Chapter 5 - THE SECRET IN THE WALL
Darkness swallowed the room.
Emily heard Daniel move.
"Don't move."
She froze.
A crash sounded downstairs.
Then another.
Daniel pulled her behind the bedroom wall.
"Stay here."
"No."
He whispered,
"Emily."
"I won't leave you."
He looked at her.
For a second, something softened in his expression.
Then he pulled a small flashlight from his jacket.
They moved through the hallway.
Another sound came from the study.
Daniel opened the door.
Empty.
But the window was open.
Cold air swept through the room.
Park entered behind them.
"Sir."
"Find my mother."
"We're searching."
Emily noticed a painting hanging crookedly.
She walked toward it.
"Daniel."
He turned.
She touched the frame.
"That wasn't crooked before."
Daniel removed it.
Behind the painting was a small metal safe.
His eyes widened.
"My father installed this."
"Can you open it?"
He tried.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a stack of documents.
A flash drive.
And a photograph.
Daniel picked up the photograph.
It showed his father standing beside three men.
One was Richard Bell.
The second was a younger Daniel.
The third man made Emily gasp.
"That's him."
Daniel looked at her.
"Who?"
"The man from the store."
Daniel stared at the photograph.
The man was younger, but unmistakable.
His name was Victor Shaw.
Daniel's former head of security.
"He died five years ago," Daniel whispered.
Emily's stomach tightened.
"Then who was following us?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Park took the flash drive.
"We need to leave."
Suddenly, a gunshot cracked outside.
Emily screamed.
Daniel grabbed her and pulled her to the floor.
Another shot.
Then silence.
Park moved toward the window.
"Don't."
Daniel stopped him.
They waited.
Nothing.
Then a phone rang.
Not Daniel's.
Emily's.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A distorted voice said,
"Now you understand."
Emily swallowed.
"Where is Mrs. Kang?"
"You won't find her."
"Who are you?"
A pause.
"Someone your friend trusted."
The call ended.
Emily looked at Daniel.
"My friend?"
Then realization hit.
"Richard."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"He knows where she is."
They rushed to Richard's house.
The door stood open.
Inside, everything had been destroyed.
Documents scattered everywhere.
Drawers emptied.
Emily found Richard's glasses broken on the floor.
Then she noticed a handwritten note.
Kang Capital — Basement Archive.
Daniel read it.
"There's an archive beneath headquarters."
"What's there?"
"Old records."
"Could Mrs. Kang be there?"
"Maybe."
They drove to Kang Capital.
The headquarters towered over downtown Chicago.
Security recognized Daniel immediately.
They entered the basement.
The archive door required two keys.
Daniel had one.
The second belonged to his mother.
Emily looked at him.
"If she was kidnapped, how could her key be here?"
Daniel frowned.
The door opened.
Inside were thousands of boxes.
Park searched the labels.
"Foundation records."
Emily walked toward a shelf.
One box had her name on it.
She froze.
"Daniel."
He came over.
The label read:
EMILY CARTER — PERSONNEL / CONFIDENTIAL
Emily stared.
"I've never worked with your company."
Daniel opened the box.
Inside were copies of her employment records.
Her college transcripts.
Her mother's death certificate.
Photographs of Emily.
Emily felt sick.
"Someone has been researching me."
Daniel looked at her.
"Before yesterday."
"Why?"
He found another document.
His eyes changed.
"What?"
He handed it to her.
It was an old photograph.
Emily's mother.
Standing beside Mrs. Kang.
Emily's breath caught.
"My mother knew her?"
Daniel nodded slowly.
"Apparently."
Emily stared at the photograph.
On the back was a handwritten date.
Twenty-seven years earlier.
And one sentence.
If anything happens to me, protect my daughter.
Emily's hands began shaking.
"My mother wasn't supposed to know this family."
Daniel looked at her.
"Maybe she knew us better than we thought."
May you like
Then the archive door slammed shut.
And someone locked it from the outside.
