Chapter 15: The Man They Trusted

The archive seemed to stop breathing.

Ava stared at the man standing in the doorway.

Lucas.

Her mind refused to accept what her eyes were showing her.

He was holding a gun.

Behind him stood three masked men.

Damien moved instantly, stepping in front of Ava.

"Lucas."

His voice was low.

Dangerously calm.

Lucas didn't answer.

He simply raised his weapon.

"Put the gun down," Damien ordered.

One of the masked men laughed.

"Still giving orders, Mr. Blackwood?"

Damien's eyes remained fixed on Lucas.

"You were with me at the cemetery."

"At the hospital."

"At my grandfather's manor."

"You knew about the file."

Lucas's expression remained cold.

"I knew more than you realized."

Ava's heart pounded.

"You were the one helping them?"

Lucas finally looked at her.

"Not all of them."

"Just the ones who were willing to pay."

Damien's jaw tightened.

"How long?"

Lucas hesitated.

"Long enough."

The answer hit harder than Ava expected.

Damien took one step forward.

"You knew about my sister."

Lucas's expression changed slightly.

"Yes."

"You knew about Emily?"

"Yes."

"And you knew Ava was connected to her?"

Another pause.

"Yes."

Damien's eyes darkened.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

Lucas lowered his weapon slightly.

"Because you would've destroyed everything trying to find the truth."

"Maybe it deserves to be destroyed."

Lucas shook his head.

"You don't understand what you're dealing with."

"I understand enough."

Damien's voice hardened.

"You betrayed me."

Lucas looked away.

"I saved you."

Ava stared at him.

"From what?"

Lucas looked directly at her.

"From the same people who have been trying to kill you since the night you were born."

---

A sudden movement came from behind the shelves.

One of the masked men turned.

"She's gone."

Lucas's head snapped around.

"What?"

"The woman."

Margaret's body was no longer where Ava had left it.

Damien looked toward the empty floor.

His expression changed.

"That wasn't possible."

Ava's eyes widened.

"Where did she go?"

Lucas looked genuinely shocked.

"I don't know."

A loud crash came from the other side of the archive.

Then the sprinklers activated.

Water poured from the ceiling.

The masked men shouted in confusion.

Damien grabbed Ava's hand.

"Run."

Lucas raised his gun.

"Don't!"

Damien stopped.

Lucas pointed toward the corridor.

"The exit is blocked."

"Then where?"

Lucas looked toward an old service door.

"Follow me."

Damien didn't move.

"You expect me to trust you?"

"No."

Lucas looked at him.

"But if you want Ava alive..."

"...you have no choice."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

Then he pulled Ava behind him.

"One wrong move."

Lucas nodded.

"I know."

---

They hurried through the service corridor.

Behind them, alarms blared throughout the hospital.

Ava's fingers tightened around the brass key she'd retrieved from the floor.

She had no idea why Margaret had trusted her with it.

But she knew one thing.

She couldn't lose it.

Suddenly, Lucas stopped.

"Wait."

He pulled a small device from his pocket.

Ava frowned.

"What is that?"

"A signal blocker."

He activated it.

Every light on the device turned red.

"They can't track us now."

Damien stared at him.

"You planned this."

Lucas shook his head.

"No."

"I planned for the possibility that they'd come after you."

"There's a difference."

Ava studied him.

"Then tell us everything."

Lucas looked at her.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because if I tell you here..."

"...you'll never make it to the safety deposit box."

Damien's expression hardened.

"Then where?"

Lucas checked his watch.

"Thirty minutes."

"After that, the people who ordered the attack will know we have the key."

Ava swallowed.

"Who are they?"

Lucas looked toward the dark corridor.

"The Blackwood family."

Damien's face tightened.

"Which one?"

Lucas hesitated.

Then he whispered,

"Your mother."

Damien froze.

"My mother died seventeen years ago."

"I know."

"Then how—"

Lucas suddenly raised his gun.

Ava flinched.

But he wasn't aiming at them.

He fired toward the ceiling.

A hidden camera shattered.

Lucas lowered the weapon.

"They've been listening."

Damien stared at the broken camera.

"Who installed it?"

Lucas looked at him.

"Your grandfather."

---

Minutes later...

They reached an underground parking area.

A black vehicle waited beside the service entrance.

Lucas opened the rear door.

"Get in."

Damien hesitated.

"You'll drive?"

Lucas nodded.

"Until you have the answers."

Ava climbed inside.

Damien followed.

As Lucas started the engine, Ava looked down at the brass key in her palm.

Something was engraved on its side.

She hadn't noticed it before.

A tiny number.

317.

Her heart raced.

"The safety deposit box."

Damien nodded.

"Tomorrow morning."

"No."

Ava looked at him.

"Tonight."

Damien studied her.

"Why?"

She slowly opened her other hand.

Something was inside.

A tiny piece of paper.

She had picked it up beside Margaret's body without realizing it.

On it was a handwritten sentence.

The box contains the truth about Emily.

Damien's expression changed.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it when Margaret fell."

Lucas looked at them through the rearview mirror.

For the first time...

He looked afraid.

"Then we're already too late."

Ava frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Lucas's phone suddenly rang.

He answered.

His face went pale.

He slowly lowered the phone.

"Someone has already opened Box 317."

Damien's voice became cold.

"Who?"

Lucas looked at Ava.

"They used your name."

Ava's blood ran cold.

"But I never opened it."

Lucas swallowed.

"That's the problem."

He turned the car onto the dark highway.

"Someone has your identity."

Ava stared through the window.

And for the first time, she wondered if the mysterious second Ava wasn't merely someone who looked like her.

Perhaps...

someone had been living as her all along.