Chapter 10 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
Lauren finally told the truth.
She had been there.
Fourteen years ago.
The night Margaret died.
Jared could barely listen.
Lauren had followed Margaret because Margaret had asked her to.
They were supposed to meet someone.
Someone who promised to reveal who had been controlling the company.
Instead, Margaret received a phone call.
She became frightened.
Then she told Lauren to leave.
Lauren refused.
They argued.
Margaret eventually drove away.
Lauren followed.
Then she saw another vehicle.
A black sedan.
It followed Margaret.
Lauren tried to keep up.
But she lost sight of them.
Minutes later, she saw the crash.
She called emergency services.
By the time she reached the vehicle, Margaret was already gone.
But Lauren saw something beside the road.
A briefcase.
She took it.
Inside was evidence.
She never gave it to police.
Jared stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because someone called me."
"Who?"
"They knew my name."
"What did they say?"
"They said if I gave the briefcase to the police, you would be next."
Jared looked at Oscar.
His father sat silently.
Lauren continued.
"I hid the evidence."
"Where?"
"Inside your father's apartment."
Jared looked around.
"We found it."
Lauren shook her head.
"Not all of it."
"What is missing?"
"The final page."
"The final page of what?"
"The ledger."
Beverly suddenly stood.
"Wait."
She opened her laptop.
"I may have found something."
A property record appeared.
A warehouse on the south side of Chicago.
The property had once belonged to Blake Industrial Solutions.
Now it belonged to a private trust.
Jared looked at the name.
The trust was registered to Margaret Blake.
He stared.
"My mother owns a warehouse?"
"Apparently."
Oscar stood.
"She never told me."
Jared looked at Lauren.
"What's inside?"
Lauren whispered:
"The part of the story she was afraid to leave behind."
They drove there that evening.
The warehouse had been abandoned for years.
Inside, they found old machines covered in dust.
Then Jared noticed a light.
Someone was inside.
A figure disappeared behind a door.
Jared ran after them.
He opened it.
Empty.
Except for a chair.
On the chair sat a folder.
Jared opened it.
Inside was a photograph of his family.
Taken only weeks earlier.
Oscar.
Jared.
Lauren.
And someone else.
May you like
A person standing across the street.
Watching them.
