Chapter 50 - House One
Police searched Isaac’s house.
It was empty.
His cane rested beside the front window. The family photographs had been removed from the walls, and a tunnel entrance stood open beneath his sitting-room carpet.
Rachel could not understand how the man who had watched over her street for decades could be connected to her father’s death.
Evelyn could.
“Isaac Nolan was not his real name.”
She explained that Isaac had once been Vale Urban Renewal’s chief engineer. He helped James design House Zero, then began secretly reporting their work to Victor’s father.
After the archives fire, Isaac moved across from Rachel’s family to monitor the house.
“Why did he help us?” Rachel asked.
“Perhaps he regretted what he had done.”
“Or he was guiding us toward the archive.”
Tessa examined the photographs Isaac had left behind. The dates, handwritten codes and warnings had led Rachel through every stage of the investigation.
Isaac had not merely watched the story unfold.
He had directed it.
Inside the tunnel, police found a control room containing live camera feeds from properties across the city.
Forty-six screens covered one wall.
Screen 46 showed Rachel’s house.
Screen 45 showed the abandoned school above House Zero.
The other screens displayed homes, offices, churches and apartment buildings.
One screen activated as Rachel entered.
HOUSE ZERO RELEASE CONFIRMED.
SEQUENCE TWO READY.
A map highlighted a property near the coast.
LOT 01.
Eleanor stared at the address.
“That house was destroyed before Rachel was born.”
Tessa enlarged the image.
The property still existed.
Its registered owner was a company created only three days earlier.
BENNETT LEGACY HOLDINGS.
Rachel had never formed such a company.
A printer inside Isaac’s control room produced a single page.
At the top was a recent photograph of Isaac entering the coastal house.
Beneath it was a message addressed to Rachel.
HOUSE ZERO CONTAINED THE HISTORY THEY STOLE.
HOUSE ONE CONTAINS THE REASON THEY NEEDED YOU.
At the bottom, Isaac had written one final sentence.
BRING YOUR MOTHER—BUT FIRST DECIDE WHICH WOMAN THAT WORD BELONGS TO.
The screen changed again.
A live video opened from inside House One.
Isaac stood beside a locked door.
From behind it, someone began knocking.
May you like
Then a young woman called Rachel’s name.
Her voice sounded exactly like Rachel’s own.
