Chapter 4 - ROOM 214
The old nursing school stood three blocks from the hospital.
It had been abandoned for six years.
Windows were boarded.
Paint peeled from the brick.
A rusted sign still hung above the entrance.
Hannah stood beside Damen.
“This place gives me chills.”
“Stay close.”
She glanced at him.
“You say that like you're expecting someone.”
“I am.”
They entered.
The hallway smelled of dust and rain.
Their footsteps echoed.
Room 214 was at the end of the second floor.
The door was locked.
Hannah took out the brass key.
It fit.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was an old classroom.
Desks.
Broken chairs.
A blackboard.
Nothing else.
Hannah frowned.
“There's nothing here.”
Damen examined the walls.
“Look again.”
Hannah walked toward the blackboard.
A faint scratch appeared beneath the dust.
She wiped it away.
Three letters.
E.B.H.
Her heart pounded.
“Emma.”
Damen found a loose panel beneath the window.
Behind it was a metal box.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
A cassette tape.
And a small diary.
Hannah picked up the diary.
The first page read:
Sophia Moretti.
Damen stopped breathing.
He touched the cover.
“My sister.”
Hannah handed it to him.
He opened it.
The first pages contained names.
Dates.
Payments.
Meetings.
Then a photograph fell out.
It showed Sophia standing beside Hannah's mother.
And another person.
Victor Kane.
Hannah felt sick.
“He knew my mother.”
Damen nodded.
“And Sophia.”
They continued reading.
Sophia had documented everything.
Victor Kane had been laundering money through several legitimate companies.
He had blackmailed judges.
Bought witnesses.
Threatened police officers.
But the final pages were different.
The handwriting became rushed.
The last entry was dated two days before Sophia died.
Victor discovered the girl survived.
Damen looked at Hannah.
“The girl.”
Hannah whispered:
“Emma?”
“No.”
He turned the page.
The younger girl. Hannah.
Silence.
Hannah stepped backward.
“Why would Victor care whether I survived?”
Damen read the next sentence.
Because Hannah saw where the ledger was hidden.
Hannah shook her head.
“I was six.”
“You may not remember.”
“I don't.”
Damen continued.
Her mother erased the memory through years of denial. But the location was inside the house.
Hannah stared.
“What house?”
Damen turned the page.
The last sentence had been underlined three times.
The ledger is not in the house. The girl is the key.
Hannah's heart raced.
A noise came from the hallway.
Damen immediately shut the diary.
Someone was outside.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Then the lights went out.
Hannah grabbed Damen's sleeve.
“Who's there?”
He whispered:
“Don't speak.”
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Then a voice.
“Miss Brooks.”
Hannah recognized it.
Victor Kane.
Damen stepped in front of her.
“Stay behind me.”
The door handle turned.
Damen braced himself.
But before the door opened, police sirens sounded outside.
Victor's footsteps suddenly disappeared.
Damen opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
Detective Bennett ran up the stairs.
“Are you both all right?”
“Yes,” Damen said.
She looked around.
“Where's Kane?”
“Gone.”
Bennett cursed.
Then she saw the diary.
“What did you find?”
Damen handed it to her.
Bennett read several pages.
Her face hardened.
“This is enough to reopen Sophia Moretti's case.”
Damen stared at her.
“Enough to prove she didn't betray me?”
Bennett looked at him.
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
For the first time, Hannah saw tears in Damen's eyes.
He looked away quickly.
Hannah said softly:
“She was trying to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“She never stopped.”
Damen nodded.
Then Hannah noticed something inside the diary.
A page had been torn out.
“Wait.”
She pulled the diary closer.
“This page is missing.”
Bennett frowned.
“Which page?”
Hannah looked at the page number.
She froze.
“Room 214.”
Damen understood.
“The missing page tells us where the ledger is.”
Suddenly the fire alarm began screaming.
Smoke poured from the hallway.
Bennett shouted:
“Everybody out!”
Damen grabbed Hannah's hand.
They ran.
But halfway down the stairs, Hannah stopped.
“My bag.”
“Leave it.”
“The diary!”
Damen pulled her forward.
“It's not worth your life.”
She looked at him.
“But Sophia died for it.”
Damen's expression softened.
“And I'm not letting history repeat itself.”
They escaped through the back door.
Rain poured down.
Behind them, smoke filled the building.
Hannah looked at Damen.
“What now?”
He stared at the burning building.
Then at the diary.
“We find the missing page.”
“How?”
May you like
Damen looked toward the hospital.
“Because I think someone already found it.”