“It was never mailed.”

My hands trembled as I accepted it.

Across the front, in Lucan’s familiar handwriting, were six words.

To my son, if I’m too late.

I couldn’t bring myself to open it.

Not yet.

Adrian understood.

“There will be time.”

He looked around the hidden room.

“But not here.”

Before anyone could answer—

The sound of engines echoed outside.

Not one vehicle.

Several.

Bright headlights suddenly swept through the broken factory windows.

The mechanic hurried to the doorway.

“Oh no…”

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked back at us.

“They’re not demolition trucks.”

I stepped beside him.

Three black SUVs rolled through the open gate.

Their headlights cut across the factory floor.

The first vehicle stopped directly outside the building.

The second blocked the entrance.

The third remained near the gate.

The driver’s door opened.

A tall man in a dark raincoat stepped out.

I had never seen him before.

Adrian had.

Every trace of color vanished from his face.

He whispered only two words.

“Richard Mercer.”

“Who is he?”

Adrian’s answer barely rose above the sound of the rain.

“He was your grandfather’s accountant.”

I frowned.

“My great-grandfather?”

“No.”

He looked straight at me.

“Lucan’s father.”

Another car door slammed shut.

Four more men climbed out.

None of them wore company uniforms.

None of them carried tools.

Instead…

Each carried powerful flashlights.

Richard Mercer called into the darkness of the factory.

“Mr. Foster.”

His voice was calm.

“You’ve been hiding long enough.”

Another pause.

“You can come out now.”

No one inside the hidden room breathed.

Then Richard smiled.

“And bring Lucan’s son with you.”

He knew exactly who I was.

PART 9: “THE ACCOUNTANT WHO KNEW MY NAME”

No one spoke.

The rain hammered against the factory roof.

Outside, the engines continued idling.

Richard Mercer stood beneath a black umbrella, perfectly still, as if he had all the time in the world.

He looked directly toward the hidden room.

Not searching.

Waiting.

He already knew where we were.

Adrian quietly closed his briefcase.

“We have to leave.”

“How?” I whispered.

“They’re blocking the entrance.”

“There are other ways out.”

The mechanic frowned.

“There used to be.”

Adrian pointed toward the back wall.

“When the factory was built, there was an emergency tunnel leading to the loading dock.”

“The tunnel was sealed years ago,” Bram said.

Adrian shook his head.

“Officially.”

He walked toward the far corner of the hidden room.

Dust covered the concrete floor.

He knelt beside an old wooden cabinet that had not been moved in decades.

“Help me.”

The mechanic grabbed one side.

I took the other.

Together we pushed.

The cabinet scraped across the floor, revealing a rusted steel hatch hidden beneath it.

Bram stared.

“I never knew this was here.”

“Very few people did.”

Adrian pulled on the heavy ring handle.

The hatch refused to move.

He pulled again.

Nothing.

“It’s rusted shut.”

The mechanic handed me the pry bar.

“Try here.”

I wedged the bar beneath the edge.

The metal groaned.

A second push.

Then a loud crack echoed through the room.

The hatch finally lifted.

Cold air rushed upward.

A narrow concrete staircase disappeared into darkness.

At that exact moment—

Richard Mercer’s voice echoed through the factory.

“I know you found the tunnel, Adrian.”

Every one of us froze.

Adrian slowly closed his eyes.

“He’s been here before.”

Richard continued speaking.

“Lucan showed it to you.”

“You always did trust the wrong people.”

The hidden room became completely silent.

How could he know what we were doing?

The answer came only seconds later.

A tiny red light blinked from the corner of the ceiling.

The mechanic followed my eyes.

“A camera.”

I looked around.

Another one.

Then another.

Small.

Modern.

Hidden among the old beams.

“They’ve been watching the room.”

Adrian nodded grimly.

“Not just tonight.”

“For years.”

Richard laughed softly from somewhere outside.

“You’ve already taken the documents.”

“I won’t ask for them back.”

I looked toward the doorway.

“What does he want?”

Adrian’s answer was immediate.

“You.”

Outside, Richard spoke again.

“Merrick.”

Hearing my name in his voice made my stomach tighten.

“I knew your father before you were born.”

“He was a decent man.”

“He deserved better than the choices he made.”

I stepped toward the opening in the wall.

Adrian grabbed my arm.

“Don’t.”

“I need answers.”

“He’ll only give you the answers that help him.”

Richard’s voice remained calm.

“You’re wondering why I know your name.”

He paused.

“It’s because I’ve been paying attention to you since your first birthday.”

The words struck harder than any threat.

My first birthday.

Before my mother died.

Before I could remember anything.

He had known about me all along.

Bram whispered behind me,

“That’s impossible.”

“No,” Adrian replied quietly.

“It isn’t.”

Richard adjusted his umbrella as though discussing the weather.

“I attended your mother’s funeral.”

My heart stopped.

“You stood three rows behind me.”

“I doubt you remember.”

“I carried white lilies.”

Every hair on my arms stood up.

He had been there.

Watching.

All those years.

Richard continued.

“I also attended your college graduation.”

“I watched when you opened The Thursday Room.”

“I even donated anonymously to your scholarship fund.”

I stared into the darkness beyond the factory doors.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t expect anything.”

“I simply prefer the truth.”

Adrian’s voice became sharp.

“Don’t listen to him.”

Richard ignored him.

“The question you should ask isn’t why I watched you.”

Another pause.

“It’s why Odette Voss asked me to.”

Silence crashed over the hidden room.

I slowly turned toward Adrian.

His face had gone pale.

The mechanic looked equally stunned.

Even Bram seemed unable to breathe.

“No…” Adrian whispered.

“She never would have…”

Richard interrupted from outside.

“Oh, but she did.”

“I have every letter she ever sent me.”

“And one of them changes everything you think you know about your grandmother.”

The rain suddenly eased.

For the first time that night…

The factory became almost completely quiet.

Richard took one slow step toward the entrance.

Then another.

Finally, he spoke the sentence that made every person inside the hidden room freeze.

“Odette Voss didn’t ask me to protect you.”

A long pause followed.

“She asked me to protect you…”

“…from someone standing inside that room with you.”

Every flashlight in the hidden room slowly turned…

…toward Bram.