Chapter 3 - THE SECRET UNDER THE CHURCH
Marcus Voss survived.
Barely.
Paramedics rushed him out through the side entrance while federal agents sealed the chapel.
The wedding guests were escorted into a neighboring building.
Nora refused to leave.
Neither did Julian.
Neither did David.
The four of them stood beneath the old church in a stone corridor that smelled of damp earth and candle wax.
"This place is over two hundred years old," David said.
Nora stared at the narrow passage.
"Why would my father use it?"
"Because nobody searches places they think are sacred."
Julian examined the wall.
"There."
He pointed.
A section of stone had been disturbed.
David pushed it.
The wall opened.
Behind it was a room.
Nora stepped inside.
She immediately wished she hadn't.
Shelves covered every wall.
Boxes.
Documents.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Passports.
Bank records.
And hundreds of photographs of veterans.
Nora walked slowly through the room.
There were pictures of injured soldiers.
Families.
Funeral ceremonies.
Hospital rooms.
Children.
Then she saw one that stopped her.
A young woman stood beside a little girl.
The girl was about three.
Nora.
Her mother was Rebecca.
Nora's hand went to her mouth.
She picked up the photograph.
On the back were four words.
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER.
"What does that mean?"
Julian took the picture.
"I don't know."
David opened a box.
Inside were dozens of letters.
He read one.
Then another.
His face changed.
"What?"
Nora asked.
David handed her the letter.
It was written by Rebecca.
Nora read.
Charles, if you continue moving the veterans' money, I will report you.
The next page.
You promised this was temporary.
Another.
Thomas knows.
Another.
If anything happens to me, Nora must never be left alone with you.
Nora stopped.
Her heart pounded.
"She was afraid of him."
David nodded.
"Yes."
Nora turned toward Julian.
"Why did you never tell me you found these?"
"Because I didn't have them."
"Then who did?"
A voice came from the doorway.
"I did."
Eleanor stood there.
Nora stared at her.
"You came down here."
Her mother nodded.
"I've been here before."
"How many times?"
"Twice."
"When?"
"The first time was twelve years ago."
"Why?"
Eleanor looked at the photograph.
"Because your father tried to destroy these records."
Nora couldn't believe it.
"You stopped him?"
"No."
Eleanor's voice broke.
"Your mother did."
Nora's eyes widened.
"Rebecca?"
"Before she died."
She stepped into the room.
"She gave me copies."
"Why?"
"Because she knew Charles would eventually come after me too."
David looked sharply at her.
"Why didn't you go to the authorities?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"Because Charles told me he would kill Nora."
Silence.
Nora felt the words like a physical blow.
"He threatened me?"
"He said if I spoke, you would disappear."
Nora stared at her mother.
"And you believed him."
"I was a coward."
"No."
Eleanor began crying.
"I was a mother."
Nora looked away.
Julian stepped closer.
"There's something here."
He pointed to a metal box.
David opened it.
Inside was a flash drive.
And a handwritten note.
Nora recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her father's.
If Rebecca's daughter ever finds this, tell her the truth.
Nora's breathing stopped.
"Play it."
Julian inserted the drive into a laptop.
A video appeared.
Charles Montgomery sat behind his office desk.
Older than Nora remembered.
Tired.
Afraid.
He looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then I failed."
Nora whispered.
"Failed at what?"
Her father's recording continued.
"I thought I could control the money."
Julian stared at the screen.
"I thought I could replace what I took."
Charles rubbed his face.
"Then the debts grew."
Nora felt sick.
"Forty million dollars."
Charles continued.
"I borrowed from people I shouldn't have."
A shadow crossed his face.
"Marcus Voss was one of them."
Nora looked at the real Marcus's empty chair.
Charles's voice shook.
"But Marcus wasn't the worst."
The screen flickered.
Charles leaned toward the camera.
"The person who controls everything is someone you already know."
The video cut out.
Nora stared at the black screen.
"Who?"
No one answered.
Then the laptop chimed.
A new file appeared.
TITLE: NORA.
Julian clicked it.
The screen filled with a photograph.
Nora at age seven.
Then ten.
Then fourteen.
Then eighteen.
Someone had been watching her entire life.
Nora stepped backward.
"Who took these?"
David examined the metadata.
"They're from private surveillance systems."
"Whose?"
He looked at her.
"Your father's."
Nora's voice dropped.
"Why would he monitor his own daughter?"
Julian answered.
"Maybe he wasn't monitoring you."
He pointed to the final photograph.
It showed Nora at twenty-three.
Standing outside a courthouse.
Beside her was Julian.
In the background stood a man wearing a gray coat.
Nora recognized him.
She had seen him before.
At her graduation.
At her mother's funeral.
At family dinners.
Always distant.
Always watching.
"Who is that?"
Eleanor whispered.
"Richard Montgomery."
Nora frowned.
"Who?"
"My father's brother."
David stared at the image.
"Charles's brother."
Julian's face went pale.
"The man who disappeared twenty years ago."
Nora turned.
"Disappeared?"
David nodded.
"Officially, he died overseas."
Eleanor shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
She whispered:
"Richard never died."
The door behind them slammed shut.
A voice came through the darkness.
"Correct."
Nora spun around.
A man stood at the end of the corridor.
Older.
Silver hair.
Gray coat.
A familiar face.
May you like
Richard Montgomery smiled.
"Hello, Nora."
