CHAPTER 5 — "Locker 118"
The convoy of black SUVs sped through the city at full speed.
Red and blue emergency lights reflected across rain-soaked streets as the Director never took his eyes off the GPS.
"Union Central Station. Seven minutes."
Maria sat silently in the back seat.
Her hands trembled as she stared at the brass key lying in her palm.
For twenty-six years, she had believed her mother was an ordinary schoolteacher.
Now everything she thought she knew had collapsed.
The Director finally broke the silence.
"Maria... there's something you should know."
She looked up.
"Your mother's name wasn't always Helen Carter."
Maria frowned.
"What?"
"That identity was created twenty-four years ago."
Maria felt her heart skip a beat.
"What was her real name?"
The Director hesitated.
"We don't know."
"Every official record before that disappeared."
Even fingerprints.
School records.
Medical files.
Birth certificates.
Someone had erased an entire human being from history.
The SUV screeched to a stop outside the nearly empty train station.
Agents immediately secured every entrance.
"Move!"
Maria and the Director hurried through the deserted terminal until they reached a long corridor lined with metal storage lockers.
It looked no different from the others.
Maria inserted the old brass key.
For a second...
Nothing happened.
Then—
Click.
The rusty lock slowly opened.
Inside sat a small black metal case wrapped in waterproof fabric.
No money.
No jewelry.
No passports.
Just a single case.
The Director carefully lifted it out.
"It's heavier than it looks."
He placed it on a nearby bench.
The lid required a fingerprint.
Maria looked confused.
"It won't open."
Then she noticed something engraved beneath the scanner.
FOR MARIA ONLY
The Director stared.
"Touch it."
Maria slowly pressed her thumb onto the glass.
A soft electronic beep echoed through the station.
The locks disengaged.
Inside were only three things.
A thick file.
A flash drive.
And a letter addressed in familiar handwriting.
My Dearest Daughter...
Maria's eyes immediately filled with tears.
She unfolded the letter.
If you're reading this, everything I feared has finally happened.
You were never in danger because of me.
I was hiding you because of your father.
They believe he died twenty-four years ago.
They are wrong.
He's alive.
And if they find him before you do...
Thousands of innocent people will die.
Maria's hands shook violently.
"My father..."
"I thought he died before I was born."
The Director's expression turned pale.
"So did everyone else."
Before anyone could read further—
The station lights suddenly went dark.
Total blackout.
A second later...
Automatic gunfire erupted from both ends of the corridor.
"AMBUSH!"
Bullets ripped through the lockers.
May you like
Glass exploded everywhere.
Someone had been waiting for them.
