Chapter Eighteen: The Basement

The drive to the hospital was painfully quiet.

Rain tapped steadily against the windshield. Zara sat in the back seat beside Detective Adebayo, while Adrian stared out of the window, his arms folded.

Neither of them had spoken much since leaving her apartment.

One question kept circling in Zara's mind.

If Ethan had been in that old photograph...

How old was he really?

Or was there another explanation?

She glanced at Adrian.

He looked just as confused.

---

Mr. Lawson was in a private room on the third floor.

Two police officers stood outside the door.

"He hasn't tried to leave," one of them told the detective.

"He just keeps repeating the same thing."

Adrian nodded.

The detective opened the door.

Lawson was sitting on the edge of the bed.

His usually neat hair was a mess, and there was a bruise near his temple.

He looked up when Adrian walked in.

For a second, his eyes became clear.

"Sir..."

Adrian stepped closer.

"Lawson."

"I'm sorry."

"What happened to you?"

Lawson looked around the room as though checking if someone else was listening.

Then he lowered his voice.

"They know."

"Who knows?"

"They know I told you."

"Told me what?"

Lawson grabbed Adrian's wrist so suddenly that Zara jumped.

"The basement."

His breathing became uneven.

"Don't let Ethan see the basement."

Adrian frowned.

"What basement?"

Lawson stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't know?"

"No."

Lawson slowly let go of his wrist.

"Oh..."

His face turned pale.

"Then we're already too late."

Before anyone could ask another question, he slumped backward.

The heart monitor began beeping faster.

"Nurse!" Zara shouted.

Within seconds, doctors rushed into the room.

Everyone else was pushed outside.

---

Twenty minutes later, the doctor met them in the hallway.

"He's stable."

Adrian let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"But..."

The doctor hesitated.

"He has suffered a severe head injury."

"Will he recover?"

"We hope so."

"He remembers some things."

"For others..."

He shook his head.

"...his memory comes and goes."

Detective Adebayo thanked the doctor before turning to Adrian.

"I've searched every property registered under Knight Technologies."

"And?"

"No basement."

Adrian frowned.

"There has to be one."

"Maybe not under the company."

Zara spoke before she could stop herself.

Everyone looked at her.

"What if he doesn't mean the company building?"

The detective tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"He just said 'the basement.'"

"He never said it was here."

Adrian looked at her for a long moment.

Then he slowly smiled.

"I've been searching the wrong place."

---

Back at Knight Technologies, Adrian went straight to his office.

He opened an old cabinet Zara had never seen before.

Inside were dusty files, photo albums, and leather-bound notebooks.

"You keep all these?"

"They belonged to my father."

He placed one of the albums on the desk.

"Help me."

The two of them sat side by side, turning yellowed pages.

Pictures of company parties.

Award ceremonies.

Family dinners.

Then...

Adrian stopped.

He stared at one photograph.

It showed a much younger version of his father standing in front of a large colonial-style house.

Behind him was a stone building connected to the main house.

Across the bottom of the photograph someone had written, in faded blue ink:

Knight Family Estate – Ibadan.

Zara pointed at the corner of the picture.

"What's that?"

He looked closely.

Half hidden behind a tree was a metal door built into the side of the building.

It looked like an entrance underground.

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"The estate."

"The old estate."

"I haven't been there in almost twelve years."

"You think that's the basement?"

"I think we're about to find out."

---

Evelyn arranged the trip immediately.

"We can leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"No," Adrian replied.

"We leave tonight."

"It's almost dark."

"I know."

"The longer we wait, the more time they have."

Within an hour, Adrian, Zara, Evelyn and Detective Adebayo were on the road.

The journey to Ibadan was long.

The further they drove from Lagos, the quieter Adrian became.

Finally, Zara asked softly,

"Were you close to your father?"

He kept his eyes on the road.

"I worshipped him."

"And your mother?"

"I lost her when I was young."

"I'm sorry."

He nodded once.

"I don't talk about them much."

"You don't have to."

A few minutes passed before he surprised her.

"My father used to bring me to that estate every Christmas."

She smiled.

"You have good memories there."

"I hope so."

The way he said it made her wonder if he wasn't completely sure anymore.

---

It was almost midnight when they reached the estate.

The iron gates were covered in rust.

Tall grass had swallowed most of the driveway.

The house stood in complete darkness.

"It feels abandoned," Zara whispered.

"It is."

Adrian unlocked the front door with an old key he kept on his keyring.

The door creaked loudly.

Dust floated through the beam of their flashlights.

Everything inside looked frozen in time.

Old furniture.

Family portraits.

A broken grandfather clock.

No one had lived there for years.

They searched every room downstairs.

Nothing.

Upstairs.

Nothing.

Evelyn sighed.

"Maybe Lawson remembered wrong."

"No," Adrian said quietly.

"Keep looking."

Zara wandered into what had once been a study.

Bookshelves lined every wall.

She ran her fingers across one shelf, leaving a clean line through the dust.

Something caught her eye.

One of the books...

Was much cleaner than the others.

She frowned.

"Mr. Knight?"

Adrian walked over.

"What is it?"

"This book."

He pulled it gently.

It didn't come out.

Instead...

A loud click echoed through the room.

Everyone froze.

The bookshelf slowly began moving.

Hidden behind it...

Was a narrow stone staircase leading underground.

A cold gust of air drifted upward.

Detective Adebayo raised his flashlight.

"So..."

He looked at Adrian.

"There really is a basement."

Before anyone took a step forward, a voice echoed up from the darkness.

Calm.

Almost amused.

"I was beginning to think you'd never find me."

Adrian's grip tightened on the flashlight.

He knew that voice.

Ethan Cole.

He was waiting for them below.