Chapter 5 - The Drawer of Secrets
Julian froze, his hand instinctively dropping to his side as the rhythmic scratching sound grew louder, accompanied by a faint, metallic scraping noise from within the heavy mahogany desk. Lily whimpered softly, pulling the baby tighter against her torn cardigan.
“Daddy, what’s that noise?” Lily whispered, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the antique furniture piece.
“Stay behind me, Lily,” Julian instructed in a low, unwavering tone. He stepped past the velvet sofa, his heavy leather shoes clicking against the stone floor. He approached the desk with deliberate caution, his muscles tense and ready for an attack. The desk was an heirloom piece, carved from dark African mahogany with brass handles shaped like roaring lions.
Eleanor backed away, pressing herself flat against the opposite wall, her manicured hands clamped over her mouth to stifle her gasps. “Don't open it, Julian! Leave it alone! Some things are buried for a reason!”
Julian ignored her warning. He grabbed the brass lion handles and pulled with all his might. The heavy center drawer resisted for a fraction of a second before sliding open with a loud, protesting screech that grated against the quiet room.
Inside the velvet-lined interior lay a collection of items that made Julian’s blood run cold. There was a stack of legal adoption papers bearing the official seal of the Vance family foundation, a small gold locket engraved with a set of initials that weren’t his, and a modern, high-tech thumb drive flashing a pulsing red LED light. Resting right on top of the documents was a second silver family crest pendant, identical to the one Lily wore around her neck.
Julian reached in and picked up the thumb drive. The plastic casing was still warm, indicating it had been plugged into a hidden port inside the desk very recently—perhaps only minutes ago, while they were distracted by the stranger at the door.
“Who else has a key to this vestry?” Julian demanded, turning around to face Eleanor, his eyes burning with an intense, terrifying rage.
Eleanor shook her head frantically, her blonde hair coming loose from her elaborate updo. “No one! Only the cathedral dean and… and the head of Vance Security.”
Julian plugged the thumb drive directly into his encrypted satellite phone, which he always carried in his tuxedo pocket. A split second later, a digital interface blinked to life on the small OLED screen, displaying a single video file labeled with a timecode from twenty minutes ago—right in the middle of their wedding ceremony.
With a shaking thumb, Julian pressed play.
The screen illuminated his face in a harsh blue glow. The video showed a live security feed from the cathedral’s private basement vault—a room Julian hadn't visited in five years. On the grainy screen, a figure in a black tactical uniform was standing in front of an open wall safe, pulling out stacks of bearer bonds and original land deeds bearing Julian’s signature.
As the figure turned around to face the camera, the tactical mask slid off, revealing a face that Julian recognized instantly. It was Robert Vance—his younger brother and the current Chief Operating Officer of the Vance Corporation.
May you like
On the audio track, Robert’s voice echoed clearly through the phone’s speaker: “Sorry, big brother. Enjoy your wedding night. By morning, you won't even own the clothes on your back.”
---
