Chapter 7 - The Name Nobody Mentioned
Adrien spent the entire night searching old records.
I stayed because he had asked me to identify anything I remembered from the corridor.
Near midnight, he found an old security report.
The report mentioned a man named Elias Moretti.
Adrien's father.
Beside his name was a handwritten note:
KEEP THE LEDGER OUT OF THE MAIN OFFICE.
Adrien stared at it.
“What ledger?”
“I don't know.”
He opened another file.
Nothing.
Then another.
Still nothing.
I remembered the photograph.
“Maybe the ledger isn't in the archive.”
Adrien looked at me.
“Where would you hide something you didn't want anyone to find?”
“Somewhere nobody would search.”
He thought.
Then I said, “The old laundry storage.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because nobody uses it.”
We went there together.
Behind a broken shelf was a loose section of wall.
Adrien removed it.
Inside was a narrow metal box.
No lock.
He opened it.
There was a ledger.
Old.
Dusty.
Wrapped in cloth.
Adrien turned the first page.
His father's handwriting filled it.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
But one final page contained only a single sentence:
IF THEY COME FOR THIS, DON'T TRUST THE MAN WHO SAYS HE PROTECTED YOU.
Adrien stared at it.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Adrien answered.
May you like
Marcus spoke only five words.
“Boss, I know where Maya is.”
