Chapter 3 - THE ROOM BELOW THE HOUSEThe lights came back on.
But the mansion was no longer quiet.
Police officers rushed through the hallways.
Doors slammed.
Footsteps echoed overhead.
Mark kept Elena behind him.
Victoria stood against the basement wall, trembling.
The police searched the main floor.
“No one,” an officer called.
Mark frowned.
“Then what triggered the alarm?”
The security manager checked the system.
“Someone accessed the office.”
Mark looked at Victoria.
“From where?”
“Remote access.”
The security manager shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The system was accessed from inside the house.”
Everyone went silent.
Someone was still there.
Mark's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
A man's voice replied.
“You shouldn't have opened the basement.”
Mark looked toward Victoria.
“Who are you?”
“You'll find out soon.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
Mark's eyes narrowed.
“What ledger?”
The man laughed.
“Your wife knows.”
The call ended.
Mark turned toward Victoria.
“What ledger?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I was hoping we'd never have to find it.”
“Find what?”
“The original records.”
“Where?”
“Your father's lake house.”
Mark stared.
“My father had a lake house?”
“Yes.”
“You've been there?”
“Once.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was trying to keep it hidden.”
Mark shook his head.
“I'm done hearing that.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Mark, if you go there, you will be walking into a trap.”
“Everything tonight has been a trap.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Then we need to know what we're walking into.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You shouldn't be involved.”
“I already am.”
Victoria's face softened for a moment.
“I know.”
The police agreed to escort them.
Before they left, Elena noticed something on the basement floor.
A small black device.
She picked it up.
“What is this?”
The security manager examined it.
“A transmitter.”
Mark looked at Victoria.
“Someone planted this.”
Victoria nodded.
“They've been listening to us.”
Elena's stomach tightened.
“How long?”
The security manager looked at the device.
“Possibly months.”
The lake house was an hour outside the city.
When they arrived, the front door was already open.
Mark stepped out of the vehicle.
“Stay behind the officers.”
They entered carefully.
The house smelled of dust and old wood.
Everything looked untouched.
Then Elena noticed something on the wall.
A photograph of Mark's father.
Next to it was another photograph.
Her own father.
Elena stopped.
“My father.”
Mark turned.
“You know him?”
“My father worked security for your family years ago.”
Victoria stared at the photograph.
“I didn't know that.”
Elena looked at her.
“He disappeared when I was a teenager.”
Mark's face softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena touched the photograph.
“He always told me never to trust people who smiled too much.”
Victoria looked away.
They searched the house.
Nothing.
Then Elena noticed the floor.
One board was slightly raised.
She knelt.
“Mark.”
He came over.
Together they lifted it.
A metal box was underneath.
Inside was a black leather ledger.
Mark opened it.
The pages were filled with names and payments.
Richard Hayes.
Several executives.
Lawyers.
Politicians.
And then—
Victoria Hayes.
Mark's eyes froze.
He looked at his wife.
“You were paid.”
Victoria shook her head.
“Not for what you think.”
“How much?”
“It wasn't payment.”
“It says your name.”
“Because I made a deal.”
“What deal?”
Victoria looked down.
“I agreed to help them.”
Mark stared at her.
“You joined them?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I became their informant.”
Silence.
Victoria continued.
“I needed access to their records. They trusted me because I was your wife.”
Mark's expression hardened.
“You used our marriage.”
“I used their trust.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied for years.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me believe your lies.”
Victoria began crying.
“I thought I could end it.”
“You almost got Claire killed.”
“I know.”
Elena looked at the ledger.
“There's something missing.”
Mark looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed to the final pages.
“They jump from page 81 to page 84.”
Three pages had been removed.
Victoria's face went pale.
“They have the missing pages.”
“Who?”
“Richard.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Everyone dropped.
The police returned fire.
Another bullet struck the wall.
Mark grabbed Elena.
“Down!”
The shooting stopped.
An officer ran outside.
The attacker was gone.
But on the porch was a message written on a piece of paper.
Mark picked it up.
YOU FOUND THE LEDGER.
UNDERSTAND THIS:
THE LEDGER IS NOT THE END.
May you like
IT IS THE BEGINNING.
===
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