Chapter 6 - ANCHOR HOUSE|
The harbor smelled of salt, rust, and rain.
Anchor House stood beyond a row of abandoned warehouses, its white paint peeling and its windows dark. The property looked forgotten, but Lena noticed fresh tire marks near the side entrance and a new padlock on the boathouse.
“Someone has been here recently,” she whispered.
Dominic signaled for the driver to stop well short of the gate.
Two security men remained with the vehicle. Dominic and Lena approached on foot, keeping to the shadow of the warehouse wall.
“You said the drainage passage was beneath the eastern wall,” Dominic murmured.
“It was. My father complained about the water backing up every spring.”
“You remember that from childhood?”
“I remember everything he told me.”
They found the entrance behind a tangle of weeds and a rusted maintenance cover. Lena knelt, examined the lock, and took a small tool from her pocket.
Dominic watched her work.
“You carry that everywhere?”
“I spent years being the only person responsible for my own safety.”
The lock opened.
Inside, the passage was low and damp. They moved slowly until the tunnel widened beneath the old storage building. A thin strip of light showed through a crack in the floor above them.
Voices drifted down.
“Solin said the girl arrives before midnight,” a man said.
“And the ledger?”
“Burn it after we confirm the transfer.”
Lena recognized the second voice.
Elias Shaw.
Dominic’s attorney.
They waited until the footsteps receded, then climbed a narrow service ladder. The room above contained filing cabinets, an old desk, and several crates stamped with the logo of a charitable foundation.
Dominic opened one crate.
Inside were medical supply invoices, shipping manifests, and photographs of children at charity events.
Lena found a folder labeled VOSS, DAVID — FINAL REVIEW.
Her hands went cold.
The first page was a typed report accusing her father of stealing from the Reeve organization. The second was a list of accounts. The third was a signed confession.
But the signature was wrong.
“My father never wrote his V like that.”
She turned the page.
A handwritten note had been added in the margin.
Subject refuses cooperation. Family leverage unsuccessful. Solin recommends immediate closure.
Dominic read the sentence over her shoulder.
“Family leverage?”
Lena’s mind raced.
“My father was threatened with us. They wanted him to take responsibility for the shipment.”
“Did he?”
“No. He must have refused.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Dominic closed the folder and moved Lena behind the filing cabinet. Two men entered carrying a metal case. One wore a gray coat; the other had a scar running from his ear to his jaw.
“The boss wants the room cleared,” Gray Coat said. “No mistakes this time.”
“Which boss?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes,” the scarred man replied. “Because the last one who said that ended up in the river.”
They placed the case on the desk and opened it.
Inside lay several passports, a stack of cash, and a small silver pendant shaped like a star.
Lena’s hand flew to her throat.
She had owned an identical pendant as a child. Her father had given it to her after she learned to read her first full book. She had lost it the night of the crash.
The scarred man picked up the pendant.
“Solin wants this delivered with the girl.”
“Why?”
“Because he says the girl will recognize it.”
Lena could barely breathe.
Dominic leaned close to her ear.
“Do you know those men?”
She shook her head.
The gray-coated man shut the case.
“Move. We have fifteen minutes.”
After they left, Lena retrieved the pendant. The back was engraved with two initials: L.V.
She turned it over in her palm.
“Why would Solin keep this?”
Dominic examined the inscription.
“Because he wants you to know he was there.”
“No,” Lena whispered. “He wants me to know he took something from me.”
A sudden crash sounded outside. A security alarm began to howl.
Dominic grabbed the folder.
“Someone knows we’re here.”
They ran toward the tunnel entrance. Before they reached it, a heavy metal door slammed shut at the far end.
A voice came through a speaker overhead.
“Lena Voss. You’ve spent eight years looking for answers.”
She stopped.
The voice was the same one from the phone.
“Now you have a choice. Leave the ledger and walk away, or discover what your father did to save you.”
The lights went out.
May you like
In the darkness, Dominic’s hand found hers.
And somewhere above them, a weapon clicked into place.
