Chapter 3 - The Storage Unit
I pushed the girls back inside the kitchen and locked the deadbolt.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I desperately searched for a way out.
The front of the house was exposed, and the backyard was compromised.
I led the girls down into the basement, where an old storm cellar doors led to the side yard.
We crept through the damp darkness, holding our breath.
I pushed the heavy wooden cellar doors open just enough to squeeze through.
We ran through the pouring rain and climbed into my truck parked on the street.
I didn't turn on the headlights until we were three blocks away.
The drive to the storage facility felt like an eternity.
The building was a massive concrete structure surrounded by barbed wire fencing.
I used the gate code written in Rose’s notebook to enter the compound.
The facility was eerily quiet, illuminated only by flickering yellow security lights.
We found unit number 402 down a long, narrow concrete hallway.
The brass key slid into the padlock and turned with a heavy click.
I rolled up the metal door, revealing a small room stacked with cardboard boxes.
Lucy and Rachel immediately started opening the boxes.
Inside, we found hundreds of financial documents, bank statements, and offshore account records.
Arthur had been embezzling millions of dollars from Rose’s charity foundation.
He was laundering the money through a shell company owned by Elena.
But the most shocking discovery was a thick medical file with Rose’s name on it.
I opened it and read the toxicology report from a private lab.
Rose wasn't dying of a natural illness; she was being slowly poisoned with a rare chemical compound.
Suddenly, a blinding spotlight flooded the hallway outside our unit.
The roar of a powerful engine echoed off the concrete walls.
A black SUV had just blocked the only exit to our hallway.
May you like
Arthur’s voice boomed through a megaphone.
"You really thought you could hide from me, Charles?"
