Chapter 4: Unit 314
I didn't know how Claire had gotten back into the hospital so quickly.
I only knew I wasn't going to let her near Maya alone.
Security stopped her outside the room.
Claire was furious.
“You have no right to keep me from my daughter.””
The security officer looked at me.
“Sir?””
I nodded.
“Please don't let her into the room right now.””
Claire stared at me.
“You're actually doing this?””
“You need to explain what happened.””
“I already told you.””
“No. You lied.””
Her face hardened.
“About what?””
“The storage unit.””
She went completely still.
I watched her carefully.
“What storage unit, Daniel?””
“Unit 314.””
Her expression changed.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
Then she smiled.
A small, humorless smile.
“Mark told you.””
“Yes.””
“Of course he did.””
“What's behind the red door?””
Claire looked at Maya through the glass.
Then back at me.
“You don't understand what you're getting involved in.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because you're not ready.””
I almost laughed.
“My daughter is in a hospital bed because someone put medication in her body, and you're telling me I'm not ready?””
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel, please.””
“Who gave it to her?””
“I don't know.””
“Who owns the phone?””
“I don't know.””
“Why does Maya think you hurt her?””
“I didn't hurt her.””
“Then why is she afraid of you?””
Claire's face crumpled.
For one moment, she looked like the woman I had married.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
I couldn't see the number.
She declined the call.
It rang again.
This time she answered.
“I'm at the hospital.””
A pause.
“No. He knows.””
Another pause.
“I said he knows.””
Her eyes flicked toward me.
Then she whispered,
“We need to move it.””
My stomach dropped.
I stepped closer.
“Move what?””
Claire hung up.
“Who was that?””
“No one.””
“You just said, ‘We need to move it.’”
“You misunderstood.””
“I heard you.””
She looked away.
I knew then that whatever was happening was bigger than the backpack.
I left the hospital that night only after a nurse promised me she would call if Maya's condition changed.
I drove to the storage facility.
Mark was waiting in the parking lot.
He looked worse than I remembered.
Thinner.
Unshaven.
His jacket was soaked from the rain.
“You came alone?””
“Yes.””
“Good.””
“What is going on?””
“First, we open the unit.””
“Then?””
“You'll understand.””
We walked past rows of metal doors.
The facility smelled like wet concrete and rust.
Unit 314 was at the far end.
The door itself was gray.
I looked around.
“Where's the red door?””
Mark pointed.
“Behind this.””
He pulled a key from his pocket.
I frowned.
“Where did you get that?””
“Your mother-in-law gave it to me.””
I stared at him.
“My mother-in-law died two years ago.””
“I know.””
He unlocked the unit.
Inside were dozens of cardboard boxes.
Old photographs.
Furniture.
Clothes.
Documents.
Everything Claire had said was worthless.
Mark walked to the back wall.
Then he moved three boxes.
Behind them was a narrow red door.
I stared at it.
“What's inside?””
“Everything.””
He opened it.
There was a second room.
No windows.
Shelves lined every wall.
Bank statements.
Property records.
Photographs.
Medical documents.
USB drives.
Audio tapes.
And a locked metal cabinet.
I picked up the first folder.
Claire's name was on it.
I opened it.
Bank transfers.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Accounts I had never heard of.
I turned to Mark.
“What is this?””
“Money Claire said never existed.””
I flipped through more pages.
There were property deeds.
Shell companies.
Trust documents.
And then I saw my own name.
*DANIEL CARTER — BENEFICIARY*
My hands went numb.
“What?””
Mark took a breath.
“Your wife has been hiding something since before you married her.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“She didn't just marry you.””
“Stop.””
“She married into something.””
“What?””
Mark pointed to the cabinet.
“Open that.””
I tried the key from his key ring.
It fit.
Inside were six envelopes.
Each had a date.
The first was from twelve years ago.
The year Claire and I met.
The second was from eleven years ago.
Our wedding year.
The third was dated eight years ago.
Maya's birth year.
I picked it up.
There was a photograph inside.
It showed Claire standing outside a hospital.
She was holding a newborn baby.
Maya.
But Claire wasn't alone.
Standing beside her was a man I'd never seen before.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
*HE DOESN'T KNOW THE CHILD ISN'T HIS.*
I stopped breathing.
I looked at Mark.
“Who is that man?””
Mark didn't answer.
I turned the photograph over again.
Under the first sentence was another line.
*Claire promised the truth would stay buried.*
My hands began to shake.
“Mark.””
“I know.””
“Who is Maya's biological father?””
Mark looked at me.
Before he could answer, a sound came from outside.
A car door slammed.
Then footsteps.
Fast.
Someone was approaching Unit 314.
Mark's face went white.
“She's here.””
“Claire?””
He nodded.
“Take the documents.””
“What?””
“All of them.””
“Why?””
“Because if she gets inside this room, you'll never see them again.””
The footsteps stopped outside.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Then Claire's voice came through the metal.
“Daniel?””
Mark whispered,
“Don't answer.””
Claire knocked once.
“Daniel, I know you're in there.””
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
Then at the red door.
Claire knocked again.
This time harder.
“Daniel, before you open that cabinet, you need to know something.””
I froze.
“What?””
Her voice cracked.
May you like
“Maya isn't the only child I've been keeping a secret from you.””
The handle began to turn.
