Chapter 3 - The Letter Hidden in the Booth
Sadi had imagined hearing from Hannah again a thousand times.
In dreams.
In the grocery store.
In the quiet moments before Ellie woke up.
Sometimes she would see a woman with the same brown hair and turn so quickly her neck hurt.
But she'd never imagined finding her sister's handwriting inside a cracked diner booth.
She held the envelope against her chest.
For several seconds, she couldn't open it.
Rafael crouched beside her.
"Take your time."
Sadi shook her head.
"If I wait, I won't do it."
She looked at Gideon.
"Did you know this was here?"
The old man nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He lowered his eyes.
Then opened his notebook.
I didn't know where she'd hidden it.
Sadi stared.
"You've been looking for six months?"
Another nod.
She wiped her face.
"Why didn't you just ask?"
He wrote slowly.
I didn't want anyone watching you.
Sadi looked toward the road.
The black pickup was gone.
But suddenly she understood why Gideon always sat facing the window.
Why he never arrived at exactly the same time.
Why he watched unfamiliar customers so carefully.
He hadn't simply been hiding.
He'd been protecting something.
Perhaps her.
Rafael looked toward the envelope.
"We should preserve this properly."
Sadi nodded.
A local deputy arrived after Celia reported the threats and explained the newly discovered material.
With Sadi's permission, the envelope was documented before its contents were examined.
Inside were three folded pages.
A photograph.
And a small brass key.
Sadi recognized the paper immediately.
Hannah had used yellow legal pads at work.
She liked to write notes in purple ink because she said black pens made everything look like a funeral.
The first line read:
Sadie-bug, if you're reading this, I need you to know I wasn't imagining things.
Sadi covered her mouth.
Nobody else called her Sadie-bug.
She began reading.
Hannah had worked as a dispatcher for Wren Air for seven years.
She loved the job.
She loved helping frightened families get medical care.
But during her final months, she'd noticed something wrong with maintenance records.
Aircraft were being cleared for service before certain required repairs had been verified.
Invoices showed expensive replacement parts.
The actual inventory records didn't always match.
At first, Hannah believed it was a paperwork problem.
Then a mechanic named Mateo Alvarez contacted her.
He said someone was approving counterfeit parts.
He had complained to management.
Nothing changed.
Hannah began saving copies of the records.
She planned to report the discrepancies through outside channels.
Then she received a warning.
Stop asking questions if you want to see your daughter grow up.
Sadi's hands began trembling.
She looked at Ellie’s name.
Hannah had been afraid.
And she hadn't told anyone.
The next page was worse.
Hannah believed the maintenance fraud was connected to a senior executive inside Wren Air.
Someone was stealing money from emergency service contracts.
Someone was altering documentation.
Someone who had enough power to silence employees.
The last paragraph was addressed directly to Sadi.
I know you're angry that I keep working late. I know you think I'm choosing this job over Ellie. But if what Mateo says is true, people could die.
I can't pretend I don't know.
Please don't let Ellie believe I abandoned her.
Sadi broke.
The paper slipped from her hands.
Rafael caught it before it touched the floor.
She buried her face in her arms.
"I told her to quit."
Nobody spoke.
"I told her the company didn't care about her."
Her voice cracked.
"She said somebody had to care."
Gideon approached slowly.
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
Sadi looked up.
His pale eyes were filled with tears.
For the first time, she realized he hadn't come to the diner merely to solve a mystery.
He had come because he was grieving too.
Celia knelt beside them.
"My brother Julian was piloting that helicopter."
Sadi stared.
"Your brother?"
Celia nodded.
"He was thirty-four."
Her voice trembled.
"He had a wife and a little boy."
Sadi swallowed.
"Ellie's cousin in grief," she whispered.
Celia managed a sad smile.
"Something like that."
The photograph inside Hannah's envelope showed a maintenance hangar.
A mechanic stood beside a helicopter engine.
On the back was a name.
Mateo.
The brass key had a small metal tag.
Number 417.
Rafael photographed the markings for investigators.
"Could be a storage unit," he said.
Sadi nodded.
"Hannah rented one after she moved into her apartment."
"Do you know where?"
"No."
She looked at the key.
"But I might know who does."
That afternoon, Sadi returned home.
Ellie was sitting at the kitchen table with their neighbor, Mrs. Patterson.
Her blonde curls were tied into two messy pigtails.
She wore Hannah's old oversized sweatshirt.
"Aunt Sadi!"
She jumped down and ran into Sadi's arms.
Sadi held her tightly.
"Hey, peanut."
"Mrs. Patterson said there were helicopters at the diner!"
"That's right."
"Did somebody get rescued?"
Sadi swallowed.
"Maybe."
Ellie looked up.
"Was it a baby?"
"No."
"A dog?"
Sadi almost laughed.
"No, sweetheart."
Ellie thought for a moment.
"Was it the old grandpa?"
Sadi blinked.
"How did you know?"
Ellie shrugged.
"He looks sad."
Sadi kissed her forehead.
"Yeah."
She carried Ellie into the kitchen.
On the refrigerator hung a photograph of Hannah holding her daughter.
Both were laughing.
Sadi stared at it.
Then she remembered something.
Hannah had kept a little blue address book.
After the funeral, Sadi had put it in a box beneath her bed.
She opened the box.
The book was still there.
Near the back was a handwritten entry.
Evergreen Storage. Unit 417.
Sadi's pulse quickened.
She called Rafael.
"I found it."
His voice became alert.
"What?"
"The key."
She looked at Ellie's photograph.
"I know where it goes."
By evening, investigators had arranged to examine the storage unit with appropriate authorization.
Sadi stood beside Rafael outside a long row of metal doors.
He looked at her.
"Ready?"
She nodded.
The door rolled upward.
Inside were cardboard boxes, a child's broken bicycle, and an old wooden dresser.
Nothing looked unusual.
Until Sadi saw the back wall.
A black metal cabinet stood behind a stack of blankets.
Its door was slightly open.
Rafael approached carefully.
Inside was a blue binder.
He opened the cover.
The first page contained a company logo.
A wolf holding a rose.
Beneath it was a document titled:
EMERGENCY AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE DISCREPANCY REPORT.
And at the bottom was a signature.
May you like
Adrian Wren.
Gideon's nephew.
