Chapter 9 - The Locked RoomWe arrived at the old Moretti estate just before dawn.
The house was empty.
Too empty.
Dominic led me down a hallway.
At the end was a black door.
He stopped.
“This room hasn't been opened since I was twelve.”
“Why?”
“My father told me never to enter.”
“Did you listen?”
“For twenty-five years.”
He unlocked the door.
Inside were hundreds of files.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Names.
Dates.
Hospital reports.
I walked to the nearest cabinet.
My hands froze.
There was Leo's name.
I pulled the file out.
Dominic came behind me.
“What is it?”
I opened it.
There was a photograph of my son.
Taken before he was born.
I couldn't breathe.
“How…”
Dominic looked at the page.
Then another.
And another.
My son's medical condition had been documented months before his birth.
Someone had been watching us.
Someone had known.
I turned another page.
A handwritten note appeared.
SUBJECT: LEO
PROGNOSIS: TERMINAL
PARENTAL RESPONSE: EXTREME
Then underneath:
MOTHER WILL BE USEFUL LATER.
I dropped the file.
Dominic stared at me.
“What does that mean?”
I couldn't speak.
Then we heard footsteps.
Someone was upstairs.
Dominic reached beneath his jacket.
“Stay behind me.”
The footsteps stopped.
A woman's voice came from the hallway.
“You finally opened the room.”
Dominic raised his gun.
Evelyn Shaw stepped into the doorway.
Older now.
Calm.
Smiling.
“You ruined everything,” Dominic said.
She shook her head.
“No, Dominic.”
Her eyes moved to me.
“She did.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“What did I do?”
May you like
Evelyn smiled.
“You survived.”
