Chapter 3 - the storage unit
Evelyn had never followed anyone before.
She drove slowly, remaining several cars behind Trevor’s black sedan.
He left Bellmere and continued toward the industrial district on the northern edge of town.
At seven in the evening, he turned into a storage facility surrounded by steel fencing.
Evelyn parked near an abandoned gas station across the road.
Trevor entered a code at the gate and drove inside.
She photographed the entrance and the number printed on the contract she had found.
Unit 214.
The facility office was closed, and the fence was too high to climb.
Evelyn considered calling Walter.
Then she saw another vehicle arrive.
A dark blue car stopped at the gate.
The driver lowered his window.
Even from a distance, Evelyn recognized Adrian Cole from photographs on the Hale Development website.
He entered the same code.
Evelyn watched the two men disappear between rows of storage buildings.
Twenty minutes later, Adrian left alone.
Trevor remained inside.
Evelyn crossed the road.
A delivery van approached the gate. She walked beside it, hidden from the security camera by the vehicle’s height, and slipped through before the barrier lowered.
Unit 214 stood near the far corner.
Its door was open slightly.
Voices came from inside.
“You were supposed to destroy the phone,” Adrian said.
Evelyn stopped.
“I needed the messages,” Trevor replied.
“You needed to erase them.”
“She doesn’t remember the accident.”
“You don’t know that.”
Evelyn pressed herself against the metal wall.
Trevor’s voice dropped.
“She remembers fragments. Nothing useful.”
“And Walter?”
“He suspects the financial transfers.”
“That isn’t what concerns me. He kept Margaret’s original files.”
Margaret had been Walter’s wife and Trevor’s mother.
She had died twelve years earlier in what the family described as a boating accident.
Evelyn had never met her.
Trevor rarely spoke about her.
Adrian continued.
“If Walter finds the amendment, the entire arrangement collapses.”
“He won’t find it.”
“Because you already did?”
Trevor did not answer.
Metal scraped across concrete.
Evelyn risked looking through the opening.
Trevor stood beside a folding table covered with folders.
Adrian held a photograph.
Evelyn could not see the image clearly, but she noticed handwriting on the back.
“Who is she?” Trevor asked.
“You know who she is.”
“She’s dead.”
“So was the account, until money moved through it last month.”
Trevor snatched the photograph.
“Who accessed it?”
“That is what we need to discover.”
“And Evelyn?”
“Get her signature.”
“She wants a lawyer.”
Adrian laughed softly.
“Then give her a reason to appear incapable of making decisions.”
Evelyn stepped back in shock.
Her shoe struck an empty can.
The sound echoed.
The conversation stopped.
Trevor moved toward the door.
Evelyn ran.
She reached the next row as he emerged from the unit.
“Who’s there?” he called.
Evelyn crouched behind a stack of wooden pallets.
Trevor’s footsteps came closer.
His shadow stretched across the ground.
A truck engine started near the gate.
The noise covered Evelyn’s movement as she slipped between two units and followed the truck out of the facility.
She returned to her car with shaking hands.
Trevor appeared at the gate moments later.
Evelyn lowered herself behind the steering wheel.
He looked in both directions.
Then he removed his phone and made a call.
She could not hear the conversation, but she saw the tension in his shoulders.
When Trevor finally drove away, Evelyn remained hidden for another ten minutes.
She called Walter.
“I need somewhere safe for Mia.”
Walter did not ask why.
“Bring her to me.”
“I can’t leave yet.”
“You can.”
“Trevor will know I discovered something.”
“Then let him know.”
“You don’t understand. He and Adrian were talking about your wife.”
Walter became silent.
“They said Margaret had an account,” Evelyn continued. “Money moved through it last month.”
“That’s impossible.”
“They also mentioned an amendment.”
Walter’s breathing changed.
“What kind of amendment?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
Evelyn gave him the address.
“Leave now,” Walter said. “Do not go home.”
“Mia is with the babysitter.”
“Tell her to take Mia outside. I’ll collect them.”
Evelyn started the engine.
Her headlights illuminated the road.
A figure stepped in front of the car.
Trevor stood ten feet away.
His face was unreadable.
Walter’s voice came through the phone.
“Evelyn, what’s happening?”
Trevor walked toward the driver’s door.
Evelyn locked it.
He raised one hand and tapped on the window.
“Open the door.”
She shifted the car into reverse.
Trevor’s calm expression disappeared.
He struck the glass with his palm.
“Open it.”
Evelyn accelerated backward, turned sharply, and drove away.
In the mirror, Trevor stood in the road watching her.
Then Walter spoke again.
“Tell me you’re safe.”
“For now.”
“Where are you going?”
Evelyn looked toward the distant lights of Bellmere.
May you like
“To get my daughter.”
Behind her, Trevor climbed into his car.
