Chapter 3
I almost opened the door.
Arthur stopped me.
“Don’t.”
“She’s right there.”
“That’s why.”
Denise knocked on the metal door.
Not hard.
Three calm taps.
“Malik.”
I whispered,
“How did she find us?”
Arthur pointed at my phone.
I stared at it.
The unknown message.
Of course.
Maybe it contained a tracking link.
Maybe someone had already compromised my number.
I switched it off.
Too late.
Denise spoke again.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
Arthur silently mouthed,
Lie.
I stepped closer to the door.
“Then leave.”
She laughed softly.
“You sound like Marcus.”
My chest tightened.
“You know where he is.”
Silence.
“Answer me!”
Arthur grabbed my shoulder.
I shook him off.
“Is my father alive?”
Denise finally replied.
“I don’t know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That’s not what you said at your house.”
“I said you were too late.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Marcus made choices twenty years ago that cannot be undone.”
I looked toward the military trunks.
“What’s in these files?”
“Things he misunderstood.”
Arthur muttered,
“Of course.”
Denise heard him.
“Arthur?”
He froze.
“I wondered if you were still cleaning graves.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“You always did know how to insult people beneath you.”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Arthur, if Malik sees those documents without context, he’ll destroy people who had nothing to do with Marcus’s paranoia.”
I stepped closer.
“Then give me the context.”
A pause.
“Come outside.”
“No.”
“Malik.”
“If you know me so well, you should know I’m not stupid.”
That silenced her.
Arthur whispered,
“Good.”
Then Denise changed tactics.
“Your mother knew.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Renee knew what Marcus did.”
“What did he do?”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Then find the red folder.”
I looked around.
Arthur’s eyes met mine.
On the second military trunk sat a red file.
I grabbed it.
“Got it.”
Denise said,
“Read the first page.”
I opened it.
A military incident report.
My father’s name appeared near the top.
CAPTAIN MARCUS CARTER.
Then a phrase.
UNAUTHORIZED REMOVAL OF CLASSIFIED MATERIAL.
My stomach tightened.
Arthur said,
“That was fabricated.”
Denise replied through the door,
“No, it wasn’t.”
I continued reading.
Marcus had allegedly stolen classified files.
Removed government property.
Threatened an officer.
Disappeared while under investigation.
I stared at Arthur.
“You said he ran because people were after him.”
“They were.”
“He was also accused of stealing military records.”
“Because those records proved the corruption.”
Denise spoke again.
“That is what Marcus told everyone.”
I shouted,
“Then what do you say happened?”
“He took evidence he didn’t understand, accused people based on partial financial records, and became convinced everyone was part of a conspiracy.”
Arthur laughed.
“Still rewriting history.”
Denise’s voice hardened.
“You weren’t there when he lost control.”
Arthur stepped closer to the door.
“I was there when Peter died.”
Silence.
“I was there when Calvin died.”
Denise said nothing.
“I was there when Marcus found your signature on the procurement forms.”
Her voice turned cold.
“You should be very careful.”
Arthur smiled without humor.
“There she is.”
I looked between the door and the file.
My head hurt.
Two stories.
Both sounded possible.
That was the worst part.
I opened another folder.
Bank records.
Payments from military contractors to shell companies.
One company name repeated.
Walker Strategic Consulting.
I called out,
“Your family company received money.”
Denise answered immediately.
“Consulting fees.”
“From the same contractors my father was investigating.”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“Business often looks convenient when you don’t understand it.”
Arthur muttered,
“She always talked like that.”
I opened a second file.
Photographs.
Victor Walker shaking hands with uniformed officers.
Victor at a warehouse.
Victor with my father.
That surprised me.
“Marcus knew Victor personally.”
Denise went quiet.
“How?”
No answer.
I found a handwritten note.
MARCUS — KEEP WALKER CLOSE UNTIL WE KNOW WHO HE REPORTS TO.
“Who wrote this?”
Arthur leaned over.
“Peter.”
The dead soldier.
My pulse jumped.
Then I saw something else.
A sealed envelope marked RENEE.
My mother’s name.
My hands shook.
Denise suddenly spoke.
“Do not open that.”
I stared toward the door.
“Why?”
“That letter was never meant for you.”
“That’s exactly why I’m opening it.”
“Malik.”
I tore it.
Inside was a six-page handwritten letter.
My father’s handwriting.
Renee,
If you are reading this, I have already failed to come home.
My throat tightened.
I continued.
I need you to hate me enough to let me disappear.
If they believe you and Malik know where I am, they will use you.
Denise knows more than she admits.
Victor is involved, but I no longer believe he is in control.
I stopped.
Arthur leaned closer.
“Keep reading.”
There is someone inside the military feeding Victor information.
I trusted Denise because she promised to help identify them.
Now I believe she betrayed me.
I looked toward the door.
Denise said nothing.
The next lines changed everything.
But if Denise comes to you, listen before you run.
She may still be the only person who can prove what happened.
I stared.
Arthur looked confused.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Neither did I.
My father warned me not to trust Denise.
But he told my mother she might be the only person who could prove the truth.
“What were you to him?” I shouted.
Denise did not answer.
“What did you do?”
Silence.
I grabbed the metal door.
Arthur tried to stop me.
“Malik.”
“I’m done talking through steel.”
I lifted it.
Denise stood alone outside.
No guards.
No weapon.
No car nearby.
Just her.
She looked at the open storage unit.
Her face lost all color.
“You opened everything.”
“Not yet.”
She saw the wall of photographs.
Her breathing changed.
Then she noticed one recent picture.
The photograph of her outside the federal building.
Her face twisted.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
She walked inside.
Arthur stepped in front of her.
“Careful.”
Denise ignored him.
She grabbed the photograph.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was here.”
“No.”
She turned it over.
A date was written on the back.
Six weeks ago.
Denise’s hands started shaking.
“Who took this?”
I stared.
“You tell me.”
She looked genuinely frightened.
“My father?”
Her eyes met mine.
“I haven’t seen Marcus in twelve years.”
Arthur froze.
“Twelve?”
“Yes.”
I stepped toward her.
“You saw him twelve years ago?”
Denise nodded.
“The night he gave Arthur that envelope.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“He came to my house first.”
“Why?”
Denise looked at me.
“To tell me he had finally found the person who betrayed him.”
My pulse jumped.
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Your mother.”
The words hit me like a punch.
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Renee would never.”
Denise reached for a folder.
“You wanted the truth?”
She opened it.
“Then stop worshiping people just because they’re dead.”
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Renee Carter.
Standing beside Victor Walker.
Not twenty years ago.
Fourteen.
I stared until my vision blurred.
Denise whispered,
“Your mother was never just the woman Marcus was trying to protect.”
May you like
She looked at me.
“She was part of the reason he had to disappear.”
