Chapter 32 - The Woman Who Vanished
“Anna!”
Diane's scream echoed through the corridor.
The woman stepped into the red emergency light.
She looked older than the last photograph I'd seen of her, but there was no mistaking her.
Anna.
For twelve years, she'd been the sister who disappeared, the woman whose name surfaced in whispers whenever another piece of the family history failed to make sense.
Now she stood ten yards away.
Alive.
The investigator raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Anna lifted both hands.
“I don't have a weapon.”
Arthur turned toward her.
“You came back.”
“I came for Natalie.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
Anna looked at me.
“Because I should have come sooner.”
Diane pushed past me.
“You were alive?”
Anna's face crumpled.
“Yes.”
“You knew about Lucas?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my son was alive?”
Anna closed her eyes.
“I knew one of them was.”
Diane slapped her.
The sound cracked through the hallway.
Anna didn't defend herself.
Diane's hand trembled.
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I know.”
“You watched me mourn him.”
“I know.”
“You let David lie to me.”
Anna's tears fell.
“David was trying to keep you alive.”
“Don't you dare.”
Diane shoved her.
“Don't you dare use him as an excuse.”
Anna swallowed.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
The investigator stepped between them.
“We can deal with family history later. Right now, I need to know who is still in this building.”
Anna looked toward the corridor.
“Three men.”
Victor laughed.
“Five.”
The investigator looked at him.
“How many?”
“Five when I came down.”
Arthur nodded.
“Seven now.”
“Where?”
Anna pointed toward a steel service door.
“Two are guarding the archive entrance.”
The investigator motioned to his officers.
“Take the door.”
Anna grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“If you open it without the sequence, the archive will lock.”
“Then tell me the sequence.”
“I don't know it.”
Arthur spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at him.
He walked toward the steel door.
The investigator blocked him.
“You're not going anywhere.”
Arthur stopped.
“Then you're going to lose the archive.”
“And what happens if I let you touch it?”
“It opens.”
“Why should I trust you?”
Arthur looked almost amused.
“You shouldn't.”
He held out the leather folder.
“That's why you should use someone else.”
He looked at me.
“Her.”
I stared at the door.
“No.”
Arthur nodded.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You've learned something.”
“What?”
“That refusing the obvious trap is the beginning of thinking like a Brooks.”
Evan stepped forward.
“Stop talking about her like she's one of your experiments.”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“She is not an experiment.”
“Then what is she?”
“An inheritance.”
That word made me sick.
The investigator looked at me.
“You don't have to do anything.”
Arthur said quietly, “He's right.”
I turned.
“You're telling me not to open the door?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because once you see what is inside, there is no going back.”
I looked at the trust.
Then at the steel door.
Then at Lucas.
He was watching me with terrified eyes.
“I need answers.”
Lucas nodded.
“I know.”
I walked to the door.
A keypad was mounted beside it.
Arthur approached.
“Place your hand on the scanner.”
I hesitated.
Evan caught my wrist.
“Natalie.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don't.”
I looked into his eyes.
For a second, everything else disappeared.
“You said you'd protect me.”
“I will.”
“Then let me find out who I am.”
His grip loosened.
I placed my hand on the scanner.
Nothing happened.
Arthur smiled.
“Now say your full birth name.”
I stared at him.
“Natalie Brooks.”
The keypad flashed green.
A deep mechanical sound rolled through the wall.
The steel door unlocked.
Everyone froze.
Diane covered her mouth.
Rachel whispered, “Oh my God.”
The archive was enormous.
Shelves stretched into darkness.
Thousands of boxes.
Computers.
Paper files.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Bank statements.
Legal agreements.
Video tapes.
And dozens of locked cabinets marked only with dates.
Lucas stepped inside.
“I remember this.”
Rachel stopped.
“You were here?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“When I was little.”
He pointed toward a row of boxes.
“That was where they kept the pictures.”
I walked toward it.
A label read:
BROOKS CHILDREN — TRANSFERS.
Another read:
BIRTH CORRECTIONS.
Another:
SUCCESSION FAILURES.
Evan picked up a file.
His hands began shaking.
“Natalie.”
“What?”
He showed me the cover.
RICHARD BROOKS — PRIVATE SUCCESSION PROGRAM.
I opened it.
The first page contained four names.
Natalie Brooks.
Evan Brooks.
Samuel Brooks.
Anna Brooks.
Underneath each name was a handwritten note.
PRIMARY.
PRIMARY.
PRIMARY.
PRIMARY.
Then another page.
Lucas Brooks.
Daniel Brooks.
Both were labeled:
CONTINGENCY.
I looked at Lucas.
“You were never supposed to inherit.”
Lucas shook his head.
“Then why did they keep me?”
Arthur answered.
“To make the original heirs replaceable.”
Evan slammed the file shut.
“My father did this.”
“Yes,” Anna said.
“But Richard wasn't the creator.”
I looked at her.
“Then who was?”
Anna stared across the archive.
“Arthur's father.”
Arthur's expression changed.
Anna continued.
“His name was Elias Brooks.”
The old man looked away.
“He built the first trust.”
“What was in it?”
“Everything,” Arthur said.
“Money?”
“Money. Companies. Land. Voting rights. Private foundations. Information.”
“Information?”
Anna nodded.
“The Brooks family wasn't powerful because of the money.”
She looked at me.
“They were powerful because of what they knew.”
A computer monitor suddenly turned on.
No one touched it.
The screen displayed a single message.
WELCOME HOME, NATALIE.
I stepped backward.
Evan whispered, “Who activated that?”
Arthur looked disturbed.
For the first time, he wasn't in control.
Anna stared at the screen.
“No.”
I turned.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“This shouldn't be possible.”
A video began playing.
Static.
Then a man's face appeared.
Older than Arthur.
White hair.
Cold eyes.
A distinctive scar over his left eyebrow.
I stared.
Lucas made a strangled sound.
“That’s him.”
“Who?”
“The man from the hospital.”
Arthur went pale.
The man on the screen leaned toward the camera.
His voice was low.
“If you're watching this, Arthur failed.”
Arthur's hands began trembling.
The recording continued.
“Which means Natalie has found the archive.”
He paused.
“Good.”
My heart pounded.
The man smiled.
“Now I can finally meet my daughter.”
Diane gasped.
Anna whispered the words before I could.
“He's not Elias.”
Arthur looked at me.
“He's your father.”
The screen went black.
I turned to Arthur.
“No.”
Arthur's eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Regret.
“He was supposed to be dead.”
A soft sound came from behind us.
The archive door began closing.
May you like
And someone on the other side whispered:
“Too late.”
