Chapter 11: The Safe House
The alert remained flashing across Noah Brooks' monitor.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS ATTEMPT BLOCKED
Source: 5.2 miles away
Detective Marcus Hale reacted immediately.
"Can you trace it?"
Noah's fingers flew across the keyboard.
"I'm trying."
The screen filled with maps, encrypted IP addresses, and network routes.
After several tense seconds, a red marker appeared.
"I have a location."
Hale stepped closer.
"Where?"
Noah enlarged the satellite image.
An abandoned warehouse district on the east side of the city came into view.
The signal originated from a converted brick building overlooking the river.
"There shouldn't be anyone there," Dana Price said.
"The entire block was condemned after the flood three years ago."
Hale turned to the officers waiting outside the conference room.
"Call SWAT."
"No lights."
"No sirens."
"If Aster is there, I don't want her warned."
The officers hurried out.
Meanwhile, at the Mercer estate...
Evelyn sat alone in her father's study.
The room smelled faintly of old leather and cedar.
For years, it had been a place where major business decisions were made.
Tonight, it felt like a room full of unanswered questions.
She opened a wooden cabinet containing family photo albums.
One by one, she turned the pages.
There were pictures of hotel openings...
Charity events...
Family vacations...
Christmas mornings...
Every memory seemed untouched by the darkness surrounding the investigation.
Until she found one photograph she had never seen before.
It had been tucked between two pages.
The picture showed her father standing beside another man in front of a hotel under construction.
The second man's face had been circled in blue ink.
Written on the back were four words.
Never trust Victor Sloan.
Evelyn frowned.
She had never heard the name.
She immediately photographed the image and sent it to Detective Hale.
Twenty minutes later...
Police vehicles quietly surrounded the abandoned warehouse.
The building stood alone at the end of an empty street.
Broken windows reflected the flashing lights from distant traffic.
SWAT officers took their positions.
Hale spoke into his radio.
"Remember..."
"We don't know how many people are inside."
The team approached silently.
A battering ram struck the steel door.
Once.
Twice.
On the third hit, the lock gave way.
"Police!"
No response.
The officers entered.
Flashlights swept across dusty concrete floors.
Old office furniture sat abandoned beneath layers of dust.
There was no movement.
No voices.
Nothing.
Dana slowly walked toward the rear office.
"Detective."
Hale joined her.
The room looked surprisingly clean.
Someone had been there recently.
A coffee cup still held warm liquid.
A laptop charger remained plugged into the wall.
But the computer itself was gone.
"They left in a hurry," Dana whispered.
"No."
Hale looked around carefully.
"They left seconds before we arrived."
One officer called out from upstairs.
"We found something!"
The team climbed to the second floor.
Inside a small office overlooking the river stood a large corkboard.
Hundreds of photographs covered its surface.
Every picture showed someone connected to the Mercer family.
Board members.
Lawyers.
Investors.
Hotel managers.
Even Detective Hale.
Dana stared in disbelief.
"She's been watching all of us."
Lila's photograph occupied the center of the board.
Red strings connected it to Adrian.
To Project Horizon.
And finally...
To Evelyn.
At the very top hung one final photograph.
It had clearly been placed there most recently.
It showed Evelyn leaving police headquarters the previous afternoon.
Across the picture, someone had written in black marker:
NEXT
Silence filled the room.
Hale slowly removed the photograph.
"Increase security at the Mercer estate."
"Immediately."
Just then, Noah called.
"Detective!"
"I'm listening."
"I identified the warehouse lease."
"Who rented it?"
"A company called Riverside Logistics."
"Another shell corporation?"
"Yes."
"But this one's different."
"How?"
"It has only one listed employee."
"Name?"
Noah hesitated.
"You won't believe it."
"Try me."
"The employee is listed as..."
He checked the screen again.
"...Victor Sloan."
Hale immediately remembered the photograph Evelyn had sent.
The man standing beside her father.
The words written on the back.
Never trust Victor Sloan.
"Run everything on him."
"I'm already doing it."
Minutes later, Noah called back again.
His voice sounded shocked.
"Detective..."
"What now?"
"Victor Sloan disappeared nineteen years ago."
"What do you mean disappeared?"
"He was declared legally dead after a private plane crashed in Colorado."
Hale stopped walking.
"No body?"
"No body."
"Just the plane."
Back at the Mercer estate...
Security guards had doubled their patrols.
Additional police vehicles blocked the entrance gates.
Evelyn stood near the front window, watching officers search the grounds.
Lila joined her.
"You think she'll come here?"
Evelyn answered honestly.
"I don't know."
"But if she's watched us this long..."
"...she already knows this house better than we do."
At that exact moment...
The estate's security alarm suddenly sounded.
Every light inside the mansion flickered.
The emergency backup system activated.
One of the guards shouted through his radio.
"Power failure!"
Another voice answered.
"No!"
"The main line was cut!"
Dana's phone rang instantly.
She answered.
"What happened?"
The head of estate security sounded panicked.
"Someone breached the north garden."
"Did you see them?"
"Only for a second."
"Who?"
"A woman..."
"Wearing a red coat."
Dana looked toward Hale, who had just arrived with additional officers.
"She's here."
Hale drew his service weapon.
"Lock down the estate!"
Officers rushed through the mansion while others searched the gardens with flashlights.
Rain began falling across the property.
Lightning illuminated the towering oak trees.
Near the edge of the garden maze, one officer suddenly shouted.
"I found footprints!"
Hale hurried over.
The footprints led through the wet grass...
Stopped beneath an old stone fountain...
And disappeared.
No gate had been opened.
No wall had been climbed.
It was as if the woman had simply vanished.
Then another officer called from the front porch.
"Detective!"
Hale turned.
A small black gift box sat neatly on the welcome mat.
No one had seen who left it.
The bomb squad carefully examined the package before declaring it safe.
Inside was a single antique hotel key.
Attached to it was a handwritten note.
Room 217
The Ashcroft Inn
Some fires never go out.
Detective Hale looked toward Evelyn.
Neither of them spoke.
They both understood the message.
May you like
Aster wasn't running anymore.
She was inviting them to follow.
