Chapter 18 - MELISSA'S SECOND MESSAGE
Daniel spent the next six hours trying to recover the corrupted recording.
The file had been damaged deliberately.
But Melissa had anticipated that.
A hidden partition appeared after Claire isolated the video from the network.
One sentence appeared:
IF YOU FOUND THIS, THEY KNOW YOU HAVE THE KEY.
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Can you open it?”
“Not without the key.”
He removed the small gold key from around his neck.
The one Melissa had given him before her supposed death.
He inserted it into a security device attached to the laptop.
The screen unlocked.
A second recording appeared.
Melissa looked exhausted.
She was sitting in the same room.
But this time she was holding a folder.
“Daniel, if you're watching this, I'm probably no longer safe.”
She took a breath.
“Bellhaven was never just a medical program.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“It was a recruitment system.”
Melissa explained.
Children were identified through private clinics.
Families were manipulated.
Medical histories were altered.
Then the children were monitored for years.
Some were selected.
Some disappeared.
Others were placed into wealthy families where their lives could be controlled from a distance.
Daniel felt sick.
“Why Noah?”
Melissa looked directly into the camera.
“Because Noah inherited something from me.”
The recording paused.
Then resumed.
“Not money.”
“Not property.”
“Memory.”
Daniel frowned.
Melissa continued.
“When I discovered what Bellhaven was doing, I began recording everything.”
She raised the folder.
“But someone inside the family discovered me.”
“Someone who knew every security protocol.”
“Someone who knew where Henry kept the original records.”
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
“I trusted him.”
The recording ended.
Daniel stared.
“Who did she trust?”
Claire looked at the photograph.
“Jonathan.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Then why was he afraid of the key?”
Claire answered:
“Because he may not be the person who rebuilt Bellhaven.”
A third file appeared.
May you like
Its title contained only one word.
MARGARET.
