CHAPTER 10
The entire estate became a prison.
Nobody left.
Nobody entered.
Every employee was questioned.
But I knew something.
The person we were searching for wasn't afraid.
They were confident.
That meant they weren't hiding.
They were waiting.
I walked through the mansion alone.
Nathan followed.
"You shouldn't be doing this."
I glanced at him.
"You hired me because I notice things."
A small smile appeared.
"You're impossible."
"I've heard that before."
We reached the children's hallway.
The same hallway where I first discovered the poisoned air system.
The same place where everything started.
I looked at the vents.
Nothing.
The rooms.
Nothing.
Then I saw it.
A painting.
Slightly crooked.
I touched the frame.
Behind it was a small compartment.
Inside:
A key.
And a note.
Three words.
LOOK UNDERGROUND.
Nathan read it.
His face changed.
"Nobody knows about that area."
I looked at him.
"Apparently someone does."
The underground section of the estate had been sealed for years.
Nathan unlocked the door.
The air smelled old.
Forgotten.
We walked down slowly.
At the bottom was a room.
Not a storage room.
A command center.
Screens.
Files.
Photographs.
Records.
Someone had been watching the Coleman family for years.
I picked up one folder.
My name was on it.
Sarah Mitchell.
I opened it.
Inside were documents from before I ever met Nathan.
My entire life.
Every job.
Every move.
Every person I helped.
Someone had been tracking me.
Not for months.
For years.
Nathan looked over my shoulder.
Then he saw the final page.
His expression changed completely.
"Sarah..."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He handed me the document.
At the bottom was a signature.
A name.
A name that made my heart stop.
Because it belonged to someone I trusted.
Someone who had been beside Nathan the entire time.
Someone who helped save his sons.
Someone who knew everything.
May you like
The signature read:
Gerald Russo.
