Chapter 21 - The House Beneath the House
The vehicle behind us accelerated.
Dad shoved me toward the passenger door.
“Get in.”
Richard was already moving.
He didn't look frightened.
He looked angry.
That was worse.
I climbed into the SUV, slamming the door as Dad got behind the wheel. Richard jumped into the back seat and grabbed the metal rail mounted near the ceiling.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Doesn't matter,” Dad said.
“It matters to me.”
“We'll know soon enough.”
The engine roared.
Headlights appeared through the trees.
One vehicle.
Then another.
My phone was still in my hand.
Ethan's last words wouldn't leave my head.
She has Noah's blood.
I looked at Dad.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“I'm not.”
“You know something.”
“I know that Leah was around you when you were a child. I know she was connected to the Carter program. I know your mother was trying to get you away from them. Beyond that, I'm working with the same information you are.”
Richard leaned forward.
“Michael.”
Dad glanced at him.
“Not now.”
“Actually, now is the only time.”
Richard's voice had changed.
Low.
Controlled.
“Those vehicles aren't Carter security.”
Dad's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“Because Carter vehicles use encrypted transponders. These don't.”
“Then whose are they?”
Richard looked at me.
“Someone who doesn't want us to reach the house first.”
My stomach tightened.
I looked behind us.
The two vehicles were gaining.
“Can we lose them?”
Dad smiled without humor.
“I taught people how to drive into war zones.”
The SUV took the next turn so hard my shoulder hit the door.
Richard grabbed the seat.
I heard tires scream behind us.
Dad cut the headlights.
The darkness swallowed everything.
For three seconds, we drove blind.
Then Dad turned off the road and pushed through a narrow opening between two stone markers.
The SUV dropped down a steep embankment.
I grabbed the dashboard.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking the service road.”
“There is no road.”
“There used to be.”
Richard looked over my shoulder.
“You remember the underground access?”
Dad didn't answer.
My heart pounded.
“You've been here before.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
The SUV rolled between a wall of trees and a crumbling concrete structure.
Dad stopped.
The pursuing vehicles passed above us.
We sat in complete silence.
Then headlights disappeared.
Dad exhaled.
Richard opened his door.
“Come on.”
I followed him.
The old service building smelled like damp earth.
Dad pushed aside a broken panel near the floor.
Behind it was a metal box.
He opened it.
Inside were three things.
A flashlight.
A military radio.
And a key.
I stared at the key.
“You have another one.”
Dad nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I never stopped looking.”
“For my mother?”
“For you.”
He put the key in my hand.
I stared at it.
“What does it open?”
“The first door.”
“The one beneath the house?”
“Yes.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Dad looked at him.
Richard pointed at the key.
“That opens the old facility entrance.”
I looked between them.
“Then what opens the door beneath the house?”
Neither answered.
I stepped back.
“You both knew.”
Dad's expression hardened.
“I knew there was a structure under the property. I didn't know what was still operational.”
Richard said, “Elena did.”
My phone vibrated again.
A new message.
Noah is awake.
My breath stopped.
A second message followed.
He asked for you.
I showed Dad.
He immediately reached for the phone.
Another message appeared before he could touch it.
Don't come with the General.
I looked at him.
“She's watching us.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“How else would she know?”
“Because your phone is compromised.”
Dad stared at me.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Camila.”
“No.”
I backed away.
“All of you have been deciding what I should know for twelve years.”
Dad's face fell.
“You're right.”
That stopped me.
He lowered his hand.
“You're right.”
His voice was quieter.
“I thought protecting you meant keeping you in the dark.”
“It didn't.”
“I know.”
“You took my choices away.”
“I know.”
“And now you expect me to trust you.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“I expect you to decide whether I deserve it.”
My eyes burned.
Then I heard something.
A faint metallic sound.
Click.
We all froze.
Richard drew his weapon.
Dad stepped in front of me.
The sound came again.
A door opening.
Not outside.
Under our feet.
The old concrete floor shifted.
A narrow seam appeared.
Then another.
A section of concrete slowly lifted.
Cold air rushed upward.
I stared into the darkness beneath us.
A staircase.
Leading down.
My mother's voice echoed from a speaker hidden somewhere in the ceiling.
“Camila.”
I couldn't move.
“Mom?”
Her voice trembled.
“Go downstairs.”
Dad looked at Richard.
Richard shook his head.
But I was already stepping forward.
Dad grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“She has Noah.”
“I know.”
“She told me to bring Michael.”
He stiffened.
“She called you Michael.”
I nodded.
“That's what she said.”
Dad stared at the staircase.
Then his face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
He whispered:
“This isn't under the house.”
“What is it?”
His eyes met mine.
“It's under the original Carter property.”
Richard's face went pale.
“The facility.”
Dad nodded.
“The one I burned.”
I looked down into the darkness.
“Then why is it still here?”
Richard answered.
“Because you didn't burn all of it.”
A sound came from below.
A child's voice.
“Mom?”
My heart shattered.
“Noah.”
I started down.
Dad followed.
Richard came last.
The stairs seemed endless.
Concrete walls surrounded us.
Every few feet, red emergency lights flickered alive.
Then I saw a sign.
CARTER RIDGE — LOWER RESEARCH LEVEL
I stopped.
Dad walked past me.
At the end of the corridor stood a thick steel door.
Three locks.
The first opened by a keycard.
The second required a number.
The third had a simple handprint scanner.
Dad stared at it.
“This wasn't here twelve years ago.”
Richard whispered, “No.”
A monitor beside the door flickered.
A face appeared.
Leah.
She smiled.
“Hello, Camila.”
Dad moved toward the screen.
“Where's my daughter?”
Leah tilted her head.
“Which one?”
Dad froze.
Leah smiled wider.
“That is the question, isn't it?”
The screen went black.
Then the three locks began opening.
One.
Two.
Three.
The door swung inward.
And beyond it, someone started screaming.
May you like
Not Noah.
Ethan.
