Chapter 3 - Room Seven
The elevator refused to move.
“Security override,” Marcus said.
He punched a code into the wall panel.
Nothing.
Mara looked toward the stairwell.
“We walk.”
Three floors down, the music and panic of the gala disappeared.
Halcyon changed underground.
The marble became poured concrete.
The chandeliers became fluorescent strips.
The elegant mansion above us might have belonged to royalty.
The basement belonged to war.
Steel doors lined the corridor.
No labels.
No windows.
Only numbers.
Five.
Six.
Then Seven.
The door was open.
My father stopped behind us.
“That door hasn’t been opened in fifteen years.”
Mara looked at him.
“Apparently it has.”
Marcus entered first.
Empty shelves filled most of the room.
Dust covered everything.
Except one rectangular section on the far wall.
Something had been removed recently.
Mara crouched.
“Fresh marks.”
Victor said nothing.
I walked toward a metal desk.
A photograph rested on top.
No dust.
I picked it up.
My mother.
Isabella Vale.
She was standing in this exact room.
Beside her was my father.
And beside him—
Augustus Cross.
Damian’s grandfather.
All three were smiling.
On the back, a date had been written.
October 17.
The night my mother died.
I turned toward Dad.
“You told me you weren’t here.”
He looked devastated.
“I told you I arrived after the accident.”
“That photograph says otherwise.”
“I can explain.”
“Then start.”
Mara noticed something beneath the desk.
A small digital recorder.
She put on gloves and lifted it.
The battery was dead.
Marcus connected it to a portable charger.
The screen flickered.
One file remained.
Mara pressed play.
Static.
Then my mother’s voice.
“My name is Isabella Vale.”
My knees almost gave out.
“If this recording survives, the Orion Ledger is real.”
Mara looked at Victor.
He closed his eyes.
Mom continued.
“Crosswell has used charitable foundations to move money for officials, corporations, and private clients for more than twenty years.”
A pause.
“The Vale company has unknowingly provided security infrastructure that helped hide some of those transactions.”
My father whispered, “Isabella…”
The recording continued.
“I confronted Victor tonight.”
My chest tightened.
“He says he didn’t know.”
Another pause.
“I believe him.”
I looked at Dad.
Tears stood in his eyes.
Then my mother said something else.
“But someone inside Vale did know.”
Victor’s head snapped up.
“I don’t know who.”
Static cracked through the recording.
“But they have access to our security architecture.”
Mara looked toward Marcus.
“So someone inside Vale helped Crosswell.”
Marcus’s expression did not change.
Mom continued.
“I have copied the relevant section of the Orion Ledger.”
A noise sounded in the background.
A door.
Then my mother’s voice became urgent.
“Someone is coming.”
Footsteps.
The recording shook.
Then—
A man’s voice.
Distorted.
“You should have left it alone, Isabella.”
My heart stopped.
Mom whispered a name.
But static swallowed it.
There was a struggle.
Then the recording ended.
Silence.
Mara immediately replayed the last ten seconds.
Again.
Static.
A name.
Almost audible.
Marcus leaned closer.
“What did she say?”
My father looked terrified.
Not confused.
Terrified.
“You heard it,” I whispered.
Victor shook his head.
“Dad.”
He stared at the recorder.
“What name?”
Before he could answer, Marcus’s radio crackled.
“Director Reed.”
Marcus touched his earpiece.
“Go.”
“Senator Hale regained consciousness.”
I exhaled.
Then the officer continued.
“He asked for Ms. Vale.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
The voice hesitated.
“He said she shouldn’t come.”
Mara frowned.
“Why?”
The officer answered.
“He said the person who poisoned him is part of Ms. Vale’s security team.”
May you like
Every eye in Room Seven turned toward Marcus Reed.
And Marcus slowly lowered his hand from his earpiece.
