Chapter 8 - Archive B
We reached the cabin just before dusk with Hsu and two investigators behind us.
The front door was open.
No vehicle sat outside.
Mud marked the porch.
Mason touched my shoulder.
“Stay behind Hsu.”
“I’m armed too.”
“I know.”
“That sounded like an order.”
“It was a request from the man who wants to survive long enough to marry you.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
We entered.
The cabin smelled like dust, pine, and cold ash.
Drawers had been pulled out.
Cabinets stood open.
Someone had been searching fast.
I went straight to the basement.
The cedar chest was there beneath a tarp.
Its brass latch had been broken.
My stomach dropped.
I lifted the lid.
Empty.
“No,” I whispered.
Then I noticed scratches along the inside wall.
Dad had rebuilt the chest himself.
He never did anything without a reason.
I pressed the cedar panel.
Nothing.
Mason crouched beside me.
“Your dad ever use hidden compartments?”
“Only when he thought he was being clever.”
“So constantly?”
“Exactly.”
I ran my fingers along the seam.
A small wooden pin moved.
The false bottom lifted.
Inside sat a weatherproof pouch.
Hsu exhaled.
“Archive B.”
We carried it upstairs.
Inside were two encrypted drives, a paper ledger, and a letter addressed to me.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Liv,
If you are reading this, then I failed to finish something important.
Do not confuse family loyalty with obedience. They are not the same thing.
Your mother loves you, but fear makes her easy to manipulate. Sienna is worse because she mistakes attention for love.
Wesley Kane approached Diane with questions he had no reason to ask. I believe he was working for people connected to Northstar.
My pulse accelerated.
The letter continued.
If Northstar learns that you have these files, they may use your family against you.
Trust no threat that arrives without proof.
Trust no confession obtained through panic.
And if someone tells you I was corrupt, ask them why a corrupt man would preserve the evidence that could destroy himself.
Mason looked at me.
I read the last paragraph silently.
Then I read it again.
There is one more thing I never told you. The compensation trust was never only money. It was a shield. The account contains a legal trigger tied to the evidence. Any fraudulent attempt to seize it automatically releases preservation notices to federal investigators.
I lowered the letter.
“That’s why the bank alerts escalated.”
Hsu nodded slowly. “Your father built a tripwire.”
A floorboard creaked behind us.
Mason turned.
A man stood in the kitchen doorway.
Wet jacket.
Black gloves.
Gun in his hand.
He pointed it directly at the evidence pouch.
“Put it down,” he said.
May you like
Then he smiled at me.
“Your sister says hello.”
