteps.
Adrian switched off the lights.
They waited in darkness.
A flashlight beam appeared at the far end.
A man entered the records room.
Nina stepped behind him and pressed a metal bar against his back.
“Don’t move.”
The man raised his hands.
Daniel turned around.
Leah stared at her brother.
“What are you doing here?”
Daniel looked exhausted.
A bruise darkened one side of his face.
“I followed Silas before he was poisoned.”
“You knew about this place?”
“Not until last night.”
Adrian checked the corridor.
“Did anyone follow you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel placed a flash drive on the table.
“The people running Halcyon are not trying to destroy the Courage Fund.”
Leah looked at the wall of victims.
“Then what are they doing?”
“They’re using it to find people who survived the original Ashford program.”
A door slammed somewhere above them.
Daniel turned toward the sound.
“They found us.”
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The corridor lights went out.
Then smoke began pouring through the ventilation system.
