Chapter 5 - Underground Echoes
The descent into the abandoned transit tunnels beneath the coastal highway was pitch black, illuminated only by the faint screen of Julian’s phone. Water dripped from rusted iron pipes overhead, pooling in muddy puddles around his ruined Italian leather shoes. Maya clung to him silently now, her trembling body pressed flat against his chest, having learned too early that noise meant danger.
Julian reached the bottom landing, his lungs burning. He set Maya down inside an old rail maintenance booth and dropped to his knees, checking her for scratches. Other than soot on her white socks and pink dress, she was unharmed.
“Maya, look at me,” Julian whispered, brushing her hair from her forehead. “Where did Mommy give you that floral purse?”
Maya sniffled, rubbing her nose with the back of her wrist. “It wasn't Mommy. It was a tall lady with silver glasses in a big glass house.”
Julian froze. “Silver glasses?”
“She told me she was Mommy’s friend,” Maya said softly. “She told me Victoria was a wicked witch who was going to take our house, and that I had to bring the brown paper to you before the music stopped.”
Julian took out the small tablet Claire had given him. He typed the alphanumeric sequence tattooed on Maya’s skin into the decryption field of the digital drive: 7X9-KTL-004-BER.
A file directory blossomed across the screen, shedding light on the dim booth. It wasn’t bank statements. It was medical telemetry data from the St. Jude Bio-Research Institute—a clinical facility owned by Victoria’s family. But what caught Julian’s eye was the patient identification ledger.
Elena was not listed as a deceased patient. Her status was marked as Subject 04: Inducted Coma. The facility address was located less than twelve miles away, deep in the heavily guarded forestry of Blackwood Ridge.
Elena hadn’t died. Victoria hadn’t just murdered her on paper; she had stolen her identity, her assets, and locked her in a clinical prison to keep the Sterling family conglomerate from falling apart under regulatory scrutiny.
Julian felt a surge of raw, primal fury such as he had never known. He tucked the tablet into his vest, took Maya by the hand, and stepped toward the emergency exit leading to the industrial rail yard.
May you like
A click sounded from the gloom behind him.
“Step away from the exit, Mr. Sterling,” a voice drawled. Marcus emerged from the darkness of the ladder, holding a silenced pistol level with Julian’s head.
