Kaven stood still, his eyes scanning the inside of the old warehouse like he was seeing it for the first time. Lara walked beside him cautiously, her shoes crunching against years of dirt and scattered debris. Sunlight filtered through broken panels in the ceiling, falling in pale streaks on rusted crates, tools, and a forgotten trolley in the corner. They had left the apartment safely but were not sure if someone was still trailing or stalking them.
Lara spoke quietly, "You've been here before, haven't you?"
Kaven didn't answer immediately. He kept walking, slow steps, until he reached a large wooden crate near the far wall — sealed shut, but marked faintly with a name she couldn't read from where she stood.
"It's not just any warehouse," he finally said, voice low. "My father used to own this place. Long time ago."
She frowned. "So why are we here?"
He turned to her, jaw clenched. "Because this place… it has something we're not supposed to find."
Lara moved closer, her heart beginning to race again. There was a heaviness in the air, like something buried deep under layers of time. Something that didn't want to be uncovered.
Suddenly, Kaven crouched and started removing old planks stacked over a hatch in the floor.
"There was a basement?" she asked.
"Sort of," he replied, pulling the last piece of wood aside. "He never let me come down here. Said it was dangerous. But I know that was a lie."
Lara swallowed hard. She felt her hands tremble slightly.
Kaven glanced up at her. "You don't have to come down if you don't want—"
"I'm not letting you go alone," she interrupted quickly.
He gave a small nod and slowly opened the hatch. A breath of cold, stale air rushed upward.
They climbed down, one after the other, the narrow wooden steps groaning under their weight. The space below was small, more like a storage cellar, with shelves lined with dusty boxes and metal drawers.
Kaven pulled out his phone flashlight and aimed it at a drawer labeled with a strip of old tape. The ink had faded, but Lara could still read one name clearly:
"Martin Hale."
Her father's name.
Her breath caught.
Kaven slowly opened the drawer.
Inside was a faded envelope, thick and sealed with brittle wax. Alongside it — a photograph. The same three men. Her father. The manager. And…
She froze.
Her own mother stood beside them.
In uniform.
"I thought she left the police after I was born," Lara whispered. "She never told me she stayed…"
"She didn't leave," Kaven said quietly. "She was silenced."
Lara's throat tightened. Her eyes moved back to the envelope. Kaven picked it up and turned it over in his hand.
It was addressed to someone.
"To be opened in case of my death. – Martin"
Lara stared.
"Kaven… what is this?"
"I think," he said slowly, "this is where everything starts to make sense."
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The end of Chapter 13