Chapter 6 - Locker 314
They escaped through a grease-slick service alley while men hammered on the diner's front door. Mara slipped twice. Adrian caught her both times and didn't make a joke about it.
At 4:08, Union Station was a cavern of sleepy commuters, cleaners, and echoing announcements. Mara found locker 314 between a broken vending machine and the restrooms.
The brass key turned as smoothly as if someone had used it yesterday.
Inside was a blue scarf, a disposable phone, and a thick envelope. No cash. No jewels. Just a photograph of Evelyn beside a much younger Adrian and Lucian, all three smiling in front of the Voss family house.
“Your mother knew us,” Adrian whispered.
Mara turned the photo over. Evelyn's handwriting read: IF MY CHILD EVER SEES THIS, TELL HER I TRIED.
The envelope held a list of names, payment dates, and medical codes. At the bottom: PROJECT NIGHTJAR. Lucian Voss appeared as an authorized signatory.
Mara shoved the page at Adrian. “Your brother did this.”
“Maybe.”
“That's all you've got? Maybe?”
“Signatures can be copied.”
“And family loyalty can make smart men blind.”
The disposable phone rang. Mara answered before Adrian could stop her.
A woman's voice said, “Evelyn would be proud of you.”
“Who is this?”
“Someone who worked with your mother. Listen carefully. Nightjar wasn't a charity. It bought debt from desperate families, then used the debt to move children through fake adoption agencies. Evelyn found the records.”
Mara gripped the phone harder. “Where is Sophie?”
“Alive. For now. The buyer wants the original ledger.”
“Who is the buyer?”
A pause. “You know his face.”
Adrian leaned closer. “Tell us your name.”
“June Mercer. I was the foundation's attorney. And Adrian, your father died with a secret he never told you.”
A train roared through the station, drowning the next words. When it passed, the call had ended.
Mara opened the last fold of the envelope. There was one more photograph. A newborn with a hospital bracelet, held by Evelyn. The date was twenty-seven years ago.
On the bracelet, the baby's name wasn't Mara Bennett.
May you like
It was Mara Voss.
THE LAST DANCE AT BLACKTHORN HALL •
