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Chapter 3 - Locker 317

Arthur canceled the gala.

Within minutes, the music stopped, the guests were escorted out, and every phone belonging to the household staff was collected.

By midnight, we were driving toward Union Station.

Arthur sat beside Bella in the back of the armored SUV.

I sat across from them.

Marcus drove.

No one spoke.

Bella had gone silent again.

But she kept staring at the silver key.

Locker 317 stood at the end of a dim corridor beneath the main terminal.

Arthur inserted the key.

The lock clicked.

Inside was a black leather bag.

Marcus reached for it.

“Wait,” I said.

Everyone looked at me.

A thin wire ran from the zipper to the back wall of the locker.

Marcus froze.

He carefully examined it.

“Alarm trigger.”

Arthur’s face darkened.

“Can you disable it?”

Marcus cut the wire.

Nothing happened.

Inside the bag were three flash drives, a handwritten notebook, a burner phone, and a sealed envelope addressed to Arthur.

His hands shook as he opened it.

The letter was from Evelyn.

Arthur,

If you’re reading this, I was right.

Someone at Sterling Heavy Industries is selling classified technology through shell companies. Vanessa is involved, but she is not the person in charge.

Do not trust the board.

Do not trust the police commissioner.

And no matter what happens—

Do not trust Marcus.

The corridor seemed to shrink around us.

Arthur slowly raised his eyes.

Marcus stood ten feet away.

His hand was already inside his jacket.

“Step away from the bag,” Arthur said.

Marcus pulled out a gun.

Bella gasped.

I moved in front of her.

Marcus’s voice remained calm.

“I’m sorry, Arthur.”

“You worked for me for twelve years.”

“I worked for your father for twenty.”

Arthur’s expression changed.

“My father is dead.”

Marcus gave him a cold smile.

“That’s what Evelyn believed too.”

Then the station lights went out.

May you like

A gunshot cracked through the darkness.

---

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