Chapter 14 - Beneath the House of Memories
The underground research wing was hidden beneath a building officially used to store municipal tax records.
The upper floors smelled of dust and old paper.
The lower elevator required a mechanical key Thomas had kept for nineteen years.
As the doors descended, Olivia felt pressure building in her ears.
Victor stood on one side of her.
Thomas stood on the other.
Russell and six security officers surrounded them.
No one spoke.
The elevator opened onto a corridor painted pale blue.
Olivia recognized the color before she recognized anything else.
A memory flashed.
Mara’s hand in hers.
Running barefoot.
A red alarm light.
A woman screaming.
Then it vanished.
Olivia reached toward the wall.
“This was the center.”
Thomas nodded.
“The public facility was above us.”
Victor looked down the corridor.
“My father had access to this place.”
“Yes.”
“Why wasn’t it in the bankruptcy records?”
“Because Sebastian Vale transferred it to a nonprofit two days before Daniel died.”
Russell examined the nearest door.
The electronic lock was active.
Someone had restored power.
The security team moved ahead.
The first room contained rows of empty metal cabinets.
The second held old monitors and broken recording equipment.
The third contained a wall of photographs.
Hundreds of faces.
Children.
Adults.
Families.
Politicians.
Business leaders.
Olivia found a picture of herself at seven.
Beside it was another taken when she was twenty-one.
Then another from the year she met Victor.
The photographs continued across the wall.
Every year of her life.
Victor found his own section.
Images from childhood.
Military school.
His father’s funeral.
His first meeting with Olivia at the charity auction.
Victor stared at the final picture.
It showed him standing alone in his study three days earlier.
“They were inside my house.”
Russell’s officers searched the room.
Thomas stood before a photograph of Eleanor.
It had been taken one week before her death.
“She knew they were still watching,” he whispered.
Olivia looked at him.
“How did Mother die?”
Thomas turned.
“You know how.”
“Cancer.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
He did not answer.
A metallic sound echoed from deeper in the facility.
Russell raised his hand.
The team advanced.
They entered an observation chamber overlooking a large white room.
Kendra sat in the center beneath a single light.
She still wore the champagne gown.
Her wrists were not tied.
A pistol rested on the floor beside her chair.
Victor moved toward the glass.
“Kendra.”
She looked up.
The door to the white room unlocked.
Russell’s officers entered first.
Kendra did not resist when they removed the weapon.
Olivia approached slowly.
“Where is Voss?”
Kendra looked at her.
“Watching.”
“From where?”
“Everywhere.”
Victor entered the room.
“What happened?”
Kendra laughed softly.
“What always happens. The teacher tests the students.”
“Did he kidnap you?”
“Would it matter?”
“Yes.”
“To you?”
Victor did not answer.
Kendra stood.
Her cheek was bruised, but there was no blood on her gown now. The stains from the video had been artificial.
Olivia noticed.
“You staged the recording.”
Kendra smiled faintly.
“Voss wanted you here. I helped.”
Russell’s officers raised their weapons.
Kendra did not appear concerned.
“Where is the Voss file?” Victor asked.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With the only person who understood it.”
“Voss?”
“No.”
Kendra looked at Thomas.
“Eleanor.”
Thomas went still.
Olivia stepped closer.
“My mother is dead.”
Kendra’s eyes remained on Thomas.
“Is she?”
Thomas’s face lost color.
Olivia felt the room tilt.
“Tell me she’s lying.”
Thomas said nothing.
“Dad.”
It was the first time she had called him that without anger.
Thomas looked suddenly older.
“Eleanor died,” he said.
Kendra laughed.
“That sentence is carefully constructed.”
Victor moved toward Thomas.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas looked at Olivia.
“Your mother’s legal identity ended twelve years ago.”
Olivia’s voice barely worked.
“Legal identity?”
“She entered protective custody.”
“You told me she died.”
“She did die.”
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Thomas’s eyes filled with pain.
“The woman buried under Eleanor Hartwell’s name was not your mother.”
Olivia stumbled backward.
Victor caught her arm.
She pulled free.
“Where is she?”
Thomas looked at Kendra.
“I don’t know.”
Kendra nodded toward the far wall.
A hidden door opened.
Behind it was a small office.
A computer monitor glowed on the desk.
The screen displayed a live video feed.
A woman sat in a dimly lit room.
Her hair was gray.
Her face was thinner.
But Olivia recognized her instantly.
“Mom.”
The woman lifted her eyes toward the camera.
Her lips trembled.
May you like
“Olivia.”
Before anyone could move, every light in the facility went out.
