Chapter 17: Beneath The Ashes (Part One)

The metallic clang echoed once more. This time, louder and longer like someone or something was disturbing the silence buried beneath the old mill.

Nobody moved. Corey instinctively stepped in front of Kisha, his body blocked her view of the dark opening beneath the workshop floor. “Stay behind me.” Kisha wanted to protest but instead she nodded for reasons she couldn’t explain. She feels safer whenever Corey is close. Even after everything, even after years of pain and suffering.

Robert’s grip tightens around his walking stick as his knuckles turn white. “No…” he murmured again. This place should have remained sealed. Shawn narrowed his eyes, you’ve been here before? Robert didn’t answer, his silence made it known.

The workshop smelled of cedar and dust. Time itself seemed trapped within its walls. Every tool remained exactly where Morgan had left it. A half-finished rocking chair stood beside the workbench, its smooth edges showed the care of a craftsman whose work had been interrupted. Corey slowly ran his finger over the wood. “He never finished it.”

“It was meant for a child.” Robert was barely audible. Kisha looked toward the cradle in the center of the room. The silver locket still rested in her palm, she opened it carefully. Inside were two tiny photographs, one showed a smiling Morgan Lawson and the other, a little girl sitting on his shoulders.

Kisha gasped, her fingers trembled. “That’s…my younger self.”

She didn’t remember the photograph being taken but she remembered the feeling. Warmth, safety and laughter. A man calling her Little Sparrow. She closed her eyes and the memory slipped away before she could hold onto it.

“My head..” she pressed her fingers against her temple, I almost remembered.

Corey moved closer. “What did you see?”

She looked at him, I don’t know, it just disappeared. I heard Morgan laughing, then he called me something but I can remember. Her voice broke with frustration. “It’s like chasing smoke.”

Corey placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to force it, we’ll find the truth.” Together. The word remained unspoken, yet both of them felt it.

Shawn’s flashlight swept across the room again. “Sir,” there are footprints. Everyone turned and fresh footprints crossed the dusty floor. They led directly toward the far wall, Corey’s expression hardened. “Someone has been here recently.”

Robert looked genuinely surprised. “Impossible,” no one knew this workshop existed. Shawn crouched beside the prints, they were fresh, less than a day old. Corey’s instincts immediately shifted, “This wasn’t abandoned, someone has been searching this place.” He followed the footprints, they stopped before an enormous wooden cabinet built into the wall. Unlike everything else, the cabinet was clean, too clean.

Corey reached for the brass handle, locked. Shawn examined the hinges, it was recently opened.

Robert slowly shook his head, “No..they found it.”

Corey looked over his shoulder. “Found what?” Robert was hesitant, his eyes settled on the cabinet, “Morgan’s final commission.”

Silence enveloped the room.

Kisha squinted her eyes. “What commission?”

Robert took a slow breath. Before everything collapsed, Morgan accepted one last project. “A piece worth far more than any money.” Corey’s patience snapped, stop speaking in riddles!

Robert looked directly into his eyes, “He carved the truth into the wood.

The sentence hung in the air. Kisha faced him, “What the hell does that mean?” Robert stepped toward the cabinet, “Morgan believed paper could burn, voices could be silenced, but wood …”

He gently rested his hand against the carved door. “..wood remembers.”

Shawn exchanged a puzzled glance with Corey. “You mean …”

Robert nodded. “He hid names, dates, promises and everything inside his final masterpiece.”

Before Corey could respond his phone vibrated. Shawn glanced at his own device at exactly the same moment. Both screens displayed the same notification; Legacy Woodwork Headquarters Security Alert. Corey’s expression changed instantly.

“What happened?”

Shawn answered after reading the report, “In our archive room, there was an unauthorized entry.” Corey’s heartbeat quickened.

“What was taken?”

“Not what he swallowed but who?”

Corey’s eyes narrowed. What are you talking about?

The security footage, it’s gone, so are all the personal files connected to Morgan Lawson. The room fell silent.

Robert slowly closed his eyes. “They are cleaning the past.”

Kisha clutched the silver locket tighter. A terrible realization settled on her. The letters, photograph, and hidden workshop. This isn’t about bringing us here, she looked from Corey to Robert. “It’s about making sure we find something before someone else destroys it.”

Robert didn’t answer, he didn’t need to. Outside the wind picked up again, the old mill groaned beneath its weight. Somewhere in the distance, a vehicle engine stopped. Shawn immediately looked toward the broken window. “We’ve got company.” Corey stepped beside him, two black SUVs had pulled up outside the mill. The mill opened slowly and several figures stepped out. None of them looked familiar, none of them spoke. One of them simply pointed toward the building.

“They know we are here.”

The sound outside came again, not loud, not rushed. Just slow footsteps circling the old mill, as though whoever was outside already knew they had nowhere to run. Corey instinctively reached for Kisha’s hands. She looked down at their intertwined fingers before meeting his eyes. “You don’t have to protect me,” she whispered.

He didn’t let go. “I know” but I am going to, anyway. Something inside Kisha softened. For years she had imagined hearing those words again not because she wanted someone to fight her battles, but because for the first time in years, she didn’t feel completely alone.

Shawn slowly lowered the curtain covering the cracked window. “They are still outside.” Corey’s gaze remained fixed on the old cabinet, they didn’t come for us.

“They came for whatever Morgan left behind.” Robert released long, weary sighs. “I prayed this day would never come.”

“You knew this would happen?” Corey asked. Robert nodded without meeting anyone’s eyes. I have been waiting for the last twenty-five years.

Kisha stared at him. “What the hell!, what are you exactly hiding from us?” Robert looked older than ever. His shoulders, once stiff with pride, seemed weighed down by invisible chains.

“There are truths that destroy families, and there are truths that destroy an entire generation.” This one.., he looked around the workshop,…does both. Silence settled over the room. Even the old wooden beams seemed to creak more softly.

Robbery stepped towards the cabinet. His trembling fingers traced the carved oak surface. Morgan built this with only one purpose. “He said if anything ever happened to him, the truth must survive.”

Corey folded his arms. “So open it.”

I can’t, only Morgan knew the mechanism. Shawn examined the cabinet carefully, there are no visible hinges or keyholes either.

Corey crouched beside it. His fingertips brushed across the carved vines decorating the frame. Something felt different, one leaf was smoother than the others. He pressed it gently and it clicked.

Everyone froze. A soft mechanical sound echoed inside the cabinet.

Shawn's eyes widened, “You found something.”