Chapter 12: The List
Chapter 12: The List
Nathan stared at the page in disbelief.
Seven names.
Some he expected.
Others seemed impossible.
At the very bottom of the list was the signature of his father, James Reed.
Beneath it, one sentence was written in bold block letters.
Trust evidence, not titles.
Nathan slowly folded the paper before anyone else in the bank could see it.
Robert Gaines quietly closed the safe deposit box.
"Your father visited me three days before he died."
Nathan looked up.
"He seemed... different."
"How?"
"He wasn't afraid for himself."
Gaines lowered his voice.
"He was afraid for his family."
Nathan glanced at the envelope.
"Did he tell you why?"
"No."
"He only asked one thing."
"What?"
"If anything happened to him, I was to protect this box until you returned."
Nathan extended his hand.
"Thank you."
The old banker smiled sadly.
"I wish I could've done more."
Nathan carried the box to his truck before opening the rest of its contents.
Inside were six cassette tapes, each labeled with a date.
There was also a leather-bound notebook and a sealed evidence envelope marked:
DO NOT OPEN UNLESS NECESSARY.
Nathan picked up the notebook first.
The opening page read:
Private Investigation Log
His father hadn't simply suspected something.
He had been documenting it.
The first entries described unusual visitors asking about the north field.
Later entries mentioned surveyors arriving without permission.
Then the tone changed.
One passage caught Nathan's attention.
Carl has started meeting with strangers after dark.
They keep talking about "Parcel Seven."
Nathan continued reading.
Another entry was dated just one week before his father's death.
I no longer believe this is about minerals alone.
They're searching for government records hidden after the Cold War.
Nathan frowned.
Government records?
That didn't fit anything he had discovered so far.
He made a note to investigate later.
As Nathan started the truck, his phone rang.
Deputy Collins.
"Nathan."
"I need to see you."
Nathan hesitated.
He glanced at the folded list inside his jacket.
One of the names belonged to Collins' boss.
Could he trust him?
"Where?"
"The sheriff's office."
Nathan made a decision.
"I'll meet you somewhere else."
Silence.
"Everything alright?"
"Let's meet at Whitaker's pond."
Collins sounded confused.
"Okay."
An hour later, Collins parked beside the quiet fishing pond.
Nathan was already waiting.
"You sounded cautious."
Nathan handed him a copy of the payment ledger Luke had stolen.
"I've been thinking."
Collins studied it.
"The judge."
"The doctor."
"Holloway."
Nathan nodded.
"They all had something to gain."
Collins looked up.
"What are you getting at?"
Nathan hesitated.
Then he carefully removed the list from his father's envelope.
"I found this."
Collins read the names.
His expression remained calm until he reached the last one.
Then his face changed completely.
"Sheriff Harper?"
Nathan watched him closely.
"You believe this?"
Collins looked toward the water.
"I don't know what to believe."
Nathan remained silent.
Finally Collins spoke.
"My boss has worked in this county for twenty-eight years."
Nathan nodded.
"So had my father."
Neither man spoke for several moments.
Collins folded the paper carefully.
"If this list is real..."
He looked Nathan in the eyes.
"...we can't trust anyone inside the department."
Nathan decided not to return to Emily's house immediately.
Instead, he drove toward Parcel Seven.
The narrow strip of land followed the eastern creek through a dense grove of oak trees.
Using the old survey map, he walked until he reached a crumbling concrete structure hidden beneath vines.
He brushed away years of dirt.
A rusted steel door appeared.
His pulse quickened.
The bunker.
It really existed.
Nathan removed the small brass key from his pocket.
The key from Box 114.
It fit perfectly.
The heavy lock clicked.
With a deep groan, the door slowly opened.
Cool air rushed from the darkness below.
Concrete stairs disappeared underground.
Nathan switched on his flashlight.
The beam revealed dust-covered walls lined with rusting electrical conduits.
The bunker had clearly been abandoned for decades.
But something else caught his attention.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had been there recently.
Nathan descended carefully.
The underground room was larger than he expected.
Old filing cabinets lined one wall.
Wooden crates filled another.
Most had military markings faded by time.
He approached the nearest cabinet.
Locked.
The second drawer hung slightly open.
Inside were engineering blueprints.
Maps.
Survey reports.
Nathan flipped through them quickly.
Nearly every document referenced federal geological studies conducted during the 1960s.
Then he found a sealed folder marked:
CONFIDENTIAL
Inside was a government memorandum.
The first paragraph made him stop breathing.
The Reed property contains one of the largest verified rare earth mineral deposits in the southeastern region.
Nathan stared.
His father had been telling the truth.
The government had known for decades.
Nathan continued reading.
Another paragraph had been highlighted.
Public disclosure delayed to prevent speculative land acquisition.
Nathan slowly lowered the paper.
Someone had hidden the report.
Someone had waited years for the right opportunity.
A metallic clang echoed through the bunker.
Nathan spun around.
The bunker door slammed shut above him.
Darkness swallowed the stairwell.
Nathan hurried upward.
He grabbed the steel handle.
It wouldn't move.
Someone had locked it from the outside.
Nathan's heartbeat accelerated.
He shouted.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Only footsteps crossing the ground above.
Then a familiar voice drifted through the thick steel.
"You should've stayed in Alaska."
Nathan recognized it immediately.
Richard Holloway.
Nathan pounded on the door.
"Holloway!"
The developer laughed.
"You finally found what your father died protecting."
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"You killed him."
"No."
Holloway's voice remained calm.
"I simply benefited from what happened afterward."
Nathan listened carefully.
There were at least two other people outside.
Vehicle doors slammed.
One engine started.
Holloway spoke one last time.
"The bunker has only one air vent."
Nathan frowned.
"So?"
"You might want to hope it stays open."
The footsteps faded.
The engines disappeared.
Nathan stood alone in the underground darkness.
He immediately searched the walls with his flashlight.
Most of the ventilation pipes were rusted.
Then he found it.
One of the air shafts had recently been sealed with fresh concrete.
Only a single narrow vent remained open.
Someone hadn't just trapped him.
They intended to let him slowly run out of air.
Nathan forced himself to stay calm.
Panicking would only consume oxygen faster.
He turned his flashlight toward the far wall.
There, half-hidden beneath a dusty tarp, stood an old emergency generator.
And beside it...
Another steel door.
Bolted from the inside.
With the words:
May you like
Emergency Exit
Painted across it in faded red letters.
