Chương 6
Then she let go.
"Keep it."
Her voice changed.
"If Mara trusted you with it, then I was wrong."
That surprised me.
Not because she admitted being wrong.
Because she sounded like she meant it.
Reyes opened the hidden door.
"Now."
This time I followed.
Not because I trusted him.
Not because I trusted Vivian.
Because someone upstairs had just entered the house looking for me.
And for the first time since Mara disappeared, I understood the question was no longer where she had gone.
The question was what she had discovered that made everyone so afraid of where I would look.
The hidden passage opened into a cramped storage room beneath the east wing of the mansion, and for a few seconds none of us moved.
The air outside felt colder than it should have, carrying the smell of wet earth and pine from the hillside.
Reyes stepped out first and looked back toward the opening as if he expected the walls themselves to reveal who had been following us.
Vivian remained near the doorway, one hand pressed against the old wooden frame.
I held the folder against my chest.
It was strange how quickly paper could become heavier than stone.
A few hours earlier, I had wanted any evidence that could lead me to Mara.
Now I had evidence, and every page felt like it might take something from me.
"How long have you known about this tunnel?" I asked.
Reyes kept watching the mansion.
"About six months."
I looked at him.
"Six months?"
"It was part of the original property plans."
"That wasn't my question."
He exhaled through his nose.
"No, it wasn't."
Vivian glanced at him.
"Claire deserves more than half answers."
Reyes looked at her.
"So do you."
The way they looked at each other told me they had been having this argument long before I arrived.
Not the same argument.
The same wound.
"Enough," I said.
Both of them turned toward me.
"I don't need either of you to agree with each other right now."
I opened the folder.
"I need to know what this is."
The first pages were copies of old corporate records.
Most of them were financial documents, the kind of paperwork I would normally ignore after the first paragraph.
But certain names repeated.
Lydia Vale.
Ashford Industries.
Evelyn Ashford.
Thomas Ashford.
Adrian Ashford.
The dates stretched across years.
The oldest document was from before Mara was born.
The newest was only months old.
I looked at Vivian.
"Why does Lydia's name appear in company records after everyone said she was gone?"
Vivian's face tightened.
"Because someone kept using her credentials."
"Someone?"
"I don't know who."
"You don't know?"
"No."
Her answer was immediate, but not defensive.
It sounded like frustration.
"I spent years trying to find out."
I turned another page.
There was a handwritten note attached to a copied report.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
Not Mara's.
Not anyone else's I recognized.
It said: The original file was removed before the audit.
"What original file?"
Vivian looked at the page.
"The employee archive."
"Where is it?"
"Missing."
"Convenient."
She accepted the accusation without reacting.
"Yes."
That bothered me more than if she had argued.
People who knew they were innocent usually wanted you to know.
People carrying guilt often understood that innocence was not the only thing being questioned.
Reyes finally turned away from the mansion.
"We need to move."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because whoever placed that tracker knows where the folder is."
"Then why aren't they here already?"
Nobody answered.
A moment later, headlights moved across the trees.
The question answered itself.
A black SUV stopped near the edge of the property.
The engine stayed running.
Someone sat inside.
Waiting.
Reyes moved toward the wall beside the storage building.
"Stay down."
I followed him but kept looking at the vehicle.
"Is that Adrian?"
Vivian went still.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
"Then who?"
She didn't reply.
The SUV door opened.
A man stepped out.
Not Adrian.
Someone older.
Someone I recognized from a photograph in the mansion.
"Evelyn's attorney," Vivian whispered.
Reyes looked at her.
"Martin Cole?"
She nodded.
"He was supposed to retire."
"People retire from jobs," Reyes said.
"Not from secrets."
I looked between them.
"You both know him."
Reyes's expression changed.
"Everyone who worked around the Ashfords knew him."
"That sounds like another answer that avoids being an answer."
He looked at me.
"You're right."
The admission surprised me.
"Martin Cole handled legal matters for Ashford Industries for thirty years."
"Which means?"
"Which means if records disappeared, he would know how."
The man outside walked toward the mansion.
He did not hurry.
He did not look around nervously.
He walked like he had permission to be there.
My phone vibrated.
I expected another unknown message.
Instead, it was a saved contact.
Mara.
My fingers froze.
The call was not incoming.
It was an old voicemail notification.
I had listened to the same message hundreds of times.
But this one was different.
A second voicemail had appeared.
The date was from three days before she vanished.
I stared at the screen.
"That wasn't there before."
Reyes looked over.
"What?"
I played it.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then Mara's voice.
Quiet.
Tired.
"Claire, if you are hearing this, it means I didn't get back to you."
My throat tightened.
The recording continued.
"I know you are going to be angry that I didn't tell you everything."
I closed my eyes.
Even through a phone speaker, she sounded like my sister.
Like she was sitting across from me at our kitchen table, trying to explain something she knew I would hate.
"I need you to listen before you decide what you think."
There was a pause.
A long one.
"I found a record with Mom's name on it."
My eyes opened.
Vivian looked at me.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
May you like
Like she had already heard this.
"I don't know what it means yet," Mara continued.
