PART 4
For several seconds, I could not breathe.
The photograph on my phone was too clear to misunderstand.
Gabriel stood beneath the flickering security light outside Storage Unit 418.
Gerald was beside him.
And behind them, partially hidden by the darkness between two rows of storage containers, stood a third man.
He was holding a gun.
The message beneath the photograph was still glowing on my screen.
Your husband isn’t coming back with you.
Rachel read it over my shoulder.
“Oh my God.”
I zoomed in on the photograph.
The stranger’s face was mostly hidden by a black baseball cap.
But something about him looked familiar.
Not his face.
His jacket.
Dark brown leather.
I had seen it before.
At Gerald’s house.
Three weeks earlier.
The night I had accidentally walked into Gerald’s study and found him speaking to someone through the half-open door.
Gerald had immediately slammed the door shut.
At the time, I had assumed it was a business associate.
Now I knew better.
Rachel was shaking.
“We need to call the police.”
“I already did.”
She stared at me.
“When?”
“While you were reading the message.”
I held up my phone.
The emergency operator had taken our location and told us to stay somewhere safe.
But there was one problem.
Gabriel was still inside that storage facility.
And if the photograph was real, every second mattered.
Marcus suddenly stepped toward me.
“Don’t go there.”
I looked at him.
“You were paid to take me there.”
His face tightened.
“I was paid to move you. I wasn’t told they were going to kill anyone.”
“Who hired you?”
“Gerald.”
“Only Gerald?”
Marcus hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
“Who else?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Then describe him.”
Marcus looked at Rachel.
Then at me.
“Tall. Gray hair. Expensive watch. He walked with a slight limp.”
Rachel’s face suddenly went blank.
“What?”
Marcus frowned.
“You know him?”
Rachel shook her head slowly.
“No.”
But her voice said otherwise.
I grabbed her arm.
“Rachel.”
She looked at me.
“There is only one person I know who walks like that.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Uncle Robert.”
I stared at her.
“Gabriel’s uncle?”
Rachel nodded.
Robert Lawson was Gerald’s younger brother.
He had lived in another state for almost twenty years.
At least, that was what the family had always told me.
He had supposedly left after a disagreement over the family business.
Nobody talked about him.
Not even Gabriel.
I suddenly remembered something.
My mother had once mentioned the Lawson name before she died.
She had looked terrified when she said it.
I had always thought she was confused.
Maybe she wasn’t.
I turned toward Marcus.
“Take us to the storage facility.”
“No.”
“You know the place.”
“No.”
“Then tell me where Unit 418 is.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You don’t understand. If Robert is there, you cannot walk in.”
“Why?”
“Because Robert isn’t like Gerald.”
Rachel whispered, “What does that mean?”
Marcus looked toward the dark road.
“Gerald scares people.”
He paused.
“Robert makes people disappear.”
A police siren sounded somewhere in the distance.
Marcus immediately stepped back.
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
He looked at me.
“Why did you help me tonight?”
He stared at the ground.
Then he said quietly:
“Because your mother once helped my family.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
But Marcus was already walking away.
I followed him.
“How did you know my mother?”
He stopped.
He didn’t turn around.
“She saved my sister.”
Then he disappeared into the rain.
I stood there, completely stunned.
Rachel came beside me.
“Chloe…”
I looked at her.
“What did my mother have to do with your family?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then we’re finding out.”
The police arrived minutes later.
Two officers took our statements.
I showed them the photograph.
They immediately contacted the storage facility.
But the officer’s expression changed when he heard the unit number.
“418?”
“Yes.”
He exchanged a glance with his partner.
“What?”
He sighed.
“That unit is registered under Lawson Holdings.”
“I know.”
“And there is an emergency alert attached to it.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of alert?”
“Private security.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning the owner requested police not be called unless there was a confirmed break-in.”
I stared at him.
“Someone may be trapped inside.”
“We’re going there.”
The officer looked at me.
“You’re staying here.”
“My husband is inside.”
“We’ll bring him out.”
“You don’t understand.”
I showed him the photograph again.
“There is a man with a gun.”
His expression hardened.
He immediately called for backup.
Twenty minutes later, three police vehicles were moving toward the storage facility.
I was told to stay behind.
I refused.
Rachel refused too.
Eventually, the officer allowed us to follow in a separate vehicle.
The facility was surrounded by tall fencing.
Most of the lights were off.
Only a few security lamps flickered through the rain.
Unit 418 was at the far end.
When we arrived, the door was open.
Not wide.
Just enough to reveal darkness inside.
The officers drew their weapons.
“Stay behind us.”
I nodded.
We moved forward.
Then I saw blood.
A thin line of it ran across the concrete floor.
Rachel grabbed my hand.
“Chloe…”
I followed the trail.
It disappeared beneath the storage door.
One officer raised his flashlight.
“Police! If anyone is inside, come out with your hands visible!”
No response.
He looked at the others.
Then pushed the door open.
The smell hit us first.
Metal.
Dust.
Something burned.
The flashlight moved across shelves stacked with boxes.
Old company files.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Documents.
And on the far wall—
A large wooden cabinet.
The cabinet door was open.
Inside was a blue metal box.
I couldn’t move.
The words my mother had spoken six years earlier echoed in my mind.
Don’t let the Lawson family know about the blue box.
“Chloe?”
Rachel’s voice sounded distant.
I stepped toward it.
One officer stopped me.
“Don’t touch anything.”
I nodded.
Then I noticed something on the floor.
A man’s watch.
Broken.
I recognized it.
Gabriel’s.
My knees nearly gave out.
“No.”
I looked around.
“Gabriel!”
No answer.
I ran toward the back of the unit.
“Gabriel!”
Rachel followed me.
The police searched every corner.
Nothing.
Then we heard a faint sound.
A knock.
Three times.
From behind the wall.
Everyone froze.
Three more knocks.
I looked at the officer.
“There.”
He moved toward the wall.
It wasn’t a wall.
It was a false partition.
They pulled at it.
The panel shifted.
Behind it was a narrow hidden room.
And inside that room—
Gabriel was lying on the floor.
His hands were tied behind his back.
His shirt was covered in blood.
“Gabriel!”
I rushed toward him.
The officers checked his pulse.
“He’s alive.”
I dropped beside him.
“Gabriel!”
His eyes slowly opened.
When he saw me, tears immediately filled them.
“Chloe…”
I grabbed his hand.
“What happened?”
He tried to sit up.
“Dad…”
“Where is he?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Don’t trust him.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
His breathing became shallow.
“Not Dad.”
I stared at him.
“Then who?”
Gabriel looked toward the blue box.
His expression was terrified.
“Your mother.”
I froze.
“What about my mother?”
“She knew.”
“Knew what?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“The Lawson family didn’t build their fortune legally.”
The room became silent.
Gabriel continued.
“Twenty-two years ago, my father and Robert were involved in something that nearly destroyed several families.”
Rachel whispered, “What?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your father stole money.”
Rachel shook her head.
“How much?”
Gabriel’s eyes moved toward me.
“Enough to make people kill for it.”
I looked at the blue box.
“What is inside?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
I stood.
“Tell me.”
He closed his eyes.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“Everything.”
The police officer approached.
“Who attacked you?”
Gabriel looked toward the open storage unit.
“Robert.”
“Where is he?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Gone.”
“Where’s your father?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Gone too.”
Then I noticed something.
There was a small cut on Gabriel’s palm.
A piece of paper was stuck beneath his fingers.
I carefully pulled it free.
It was old.
Yellowed.
Folded several times.
I opened it.
My mother’s handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
My hands began shaking.
The letter contained only one sentence.
Chloe, if you are reading this, then Gerald has finally come for what he stole from me.
I couldn’t breathe.
There was more written underneath.
Do not trust the man who tells you he loves you.
I looked at Gabriel.
He stared at the floor.
“Who is she talking about?”
He didn’t answer.
“Gabriel.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“I knew about your mother’s investigation.”
My heart shattered.
“How long?”
“Since before we got married.”
I stepped backward.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you married me anyway?”
He stood despite his injuries.
“Chloe, I loved you.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of my father?”
He shook his head.
“Of what would happen if you found out who I really was.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel looked at Rachel.
“Tell her.”
Rachel started crying.
“Tell me what?”
Gabriel’s voice broke.
“My father wasn’t the only person involved.”
He paused.
“I was there too.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“What?”
“I was eighteen.”
“You were eighteen.”
“I didn’t understand what they were doing.”
“But you knew.”
“I knew enough to be afraid.”
I looked at the letter again.
My mother’s final sentence was still visible.
Do not trust the man who tells you he loves you.
I slowly raised my eyes to Gabriel.
“Did my mother know about you?”
Gabriel nodded.
“She found out.”
“When?”
“Two months before she died.”
I felt the room spin.
“You knew my mother?”
“I met her.”
“Where?”
Gabriel’s face crumpled.
“She confronted me.”
“What did she say?”
He whispered:
“She told me that if I truly loved you, I would leave you alone.”
Silence.
“Then why didn’t you?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Because I was already in love with you.”
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to.
But then something inside the blue box clicked.
Everyone turned.
The lid slowly opened by itself.
Inside was a stack of photographs.
A passport.
Several bank documents.
A USB drive.
And one final envelope.
My name was written across it.
CHLOE LAWSON
I reached for it.
The police officer stopped me.
“Don’t.”
But before he could move, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One new message.
If you open that envelope, Gabriel dies.
I looked at my husband.
He was staring at my phone.
Then another message appeared.
You have ten minutes.
A third message followed.
Come alone.
And beneath it was an address.
An address I knew.
Because it was the house where my mother had died.
I looked at Gabriel.
He whispered only four words.
“Don’t go there, Chloe.”
Then the lights inside the storage facility suddenly went out.
Complete darkness swallowed the room.
And somewhere behind us, a man’s voice whispered:
“Too late.”
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 5…
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