Chapter 2 - The Warning
Claire didn't sleep.
At 3:17 in the morning, she was still sitting at the kitchen table with Mike's notebook open before her.
Most of the pages contained numbers.
Bank accounts.
Dates.
Company names.
Addresses.
Names she recognized from Harold's business empire.
But there were also strange symbols.
The same symbol Mia had pointed out behind Harold's ear.
Claire photographed every page with her phone.
Then she found something hidden inside the back cover.
A tiny key.
There was a number engraved on it.
317.
Claire immediately remembered Mike's old storage unit.
Unit 317.
She had forgotten about it.
Mike had rented it before their daughter was born.
After his death, Claire had gone through their financial records and canceled several accounts.
But she had never found the storage unit.
Maybe she hadn't known what she was looking for.
At sunrise, Claire called the storage company.
The woman on the phone hesitated.
“Yes, Mrs. Bennett. Unit 317 is still active.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Active?”
“There haven't been any payments from your account.”
“Then who has been paying?”
The woman paused.
“A company.”
“What company?”
“Mercer Holdings.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Harold.
She drove there alone.
She left Mia with her neighbor and promised she would return within an hour.
The storage facility smelled of dust and concrete.
Claire found unit 317.
The lock was new.
She used Mike's key.
It opened.
Inside was almost nothing.
One wooden chair.
A metal cabinet.
And a cardboard box.
Claire opened the cabinet first.
There were copies of financial documents.
Several transfers from Mercer Holdings.
Money had been moved through shell companies.
Millions of dollars.
But Mike's name appeared repeatedly.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
THEY DIDN'T KILL ME.
Claire stopped breathing.
She read the next line.
THEY NEED EVERYONE TO BELIEVE THEY DID.
Her knees nearly gave out.
Then she heard footsteps.
Claire turned.
The storage door was open.
A man stood outside.
She couldn't see his face.
“Who's there?”
The man stepped backward.
Claire ran after him.
He disappeared around a row of storage units.
She reached the parking lot.
Nothing.
Only her car.
She returned to the unit.
The cardboard box was gone.
Someone had taken it while she was chasing the stranger.
Claire stood in the empty room.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
No one spoke.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
“You should have left the past buried.”
Claire recognized it.
Harold.
“Where is my husband?”
The line went dead.
Claire stared at the phone.
Then she noticed something written on the concrete wall.
May you like
A single word.
CABIN.
