Chapter 5 - UNIT 317
The storage facility stood beside an abandoned railway line outside Hartwell.
Ella and Adrian arrived shortly before dawn.
A rusted fence surrounded rows of pale metal buildings. Security cameras covered the entrance, but Adrian had obtained a warrant through a federal contact after connecting the unit to the reopened investigation into Daniel’s death.
The manager was an elderly man named Frank Wheeler. He wore a red cap and carried a ring of keys large enough to open a prison.
“Sophie Vale,” he said as he led them between the buildings. “Haven’t heard that name in years.”
“You remember her?” Ella asked.
“Pretty young woman. Nervous. Came every month for a while, then stopped.”
“When was her last visit?”
“Seven years ago, maybe six.”
“Did anyone else access the unit?”
The manager scratched his beard.
“Her aunt paid the bill.”
“Vivian Donovan?”
“That sounds right.”
Adrian glanced at Ella.
“Did Mrs. Donovan ever enter the unit?”
“No. Always mailed a check.”
They reached Building C.
Unit 317 was secured by two locks.
Frank opened the facility lock. Adrian cut through the private padlock.
The metal door rolled upward.
Dust drifted in the gray morning light.
Inside were six cardboard boxes, a folding chair, an old suitcase, and a covered object leaning against the wall.
Ella approached the nearest box.
It contained women’s clothing, photographs, and college notebooks belonging to Sophie.
Another held newspaper articles about Daniel’s death.
A third contained maps of Briar Ridge.
Adrian uncovered the object against the wall.
It was the passenger door from a black SUV.
A deep dent scarred the metal.
Ella stared at it.
“Why would Sophie have this?”
Adrian crouched beside the door.
“There’s dried blood near the handle.”
“Daniel’s?”
“Maybe.”
Frank shifted nervously near the entrance.
“I didn’t know any of this was here.”
Adrian called the evidence team.
Ella opened the old suitcase.
Inside lay a video camera, several tapes, and a sealed envelope with her name.
Her hands shook as she tore it open.
Ella,
If you are reading this, I failed to expose them.
Daniel was right. Your father’s company is not only stealing money. They are using construction projects to hide something. I do not know what. Daniel believed people were being transported through the old tunnel beneath Blackthorn Quarry.
Mark found out we were investigating.
The night Daniel died, I followed him. I saw Mark’s SUV strike Daniel’s car near the ridge. Rourke was driving. Mark was in the passenger seat.
I tried to help Daniel, but Mark caught me.
I escaped because someone else arrived.
A woman in a white coat.
I never saw her face.
She told me Daniel was still alive.
Then Rourke returned.
I ran.
If I disappear, do not believe I left willingly.
The other half of the key is hidden inside the camera.
Sophie
Ella lowered the letter.
Adrian was reading over her shoulder.
“Blackthorn Quarry,” he said. “Your father bought it twelve years ago.”
“The quarry closed before I was born.”
“Officially.”
Ella examined the camera. The battery compartment contained a small strip of brass.
The second half of the key.
She placed it beside the piece Vivian had given her.
The edges matched.
Adrian photographed them before Ella joined the halves.
Together they formed a thin key engraved with the letter D.
Daniel.
A shout came from outside.
One of the arriving federal technicians ran toward them.
“Detective, the gate camera just went down.”
Adrian reached for his weapon.
An engine roared beyond the building.
A black pickup accelerated between the storage rows.
“Move!” Adrian shouted.
He pulled Ella aside as the truck crashed into Unit 317.
Metal screamed.
Boxes exploded across the floor.
The vehicle struck the SUV door and pinned it against the wall.
A masked driver jumped from the cab and ran.
Adrian pursued him.
Ella stumbled through dust and debris.
Frank lay near the entrance, unconscious but breathing.
The masked driver climbed the fence.
Adrian fired no shots because workers were gathering beyond it.
The man dropped to the other side and disappeared into the trees.
Agents secured the area.
Ella searched the damaged boxes.
The camera was crushed.
Several tapes had been destroyed beneath the truck.
One tape remained intact.
Its label read:
SEPTEMBER 12 - DONOVAN OFFICE
Adrian returned, breathing hard.
“I lost him.”
Ella held up the tape.
“Maybe he didn’t destroy what mattered.”
At the federal field office, a technician restored the recording.
The video showed the inside of Charles’s office, filmed through a partially open door.
Daniel’s voice whispered behind the camera.
Charles stood beside his desk.
Mark faced him.
Thomas Rourke waited near the window.
A fourth person sat beyond the camera’s view.
Charles placed a folder on the desk.
“The Mercer inspector has become a problem,” he said.
Mark responded, “Then pay him more.”
“He won’t take money.”
Rourke’s voice was calm.
“Everyone takes something.”
Charles looked toward the hidden fourth person.
“What do you recommend?”
A woman answered.
“We move him through Blackthorn tonight.”
Ella leaned toward the screen.
The voice was familiar.
Adrian paused the recording.
“Do you recognize her?”
Ella did.
But the answer made no sense.
The woman was Dr. Evelyn Grant, director of the children’s hospital funded by the Donovan Foundation.
She had also been Daniel’s godmother.
The tape continued.
Mark asked, “What about the girl?”
“What girl?” Charles said.
“Sophie. She keeps following Daniel.”
Rourke smiled.
“I’ll handle both of them.”
The image shook.
Daniel must have moved.
Rourke turned toward the door.
The recording ended.
Ella sat back.
“Evelyn knew.”
Adrian looked at the frozen screen.
“She may know what Blackthorn was used for.”
Ella remembered something from childhood.
Evelyn had treated Daniel after a boating accident. She had remained close to him during his recovery.
Daniel trusted her.
Perhaps that was why Sophie mentioned a woman in a white coat.
“Evelyn reached Daniel after the crash,” Ella said.
“And never reported it.”
“She might have tried to save him.”
“Or made sure he died.”
Before Ella could respond, an agent entered the room.
“We found something on the truck driver.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
The driver had dropped a hotel keycard while climbing the fence.
The card belonged to Room 608 at the Grand Meridian.
May you like
Registered guest:
Sophie Vale.
