Episode 5: Three Minutes

The first thing Elena heard was the lock.

Click.

Then another.

Click.

Then another.

Three heavy bolts sliding into place somewhere beyond the warehouse doors.

Adrian's phone illuminated his face in the darkness.

02:47

Elena stared at the countdown.

"Who sent that?"

"I don't know."

"You're Adrian Vale."

He looked at her.

"Apparently that doesn't mean much in here."

Another metallic sound echoed through the warehouse.

Something was being dragged across the floor outside.

Elena's pulse accelerated.

"Is there another exit?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Adrian switched on his phone's flashlight.

"East side."

They moved quickly between rows of abandoned machinery.

Elena kept the photograph in her hand.

Four people.

Three faces.

One deliberately destroyed.

The fourth founder.

Someone had known about this photograph.

Someone had known they would find it.

And someone had just locked them inside.

"Two minutes," Adrian said.

"Then we'd better move."

They reached a corridor blocked by fallen metal beams.

Adrian tried moving one.

It didn't budge.

"Other way."

They turned.

A sharp hiss came from above.

Elena looked up.

Thin white smoke began pouring through the ventilation grilles.

Her stomach dropped.

"Adrian."

"I see it."

He grabbed her hand.

"Run."

They sprinted.

Smoke spread across the warehouse ceiling.

Elena coughed.

Her eyes began burning.

Adrian pulled her through a narrow doorway.

They stumbled into an old storage room.

"Window."

He pointed.

A small window sat near the ceiling.

Elena looked at him.

"We're supposed to fit through that?"

"You first."

"You're joking."

"No."

He dragged an old metal crate beneath the window.

"Stand."

She climbed onto it.

The window was barely wide enough.

Elena pushed against the frame.

Nothing.

"It's locked."

Adrian climbed beside her.

"Move."

He struck the latch with the heel of his hand.

Once.

Twice.

The metal snapped.

Cold night air rushed inside.

Elena looked down.

The drop was several feet.

"You first," Adrian said.

"Absolutely not."

"Elena."

"You first."

His mouth tightened.

"Fine."

He climbed through and dropped outside.

A second later, he looked up.

"Jump."

She hesitated.

"Trust me."

Those two words almost made her laugh.

After everything they'd discovered, trust was the one thing neither of them possessed.

But she jumped.

Adrian caught her.

The impact pushed him backward.

For a moment, she was against his chest, his arms around her waist.

Neither spoke.

His breathing was heavy.

So was hers.

"You can let go now," she whispered.

His hands loosened immediately.

"Sorry."

She stepped back.

"We're even."

"For what?"

"For catching me."

He almost smiled.

Then the warehouse windows exploded.

They both ducked.

Glass scattered across the pavement.

Adrian pulled Elena behind a concrete barrier.

"Someone's shooting?"

"No."

He looked at the warehouse.

"That wasn't a gun."

A second explosion shook the building.

Flames appeared behind the windows.

Elena stared.

"They're burning it."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"Yes."

"They're destroying the evidence."

"Exactly."

She looked at the photograph still clutched in her hand.

"Then whoever did this knows what's inside."

Adrian looked at the photograph.

"And they know we found it."

They drove away from the warehouse without speaking.

Smoke rose behind them, staining the night sky.

Elena watched it through the passenger window.

"How much did we lose?"

"Most of the physical evidence."

"Not all."

Adrian glanced at her.

She held up the photograph.

"I kept this."

His expression softened slightly.

"Good."

She studied the image.

"Who is the fourth person?"

"I don't know."

"You recognize the photograph."

"I recognize the people."

"Your father."

"Yes."

"My parents."

"Yes."

She turned the photograph over.

"Then somebody expected you to recognize the fourth person."

Adrian didn't answer.

"What?"

"I know the location."

"Of what?"

"The photograph."

She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"My father kept copies of important photographs in a private archive."

"Where?"

"At Vale Holdings."

"Then let's go."

"It's not that simple."

"Why?"

"Because the archive was sealed after his death."

"By whom?"

Adrian looked at her.

"Me."

Elena sat back.

"Of course."

He almost smiled.

"You sound disappointed."

"I was beginning to think we'd found one secret you didn't have."

"Give it time."

She looked at him.

"Was that a joke?"

"No."

"It sounded like one."

"Then I apologize."

She laughed despite herself.

It surprised them both.

For several seconds, the tension in the car eased.

Then Elena looked at him again.

"Adrian."

"Yes?"

"Earlier, when you caught me..."

He glanced over.

"What about it?"

"Nothing."

She looked out the window.

But she knew it wasn't nothing.

And judging by the way his hands tightened around the steering wheel...

neither did he.

Vale Holdings — 11:58 p.m.

The building was almost completely dark when they arrived.

Adrian used a private entrance.

Elena followed.

"How many people know about the archive?"

"Four."

"Names?"

"Myself. Lucas. Isabella."

"And the fourth?"

Adrian stopped.

"Victor Duvall."

Elena frowned.

"The billionaire?"

"Yes."

"He's connected to your father?"

"He was his closest partner."

"And where is he now?"

"Europe, officially."

"Officially?"

Adrian continued walking.

"Unofficially, nobody knows."

They reached a secured elevator.

Adrian entered a code.

The doors opened.

They descended.

The basement was colder than the rest of the building.

At the end of the corridor stood a steel door.

Adrian placed his hand against the scanner.

Red.

He tried again.

Red.

Elena frowned.

"You said it was sealed."

"It was."

"So why are you surprised?"

"Because it should recognize me."

He tried once more.

Nothing.

Then Elena noticed something.

"Look."

A small light above the scanner was blinking.

Not red.

Blue.

"Someone is already inside."

Adrian's face hardened.

He stepped in front of Elena.

"Stay behind me."

The door unlocked.

Slowly.

Neither touched it.

It opened by itself.

The archive beyond was dark.

Adrian drew his weapon.

Elena stared.

"You carry a gun?"

"I run a multinational company."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

They entered.

The lights flickered on.

Shelves stretched across the room.

Documents.

Photographs.

Boxes.

Records.

Everything untouched.

Except one table.

A single file lay open.

Adrian approached.

Elena followed.

The file contained financial transfers from 2008.

One name appeared repeatedly.

V. DUVALL.

Elena looked at Adrian.

"Victor."

Adrian nodded.

But then she noticed another name.

C. CROSS.

Her mother's.

And beside it:

S. CROSS.

Her father's.

"What were they paying him for?"

Adrian turned the page.

His expression changed.

"Nothing."

"What?"

"The payments weren't from them."

He pointed at the transaction records.

"They were from Victor."

"To whom?"

Adrian followed the account numbers.

Then stopped.

Elena leaned closer.

The recipient account was registered under a name she recognized.

Her own.

She stared.

"No."

Adrian's face went pale.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because that account was opened before you were born."

Elena looked at him.

Her voice became barely audible.

"Who opened it?"

Adrian turned the document over.

There was a signature.

One signature.

Elena recognized it immediately.

Her mother's.

Claire Cross.

Underneath it was another signature.

Richard Vale.

Adrian's father.

The two signatures were dated the same day.

And beneath them was a handwritten sentence:

For Elena. When the time comes.

Elena's breathing stopped.

"What does that mean?"

Adrian stared at the page.

"I don't know."

She looked at him.

"Then we're going to find out."

Before he could answer, the archive door slammed shut.

The lights went out.

A projector switched on.

A woman's face appeared against the far wall.

Claire Cross.

Older.

Tired.

Alive.

Elena stepped forward.

"Mom?"

The recording began.

"If you're seeing this, Elena, then Adrian has finally brought you to the archive."

Elena turned toward him.

Adrian looked stunned.

Claire continued.

"I need you to understand something before you listen to the rest."

The image flickered.

"Your father wasn't the man you thought he was."

Elena's heart sank.

"And neither was mine."

The recording paused.

Then Claire said the words that changed everything:

"The Covenant was never created to control governments."

A long silence.

"It was created to protect you."

The screen went black.

And somewhere behind them, a lock clicked.

Someone was inside the archive with them.