Daniel stepped into the doorway.
His face was bruised where he had fallen earlier, and a thin cut crossed his eyebrow. He looked exhausted rather than threatening.
Adrian moved between him and Lena.
"Stay where you are."
Daniel laughed quietly.
"Still protecting everyone except yourself."
Lena stepped around Adrian.
"Where have you been?"
"Trying to stop this."
"You attacked me."
"I know."
"You lied."
"I know."
"You accused me."
"I know."
His voice cracked on the last word.
Marcus watched him carefully.
Daniel reached into his jacket.
Adrian immediately raised a hand.
"Slowly."
Daniel removed a flash drive and placed it on the floor.
"I brought this."
Marcus picked it up.
"What is it?"
"Everything I found."
Lena stared at him.
"Why should we trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
The answer surprised her.
Daniel looked toward room seventeen.
"But you should listen."
They returned to the old room.
Daniel stood beside the metal box.
When he saw the photograph of his father and Samuel, his expression changed.
"I've never seen this."
Adrian looked at him.
"Your father didn't tell you?"
"My father didn't tell me anything."
"You were ten when he left."
"I was eleven."
Adrian looked down.
Daniel continued.
"He never came back."
Lena watched him.
"Did he ever explain why?"
"No."
"Then why did you blame Thomas?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Because everyone told me Samuel destroyed everything."
"Who told you?"
"My mother."
Adrian looked sharply at him.
"Your mother?"
Daniel nodded.
"She said Samuel changed the equipment settings. She said he betrayed my father."
Lena looked at Adrian.
"Did Michael ever say that?"
"No."
Daniel pulled another document from his jacket.
"This came from my mother's house."
Marcus unfolded it.
It was a letter.
Michael's handwriting.
The date was twelve years ago.
Daniel read the first line silently.
Then he looked up.
"He says Samuel was innocent."
Adrian closed his eyes.
Lena took the letter.
Michael had written that he feared the people controlling the dojo. He said someone inside the organization had altered records and used Samuel's access code.
At the bottom was a sentence.
Protect Samuel. Protect Daniel. Trust no one with the old accounts.
Lena looked at Daniel.
"Why didn't you show this to us before?"
"Because I didn't know if it was real."
Marcus frowned.
"What made you change your mind?"
Daniel looked toward the doorway.
"Someone tried to kill me."
Silence.
"What?"
"After I found the letter, my car brakes failed."
Adrian went still.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Lena stared.
"Why didn't you report it?"
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Because I didn't know who to report it to."
Marcus looked at him.
"You thought it was connected."
"I knew it was."
Daniel took out his phone.
"There are photographs."
He showed them.
His brake line had been cut.
Another image showed his locker.
The lock had been replaced.
Another showed a laptop.
"What's that?"
"Mine."
The screen displayed a file.
"Someone accessed it."
Marcus examined the metadata.
"When?"
"Last night."
"From the dojo network."
Adrian looked stunned.
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Lena remembered the camera system.
"The person has access to everything."
Daniel looked at her.
"Yes."
Marcus opened the flash drive.
Folders appeared.
Financial records.
Access logs.
Messages.
Photographs.
He opened the financial folder.
The sponsorship payments were there.
But there was something else.
Transfers.
One account appeared repeatedly.
The name had been partially hidden.
Marcus enlarged it.
Only the last four letters were visible.
…WARD.
Lena frowned.
"Edward?"
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
Daniel stared at the screen.
"I know that name."
"Who?"
Daniel didn't answer.
He opened another folder.
A personnel list appeared.
One name had been highlighted.
Evelyn Cross.
Lena looked at him.
"Your mother."
Daniel nodded.
Marcus looked between them.
"She received payments."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Yes."
Adrian stared at the records.
"How long?"
"Twelve years."
Lena's stomach tightened.
"Then your mother was involved."
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
Marcus opened another file.
A series of messages appeared.
Most were encrypted.
One was not.
I did what you asked. Keep Daniel away from the old records.
Lena read it twice.
"That's your mother."
Daniel looked sick.
"Maybe."
Adrian sat down.
"This changes everything."
Lena looked at him.
"Not everything."
He looked up.
"The person who wanted Samuel blamed may have been someone inside Michael's family."
Daniel's voice was low.
"My mother wouldn't do that."
"You don't know what she did."
"I know her."
"Do you?"
The question landed hard.
Daniel looked away.
Marcus opened the final file.
It contained a scanned photograph.
A younger Evelyn stood beside a man Lena didn't recognize.
Adrian saw the image and stood immediately.
"Where did you get that?"
"From my father's old computer."
"Who is the man?"
Adrian said nothing.
Daniel looked at him.
"You know him."
Adrian nodded.
"His name is Victor Hale."
Lena stared.
"Your brother?"
Adrian's face became rigid.
"Yes."
Marcus looked at the photograph.
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know."
Daniel laughed without humor.
"That's a lie."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I found his address."
Lena looked at Daniel.
"Where?"
"Outside the city."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Give me the address."
"No."
"Daniel."
"You've lied to me for twelve years."
Adrian stopped.
Daniel's voice broke.
"My father told you to protect me. You decided protecting me meant keeping me ignorant."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"From what?"
Adrian had no answer.
Lena looked between them.
Then she noticed something on the floor.
The brass key.
It had fallen from her hand.
Beside it lay the property document.
The blacked-out signature suddenly looked different.
She held it beneath the light.
There was a faint impression on the paper.
Another name had been written on a sheet above it.
She could make out the letters.
Victor Hale.
Lena looked up.
"Adrian."
He saw the document.
His face collapsed.
Daniel whispered, "My father's partner."
Adrian nodded.
"He was the person behind the money."
Marcus stared.
"Then why did Michael disappear?"
Adrian's voice was almost inaudible.
"Because Victor threatened him."
"And Samuel?"
"Victor used Samuel's access code."
"Why?"
"To destroy the evidence."
Lena looked at Daniel.
"Then your mother…"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Was helping Victor."
The words hurt him more than any physical injury could have.
Before anyone could respond, Marcus's phone chimed.
He checked the network.
"Someone is accessing the system."
"From where?" Adrian asked.
Marcus looked at the screen.
"Not here."
"Where?"
He turned the phone around.
The location appeared.
"Victor Hale's address."
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"We're going."
Adrian blocked him.
"No."
"Move."
"You're not going anywhere."
Daniel shoved him aside.
Lena caught Adrian before he fell.
"Daniel!"
He stopped.
She looked at him.
"Thomas."
Daniel's face changed.
The warehouse address was still on their phones.
The threat had not disappeared.
Marcus checked the time.
"Seven minutes."
Daniel looked at Lena.
"We need to go."
She nodded.
But before they left, Adrian picked up the cassette.
"We take this."
Marcus looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because there may be another recording."
He turned the tape over.
A second label was hidden beneath the first.
Room 17.
Side B.
Daniel stared.
"Play it."
Adrian inserted the cassette.
The machine clicked.
Then Michael's voice returned.
"If Victor is listening, he already knows."
A pause.
"Adrian, if you're hearing this, don't trust Evelyn."
Daniel went completely still.
Then Michael continued.
"She isn't working alone."
The tape ended.
Nobody spoke.
Lena looked at Daniel.
His mother had not been the end of the secret.
She was only one piece of it.
And Thomas was still somewhere waiting for them.
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: The Warehouse Revealed Who Had Been Pulling the Strings, but the Final Piece of the Old Recording Changed Who Needed Saving
When the Quietest Student Reached for His Wrist, the Entire Room Realized Something Had Gone Terribly Wrong
Part 6 of 16
