Chapter 2 - THE FALSE REFERENCE
Emergency lights flickered on, bathing the study in dim red.
Daniel, Julian's head of security, hurried through the doorway with his weapon drawn. “The east corridor is clear. We heard a shot near the service entrance.”
“Lock down the house,” Julian ordered. “Nobody leaves.”
Elena was still staring at the photograph.
“Who said that?” she whispered.
Julian didn't answer. He was watching the doorway.
Margaret took Elena's hand. “We need to move.”
“I want to know what is happening.”
“You will. But not in this room.”
Julian turned to Daniel. “Take my sister and Elena to the secure office. I'll check the corridor.”
“No,” Elena said.
Everyone looked at her.
“You're not going alone.”
A humorless expression crossed Julian's face. “You just watched three men point guns at me.”
“And you just stood up after pretending you couldn't walk for months. I think we're both done making decisions for each other.”
For a second, Julian seemed almost amused. Then the expression disappeared.
“Stay behind Daniel.”
They moved through a narrow passage that connected the study to the old records room. Elena had never been allowed inside. It contained locked filing cabinets, security monitors, and a steel door with a keypad.
Daniel entered a code. The door opened.
“Wait here,” he said.
Julian remained in the doorway. “Tell me about your father.”
Elena crossed her arms. “You first. Tell me why he was important enough for your sister to forge my employment history.”
Margaret answered. “Thomas was the last person to inspect Julian's SUV before the accident. He reported a problem with the braking system. The report disappeared. Two days later, he was dismissed.”
“He told me he quit,” Elena said.
“He was protecting you,” Margaret replied. “After the crash, he contacted me. He said the vehicle had been tampered with, but he couldn't prove who had done it.”
“Why didn't he go to the police?”
“He tried. The investigator assigned to the case was working for someone inside the company.”
Elena looked from Margaret to Julian. “And you never knew?”
Julian's face tightened. “I knew the crash wasn't an accident. I didn't know your father had warned anyone.”
She remembered a small brass key her father had pressed into her hand shortly before he died. He had told her to keep it safe and never give it to anyone who asked without explaining why.
“I have something,” she said.
She pulled a small brass key on a worn leather cord from the inner pocket of her cardigan.
Margaret inhaled sharply.
“Your father once told me he kept important records in a private garage locker,” she said. “He wouldn't use a digital account.”
Daniel returned. “Boss, we found a broken window in the east corridor. No intruder. Whoever fired the shot did it from outside.”
Julian took the key from Elena only after she nodded permission.
“Do you know what it opens?”
“No.”
May you like
Daniel examined the teeth. “Looks like an old storage lock.”
Elena looked at the key again. Her father had left her a way to find the truth. And someone had just come to the mansion to make sure she never used it.
