Chapter 9 - THE ROOM BENEATH THE HOUSE
The old Blackwood mansion had been abandoned for years.
Lucas had never returned after his father's death.
He stood before the front door.
Nathan beside him.
Harold behind them.
The rain had stopped.
But the silence felt worse.
Lucas unlocked the door.
The house smelled of dust and old wood.
Every memory came rushing back.
His father's study.
The staircase.
His mother's piano.
The hallway where Lucas had once waited for his father to come home.
He walked toward the basement.
Nathan followed.
“You remember this place?”
Lucas nodded.
“Every inch.”
They descended.
At the end of the corridor stood the locked door.
Lucas inserted the brass key.
Click.
The door opened.
A staircase descended into darkness.
They went down.
At the bottom was a room filled with boxes.
Documents.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
Bank records.
And dozens of files marked:
PROJECT BLACKBIRD.
Nathan stared.
“My God.”
Lucas opened the first file.
Inside were photographs of judges.
Police officers.
Senators.
Business executives.
Every person had a code name.
Then Lucas saw a familiar face.
His mother.
Beside her name were two words:
PRIMARY WITNESS.
Lucas's breathing stopped.
He opened another file.
Richard Blackwood's handwritten notes filled the pages.
One sentence appeared repeatedly:
Vincent is not the mastermind.
Lucas stared.
“Then who is?”
Nathan picked up another file.
His face changed.
“Lucas…”
“What?”
Nathan handed it to him.
At the top was a name.
ELEANOR BLACKWOOD.
Their mother.
Lucas couldn't breathe.
“No.”
Nathan whispered:
“She wasn't kidnapped.”
Lucas looked at him.
“She was the mastermind.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Both men reached for their weapons.
Harold whispered:
“Someone followed us.”
Lucas moved toward the stairs.
A woman stepped into the doorway.
Sarah.
Lucas froze.
“You were supposed to be at the estate.”
Sarah looked at him.
“I escaped.”
“How?”
She looked at Harold.
“He helped me.”
Lucas stared at Harold.
Harold lowered his weapon.
“I was trying to make things right.”
Sarah walked into the room.
She looked at the files.
Then at Lucas.
“You finally found it.”
Lucas's voice was cold.
“You knew.”
Sarah nodded.
“I knew your mother was involved.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother threatened Emma.”
Lucas's face hardened.
“What did she threaten?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“She said if I ever told you the truth, she would kill my daughter.”
Lucas looked at Emma's photograph.
He clenched his fists.
Sarah continued.
“Your father discovered the truth too late.”
“What truth?”
“That Emma's father was alive.”
Lucas turned.
“Who?”
Sarah stared at him.
Then whispered:
“Your brother.”
Nathan looked shocked.
Lucas stared at Nathan.
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
Sarah nodded.
“Yes.”
“You're saying Nathan is Emma's father?”
“Yes.”
Nathan stepped backward.
“That isn't possible.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You were there.”
Nathan's face went pale.
“I was nineteen.”
“You loved Emily.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Lucas understood.
Emily Carter.
Nathan Blackwood.
Emma Carter.
The pieces fell into place.
But then Sarah said something that made the room go silent.
“There's one problem.”
Lucas looked at her.
“What?”
Sarah pointed to the file.
“Emma's birth certificate was forged.”
Lucas frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if anyone discovered who her real father was…”
She looked at Nathan.
“They would kill her.”
Lucas stared at the document.
Then he noticed something.
A signature.
His mother's.
Lucas whispered:
“She knew.”
Sarah nodded.
“She knew Emma existed.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Lucas answered.
Vincent's voice came through.
“You found the room.”
Lucas said nothing.
Vincent laughed.
“Good.”
“What do you want?”
“Look behind the third cabinet.”
Lucas did.
There was a small television.
It turned on by itself.
Emma appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in a chair.
Behind her stood an elderly woman.
Lucas's heart stopped.
His mother.
Eleanor Blackwood looked directly into the camera.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“Hello, Lucas.”
