Chapter 3 The Woman in the Photograph
For several seconds, Audrey could hear nothing except her own breathing.
The darkness inside the station seemed to press against the walls.
Ethan's hand remained around hers.
Neither of them moved.
Then the voice came again from the other side of the door.
“You have five minutes.”
Audrey looked toward Ethan.
His face was barely visible in the faint light coming through the dirty office window.
“Who are you?” he called.
The person outside did not answer.
Instead, something scraped against the floor.
A metal object.
Then silence.
Ethan moved toward the door.
Audrey tightened her grip on his hand.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
She pointed toward the bottom of the door.
A thin line of light had appeared beneath it.
Someone had left the hallway.
Ethan tried the handle.
Locked.
He stepped back.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay here.”
Audrey gave him a look.
He sighed.
“Right. You hate that.”
“I do.”
He examined the room.
There was one window.
Too narrow for him.
The door was solid wood.
A desk.
Two chairs.
An old filing cabinet.
Nothing useful.
Then Audrey noticed the wall behind the cabinet.
There was a narrow vertical line in the plaster.
A door.
“Ethan.”
He followed her gaze.
Together they moved the cabinet.
Behind it was a concealed entrance.
Ethan pushed.
The panel opened.
Cold air rushed into the room.
A narrow service passage stretched into darkness.
Audrey looked at him.
“Your father knew about this place.”
“Probably.”
“And you never knew?”
“No.”
She stepped into the passage.
Ethan followed.
The corridor sloped downward.
Their footsteps echoed.
After twenty yards, it opened into a storage room.
Someone had been using it recently.
There was a folding chair.
A portable lamp.
A table covered with papers.
And on the table was a photograph.
Audrey walked toward it.
Her breath caught.
It showed her grandmother, Evelyn Parker, standing outside the Ashford Hotel.
She was younger.
Beautiful.
Her dark hair fell over one shoulder, and she wore a pale dress that looked strangely formal for the weather.
Beside her stood Richard Calloway.
And beside Richard was James Parker.
Audrey picked up the photograph.
“Why would they all be together?”
Ethan looked at the image.
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
She turned the photograph over.
There was another message.
The night James disappeared, Evelyn was there. Richard was there. And someone else was there too.
Audrey stared at the words.
“Someone else.”
Ethan scanned the table.
There were three folders.
One was marked ASHFORD.
Another carried the name PARKER.
The third had no label.
Ethan reached for the Ashford folder.
Audrey stopped him.
“Why?”
“Because if someone brought us here, they want us to see something.”
“Exactly.”
She pulled the Parker folder toward herself.
Inside were copies of letters.
Most were decades old.
Some were written by her grandfather.
Others were from people she had never heard of.
One letter was dated October 18, 2006.
Audrey read it.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“What?”
“This is the day Grandpa disappeared.”
Ethan came closer.
“What does it say?”
She handed him the page.
His eyes moved across the text.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
He handed it back.
Audrey read the final paragraph again.
If Richard proceeds with the acquisition, I will release the records. He knows what happened to the original investors. He knows who signed the false reports. If anything happens to me, the documents must go to the person I trust most.
Audrey's heart pounded.
“Who did he trust?”
The answer was not in the letter.
But something was written underneath.
A single initial.
E.
Ethan stared at it.
“Evelyn.”
Audrey nodded.
“My grandmother.”
She looked at the photograph again.
Her grandmother had always seemed gentle.
Soft-spoken.
Almost fragile.
She had lived another twenty years after James died.
Never remarried.
Never spoke about the Ashford.
Never explained why James had vanished from public life.
Audrey suddenly understood something.
Her grandmother had known.
All those years.
She had known.
“Where is she now?” Ethan asked.
Audrey swallowed.
“She's alive.”
His expression changed.
“You never told me.”
“I didn't think it mattered.”
Ethan looked at her.
“It matters now.”
“Yes.”
She gathered the letters.
Then a sound came from above.
A door slammed.
Someone was back.
Ethan immediately moved closer to Audrey.
“We need to leave.”
They hurried toward the passage.
Halfway through, the lights flickered on.
A shadow appeared at the far end.
Audrey stopped.
Ethan stepped in front of her.
The figure stood motionless.
Then it spoke.
“You were never supposed to find that folder.”
Audrey recognized the voice.
Her stomach dropped.
“Victoria?”
The figure stepped into the light.
It was not Victoria.
It was a man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark coat.
Audrey did not know him.
Ethan did.
His face went pale.
“Martin.”
The man smiled sadly.
“I wondered how long it would take you.”
Ethan stared.
“You're dead.”
Martin shook his head.
“That's what your father wanted everyone to believe.”
Audrey looked between them.
“Who is he?”
Ethan's voice was barely audible.
“My father's former attorney.”
Martin looked at Audrey.
“Your grandfather trusted me.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
Martin's expression changed.
“Because he discovered the truth too late.”
“What truth?”
Martin looked toward the folders in Audrey's hands.
“The Ashford was never the real target.”
Ethan frowned.
“What was?”
Martin's gaze settled on Audrey.
“Your family.”
The words seemed to stop the air.
Audrey felt Ethan's hand close around hers again.
Martin continued.
“Your grandfather discovered that someone had been using the Ashford to hide a much larger financial operation. When he tried to expose it, they threatened your family.”
“Who?”
Martin looked at Ethan.
“Your father knew.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“My father was involved?”
“He was trapped.”
“That isn't what the records say.”
Martin gave a bitter smile.
“Records can be made to say anything.”
Audrey stepped forward.
“Then tell us the truth.”
Martin looked at her for a long moment.
“You have your grandfather's eyes.”
The observation unsettled her.
“Please.”
Martin's expression softened.
“Your grandfather did not abandon your grandmother.”
Audrey's breath caught.
“He was taken.”
The corridor seemed to disappear.
“Taken where?”
“I don't know.”
“You just said—”
“I said he was taken. I never said I knew where he went.”
“Who took him?”
Martin looked over his shoulder.
His face suddenly changed.
“Someone is coming.”
Ethan heard it too.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Getting closer.
Martin grabbed the Ashford folder.
“We have to go.”
“No,” Audrey said. “You don't get to disappear again.”
Martin looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
A loud crash came from the station above.
Martin cursed.
He pushed a small key into Audrey's hand.
“Your grandmother has the rest.”
“What does this open?”
“The place where your grandfather hid the original records.”
“Where?”
Martin looked at Ethan.
Then back at Audrey.
“Under the Ashford.”
Another crash.
Closer.
Martin stepped toward the opposite passage.
“You need to leave now.”
Ethan grabbed his arm.
“Who is coming?”
Martin looked directly into his eyes.
“The person who killed your father.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
Martin pulled free.
“Your father died believing he had protected you.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“My father died in a hospital.”
“No.”
Martin's voice dropped.
“Your father was murdered.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Ethan stood frozen.
Audrey touched his arm.
“Ethan.”
He did not respond.
She had never seen him look so lost.
Then a loud bang came from the station entrance.
Ethan grabbed her hand.
“We're leaving.”
They ran.
They reached the service exit just as two men entered the station.
Ethan pulled Audrey behind a concrete wall.
The men walked past.
One of them spoke.
“Find the woman.”
The other answered.
“She has the folder.”
Audrey looked down.
The Parker folder was still in her hand.
Her heart raced.
Ethan leaned close.
“We need to get you somewhere safe.”
Audrey shook her head.
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“My grandmother.”
He stared at her.
“She knows.”
“Yes.”
“And if those men know she has the rest—”
“They may already be watching her.”
Audrey looked toward the station exit.
Then she made her decision.
“We're going to see her.”
Ethan nodded.
They slipped through the exit and crossed the street.
Neither noticed the small camera mounted beneath the station's old sign.
It followed them as they disappeared into the rain.
Across town, someone watched the live footage on a computer.
A photograph of Audrey sat beside the keyboard.
The person leaned closer to the screen.
“She's going to Evelyn.”
A second person stood behind him.
“What do we do?”
The first person smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Let her go.”
He picked up another photograph.
This one showed Audrey and Ethan standing together at the station.
“They're finally going to open the door for us.”
He turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were four words:
Let the marriage heal.
Then, beneath them:
It will make the betrayal hurt more.