Chapter 4 - The Secret Life
The police escorted me back to the house to pack some clothes, as I couldn't bear to stay there.
Crime scene tape was strung across my childhood bedroom door, a bright yellow reminder of the nightmare.
An officer waited downstairs while I went into my parents' master bedroom to grab some of my old things from the attic.
The room smelled like my mother's lavender perfume, making me feel violently nauseous.
I started pulling out drawers, looking for any clue, anything that proved I wasn't going insane.
Behind my father's sock drawer, I noticed a false back that was slightly ajar.
I pried the wooden panel off, my heart hammering wildly in my chest.
Inside was a small, heavy metal lockbox.
I remembered the key ring I had used to unlock my bedroom door earlier that morning.
I grabbed it from my pocket, fumbled with the keys, and finally heard a satisfying click.
The box sprang open, revealing stacks of foreign passports.
They all had my parents' faces on them, but with different names, different nationalities.
Beneath the passports was a small, black velvet pouch.
I opened it and poured the contents into my hand.
It was a single, encrypted USB flash drive.
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This had to be David Thorne’s evidence, the data that could put my parents and the cartel away forever.
I slipped the drive into my shoe, knowing I couldn't trust anyone, not even Detective Miller, until I knew how deep this went.
