Part 6: The Truth Was Buried Alive

Part 6: The Truth Was Buried Alive

No one spoke.

Not Dominic.

Not DeMarco.

Not even Samuel.

Only the winter wind moved through the courtyard.

Mara looked from one face to another, confused by the fear she suddenly saw in grown men.

"They were trying to erase... me?"

Adrian Keller slowly nodded.

"I'm afraid so."

"But why?"

"Because you saw something."

"I was only four."

"You were old enough."

Dominic stepped closer.

"What exactly did she witness?"

Adrian took a long breath.

"The night before the sanctuary was seized..."

"...three black SUVs arrived."

"Several powerful men met inside Anna's office."

"They weren't discussing animals."

"They were discussing land."

Samuel interrupted.

"No."

"It was never about land."

Adrian looked at him.

"You're right."

"It was about what was hidden beneath it."

Mara frowned.

"I remember..."

Everyone turned toward her.

"You remember what?"

She squeezed Umbral's ear absentmindedly.

"There were lots of men."

"They yelled."

"Mama hid me under the stairs."

"She said..."

Mara closed her eyes, trying to remember.

"...don't make a sound."

The courtyard became perfectly silent.

"I fell asleep."

"When I woke up..."

"...Mama was crying."

"...and Umbral kept barking."

Samuel slowly covered his mouth.

"Oh, Anna..."

Adrian continued quietly.

"Anna wasn't supposed to survive that meeting."

Dominic's eyes narrowed.

"What happened?"

"She secretly recorded it."

The words landed like thunder.

"Recorded?"

Adrian nodded.

"Every conversation."

"Every threat."

"Every signature."

"Every name."

DeMarco immediately understood.

"The archive..."

"...wasn't just documents."

"No."

"There was evidence."

"Enough to imprison people."

Dominic looked toward Mara.

"So why wasn't it released?"

Adrian smiled sadly.

"Because Anna never got the chance."

"Two days later..."

"...the sanctuary was condemned."

"The recordings disappeared."

"The animals were auctioned."

"Everyone assumed the evidence was gone forever."

He looked at the little brass key.

"But Anna was smarter than they were."

Samuel whispered,

"She split it."

Adrian nodded.

"Exactly."

"The recordings were stored inside a secure vault."

"The key opened the vault."

"The access code..."

He looked down at Mara.

"...was never written anywhere."

Dominic frowned.

"Where is it?"

Adrian smiled sadly.

"Anna memorized it."

"And before she died..."

"...she gave it to the only person she trusted."

Everyone slowly turned toward Mara.

The little girl blinked.

"I don't know any code."

"You do."

She shook her head.

"I don't."

Adrian crouched until they were eye level.

"Did your mother ever teach you a song?"

Mara thought for several seconds.

Then nodded.

"A bedtime song."

"What kind?"

"It wasn't really singing."

"It was numbers."

Samuel suddenly gasped.

"My God..."

Dominic looked at him.

"What?"

"Anna wasn't singing."

Samuel whispered.

"She was making her memorize the combination."

Mara quietly began humming.

"Seven..."

"...four..."

"...nine..."

"...one..."

"...three..."

She stopped.

"I forgot the rest."

Adrian smiled gently.

"No."

"You remembered enough."

DeMarco's phone immediately came out.

He typed the numbers.

Within seconds his cyber specialist called back.

"Boss!"

"What?"

"We found it!"

Dominic looked up.

"What did you find?"

"There really is a private vault."

"Registered twenty-two years ago."

"Vault L-17."

"The first four verification numbers match exactly."

Every guard looked at Mara in disbelief.

The little girl had unknowingly carried the first half of the combination in her memory for two years.

Before anyone could speak again—

A deafening explosion echoed from beyond the estate gates.

Boom!

Every security officer spun toward the road.

A second explosion followed.

The front surveillance monitor went black.

Then another.

Then another.

DeMarco grabbed his radio.

"Report!"

Static.

Only static.

One guard sprinted toward the entrance.

Seconds later he shouted,

"Boss!"

Dominic looked up.

"What is it?"

The guard's face had gone completely white.

"They're here."

"Who?"

The guard swallowed hard.

"The people who destroyed Saint Gabriel."

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