Chapter 5 - The Friend Who LiedAudrey wanted to hit Paige.
The impulse shocked her.
For four years, Paige had been the person Audrey trusted most.
She had shared blankets during freezing field exercises.
She had sat beside Audrey in emergency rooms.
She had mailed birthday cards when Audrey’s parents sent nothing.
She had celebrated every exam grade.
Every promotion.
Every tiny victory.
Now Audrey wondered which memories were real.
“You met him six weeks ago.”
Paige nodded.
“And said nothing.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Audrey laughed sharply.
“Everybody in my family uses that sentence right before explaining a betrayal.”
Paige flinched.
“I deserve that.”
“No. You deserve worse.”
Julian stood near the SUV, unusually silent.
Agent Chen turned the flash drive over in her hand.
“What exactly did Arthur ask six weeks ago?”
Paige exhaled.
“He knew Eleanor had contacted somebody at Westbridge.”
Audrey frowned.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he want?”
“Her location.”
“And?”
“I told him I didn’t have it.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Grace interrupted.
“Peter said Eleanor had a contact inside the academy.”
Colonel Hale, who had arrived during Grace’s interview, looked toward Audrey.
“Faculty?”
Grace shook her head.
“Someone high enough to protect records.”
Audrey’s mind raced.
Dr. Reed?
A trustee?
Someone else?
Paige continued.
“Arthur offered me fifty thousand dollars.”
Julian let out a low whistle.
“You refused?”
“Yes.”
Audrey stared.
“Why should I believe that?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Paige wiped tears from her face.
“You should verify everything.”
It was the first smart thing anyone had said.
Chen pocketed the drive.
“I will.”
Audrey turned away.
She stared across Lake Mercer.
Moonlight rippled on the black water.
She had imagined graduation differently.
Maybe a quiet dinner with Paige.
Maybe a photograph beneath the academy gates.
Maybe a private cry in her room after proving to herself that she had survived.
Instead, before midnight, she had discovered her parents robbed her, her grandmother was alive, her father may have imprisoned her, and her best friend had once been his informant.
Her phone buzzed.
Everyone looked.
Unknown number.
Audrey opened the message.
SHE LIED AGAIN.
Then another.
A photograph appeared.
Paige leaving the courthouse six weeks earlier.
Arthur stood twenty feet behind her.
Audrey turned slowly.
Paige stared at the phone.
“I didn’t know anyone photographed us.”
Another message came.
ASK WHAT SHE GAVE HIM.
Audrey’s eyes lifted.
“What did you give him?”
Paige shook her head.
“Nothing.”
The phone buzzed again.
A video attachment.
Chen grabbed Audrey’s wrist.
“Don’t open unknown files.”
But the preview image was enough.
Paige sitting in Arthur’s car.
Handing him an envelope.
Audrey held up the screen.
“What’s in the envelope?”
Paige closed her eyes.
Julian stepped forward.
“Answer her.”
“A copy of Audrey’s grandfather’s trust.”
Audrey stared.
“You gave him my evidence.”
“It wasn’t the full file.”
“You gave him enough.”
“He already knew the trust existed.”
“Then why did he want it?”
“To see what Audrey knew.”
Audrey’s voice became quiet.
“So you told him.”
“No.”
“You showed him.”
“I was trying to buy time.”
“With my life?”
Paige suddenly snapped.
“With mine too!”
Everyone fell silent.
Paige’s whole body shook.
“My mother borrowed money from Arthur when my dad died. Forty thousand dollars became eighty. Eighty became one hundred and twenty. Arthur owned the debt through a private company.”
Audrey stared.
“He told me freshman year that if I stayed close to you, he would erase it.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was nineteen!”
“So was I!”
“I know!”
The echo crossed the lake.
Paige covered her face.
“I know.”
Audrey looked away.
Grace spoke quietly.
“Arthur does that.”
Everyone turned.
“He finds the place where someone is desperate,” Grace said. “Then he convinces them doing one bad thing will solve it.”
Julian looked sick.
“He did it with me too.”
Audrey turned to him.
“What are you talking about?”
Julian shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Every time I screwed up, he fixed it.”
“Yes.”
“But later he used it.”
“How?”
“If I disagreed with him, he reminded me what would happen if people learned about the accident. The drugs. The college records.”
Audrey stared.
“So you were scared of him.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“I worshipped him first.”
That was worse.
Agent Chen’s phone rang.
She listened briefly.
Then she looked at Grace.
“We found something inside Cabin Nine.”
Grace went pale.
“What?”
“A hidden room.”
Audrey immediately walked toward the federal vehicle.
Chen stopped her.
“No.”
“You already cleared the cabin.”
“We found a concealed basement entrance.”
“Then I’m going.”
Chen considered arguing.
Then apparently decided resistance would only waste time.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered Cabin Nine at 12:14 a.m.
The rebuilt structure looked ordinary from outside.
Inside, agents had moved a heavy bookcase from a wall.
Behind it was a narrow staircase descending beneath the cabin.
Audrey followed Chen down.
The air smelled stale.
Concrete walls.
A single hanging bulb.
Metal filing cabinets lined one side.
Audrey’s chest tightened.
“This wasn’t a hiding place.”
Grace shook her head.
“No.”
At the bottom stood a small room.
A bed.
Medical equipment.
Locked cabinets.
Audrey stared.
“She was kept here.”
Grace whispered, “For a while.”
Audrey turned.
“You knew?”
“Peter told me.”
“Why didn’t you call police?”
“We tried.”
“What happened?”
“The officer who came was on Arthur’s payroll.”
Julian swore.
Chen opened one filing cabinet.
Inside were medical records.
Eleanor Vance.
Audrey stepped closer.
The diagnosis listed cognitive decline.
Audrey scanned the medication.
Heavy sedatives.
Antipsychotics.
She looked at Chen.
“She didn’t need these.”
“We’ll verify medically.”
Another agent called from the corner.
“Found something.”
A section of paneling had been removed.
Behind it was a small safe.
Grace stared.
“I didn’t know that was there.”
Technicians opened it.
Inside were three objects.
A passport.
A digital recorder.
And a letter addressed in Eleanor’s handwriting.
AUDREY.
Audrey’s fingers trembled as she opened it.
My darling girl,
If this reaches you, then I failed to protect you quietly.
Audrey swallowed.
Your father is dangerous, but he is not the only person you need to fear.
She read faster.
Arthur could never have moved the money alone. He could never have falsified my medical records alone. He could never have kept me hidden without help from someone I trusted.
Audrey reached the last paragraph.
Then stopped.
Julian leaned closer.
“What?”
Audrey looked up.
The letter named a second conspirator.
Not Victoria.
Not an employee.
Not Paige.
Someone whose reputation had shaped Westbridge itself.
Audrey looked toward Colonel Hale.
“Where is Dr. Reed?”
Hale frowned.
“At the academy.”
“Call him.”
“Why?”
Audrey handed him the letter.
Hale read.
His face hardened.
Paige whispered, “What does it say?”
Audrey answered.
“My grandfather’s attorney helped my father hide Grandma.”
Julian shook his head.
“Who?”
Audrey looked down at the signature beneath Eleanor’s warning.
“Malcolm Reed.”
Everyone went still.
Colonel Hale stared.
“No.”
Audrey looked at him.
“Dr. Reed was my grandfather’s attorney before he became president of Westbridge.”
Hale shook his head again.
“That was thirty years ago.”
Audrey nodded.
“And according to Grandma…”
She swallowed.
“He’s the one who declared her incompetent.”
Chen immediately reached for her radio.
Before she could speak, her phone rang.
Caller ID:
WESTBRIDGE SECURITY.
She answered.
“Chen.”
Her expression changed.
“What do you mean missing?”
Audrey’s stomach dropped.
Chen looked straight at her.
“Dr. Reed left campus twenty minutes ago.”
Audrey whispered, “Where?”
Chen listened.
Then ended the call.
“He used his academy vehicle.”
“Where was he going?”
“No one knows.”
Audrey looked at Eleanor’s letter.
Then at the passport inside the safe.
The passport had been issued under another name.
But Eleanor’s photograph stared back.
Audrey opened it.
Tucked between two pages was a business card.
On the back, one address had been handwritten.
VANCE AERONAUTICAL — PLANT 4
Julian’s face went pale.
“That plant has been closed for nine years.”
Audrey looked at him.
“Then why does Grandma want us there?”
Julian swallowed.
“Because Dad still uses it.”
“For what?”
Julian stared at the address.
May you like
Then whispered:
“I think that’s where he takes people he needs to disappear.”
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