The Man Behind the Mask
1865 Words
Episode 10: The Man Behind the Mask
The black car disappeared around the corner.
Alexander stood motionless, staring at the empty road.
Emma could still hear Clara's voice in her mind.
“You already know him.”
Mr. Grant.
The name seemed to hang in the air between them.
Rebecca wiped the tears from her face.
“We have to leave.”
Alexander turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because the chapel isn't safe anymore.”
“You said that eight years ago.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“And I was right.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Tell me everything you know about Grant.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know everything.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
She looked toward Emma.
“I was hoping she would never have to hear this.”
Emma stepped forward.
“I'm already involved, Mom. I need the truth.”
Rebecca took a deep breath.
“Grant wasn't your father's friend.”
Alexander frowned.
“What?”
“He became your father's friend because your father trusted him.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you understand what Grant wanted.”
“What did he want?”
“The company.”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“He wanted Hayes Global?”
“Not just Hayes Global.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“He wanted everything your family owned.”
Emma asked, “Why?”
“Because your father discovered that Grant had been secretly purchasing shares through other people's names.”
Alexander's eyes widened.
“That would have given him control.”
“Yes.”
“And when my father discovered it?”
“Grant tried to stop him.”
Alexander looked at the old photograph.
“By killing him?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
Alexander walked away.
Emma followed him.
“Where are you going?”
“To the company.”
“Why?”
“Because if Grant has been planning this for eight years, he may still have access to the company.”
Rebecca grabbed his arm.
“Alexander, listen to me.”
He turned.
“Don't go back there.”
“Why?”
“Because that's exactly where he wants you.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You know something else.”
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“I know that Grant isn't working alone.”
“Who is helping him?”
“I don't know.”
“Mom,” Emma said quietly, “please.”
Rebecca looked at her daughter.
“I saw someone with him the night your father disappeared.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Daniel.”
Alexander's face became cold.
“You said Daniel wasn't involved.”
“I said he wasn't the person who killed your parents.”
“Then why was he with Grant?”
“I don't know.”
Alexander stepped toward her.
“Did Daniel know my father was going to die?”
Rebecca looked away.
“I think so.”
Emma could see the anger building inside Alexander.
“But Daniel just told us to trust no one.”
“He has his own reasons.”
“What reasons?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
Alexander's phone suddenly rang.
It was Sophia.
He answered.
“What's wrong?”
Her voice sounded frightened.
“Mr. Hayes, you need to come to the office.”
“Why?”
“Someone accessed your father's old files.”
Alexander froze.
“Which files?”
“The investigation files.”
“Who accessed them?”
“We don't know.”
“Where are you?”
“In your office.”
“Don't move.”
He ended the call.
Emma looked at him.
“We're going.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
Emma turned toward her mother.
“Mom, we can't stay here.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that someone is trying to hurt us.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“If you go back to Hayes Global, you may not come out.”
Emma took her hand.
“Then we'll be careful.”
Alexander looked at Rebecca.
“Stay here with the security team.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I know where Grant will go next.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Where?”
“The company archives.”
They left the chapel together.
When they reached Hayes Global, the building looked normal.
Too normal.
Employees moved through the lobby.
Phones were ringing.
People were talking.
But Alexander immediately noticed something.
The security desk was empty.
“Where are the guards?” he asked.
Emma looked around.
“I don't know.”
They entered the elevator.
Alexander pressed the button for the forty-second floor.
The doors closed.
Rebecca stood silently behind them.
Then the elevator stopped.
The lights flickered.
Emma looked at Alexander.
“Is this normal?”
“No.”
The elevator began moving again.
But instead of stopping on the forty-second floor, it continued upward.
There were no floors above it.
Alexander pressed the emergency button.
Nothing happened.
Rebecca suddenly looked terrified.
“Someone has taken control of the elevator.”
Alexander pulled out his phone.
No signal.
The elevator finally stopped.
The doors opened.
They were in a dark maintenance level.
Emma stared.
“I didn't know this floor existed.”
“Neither did I.”
Alexander stepped out.
Rebecca grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“This is where Grant kept his records.”
Alexander looked around.
“You've been here before?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
Emma stepped forward.
“What happened?”
Rebecca's voice trembled.
“Your father brought me here.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to show me what he had discovered.”
“What did he discover?”
Rebecca pointed toward a steel door.
“Behind that door was the evidence.”
Alexander approached it.
There was no handle.
Only a keypad.
He tried his father's birthday.
Nothing.
His mother's birthday.
Nothing.
His own birthday.
Nothing.
Emma noticed a small symbol above the keypad.
A star.
She touched it.
The door unlocked.
Alexander looked at her.
“How did you know?”
“I didn't.”
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with old documents.
Alexander walked slowly through it.
A large safe stood against the wall.
He approached it.
On the safe was a message:
THE PROMISE OPENS THE DOOR.
Alexander stared at it.
“What promise?”
Emma remembered the notebook.
“The promise you made to Clara.”
“But I never made a promise to Clara.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“You did.”
Alexander turned.
“When?”
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“When you were children.”
Emma's heart skipped.
“What?”
Rebecca nodded.
“You and Clara made a promise together.”
Alexander shook his head.
“I don't remember.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
Emma stared at her mother.
“Why?”
“Because someone made sure you forgot.”
Alexander looked at the safe.
“What is the combination?”
Rebecca walked toward it.
“Emma.”
Emma stepped closer.
Rebecca pointed to the keypad.
“Try your birthday.”
Emma entered it.
The safe remained locked.
Alexander tried his own.
Nothing.
Rebecca whispered:
“Try the date of the accident.”
Emma entered the date.
The safe clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a single envelope.
Alexander picked it up.
It had his name on it.
He opened it.
A letter fell into his hands.
The handwriting belonged to Clara.
Alexander read aloud.
“If you found this, then the truth has finally caught up with you.”
Emma listened.
Clara's letter explained that eight years ago she had discovered that Grant wasn't working alone.
He had someone inside the Hayes family helping him.
But she had never discovered the person's identity.
The letter continued.
“There is one person who knows who the traitor is.”
Alexander turned the page.
The name was missing.
Someone had torn out the final page.
Alexander's anger grew.
“Who tore this?”
Rebecca looked at the envelope.
“I don't know.”
Emma noticed something inside.
A small memory card.
She picked it up.
“What is this?”
Alexander looked at it.
“We need a computer.”
They found an old computer in the room.
Alexander inserted the card.
A video appeared.
Clara was sitting in a dark room.
Her face looked tired.
She stared into the camera.
“Alexander, if you're watching this, I'm sorry.”
She took a breath.
“I need you to understand something.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Grant is not the mastermind.”
Alexander froze.
Clara continued.
“He is only following orders.”
Emma's heart raced.
“Then who gives him the orders?” Alexander whispered.
Clara looked frightened.
“The person behind everything is someone you trust.”
The video suddenly distorted.
Then Clara said something that made Alexander's blood run cold.
“It isn't Daniel.”
The screen went black.
Silence filled the room.
Emma looked at Alexander.
“Then who?”
Before he could answer, the computer switched back on.
A live camera appeared.
It showed the lobby of Hayes Global.
Someone was standing there.
Mr. Grant.
But he wasn't alone.
A second person stood beside him.
Alexander stared at the screen.
Emma leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Alexander's face became completely pale.
He knew the person.
It was someone who had been beside him every day.
Someone he had trusted completely.
Someone he never imagined could betray him.
The camera zoomed in.
The person turned toward the camera.
Emma gasped.
“That's Sophia.”
Alexander couldn't speak.
Then Sophia looked directly into the camera and smiled.
The screen went black.
A message appeared:
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
Then another:
COME TO THE LOBBY ALONE.
Alexander looked at Emma.
“I need to go.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“Emma—”
“You're not going alone.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Neither of you should go.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Then what do we do?”
Rebecca stared at the black screen.
“We finally stop running.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching the archive room.
Alexander turned toward the door.
Emma moved beside him.
Rebecca stood behind them.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then someone knocked three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Alexander reached for the door.
A woman's voice came from the other side.
“Alexander?”
It was Sophia.
But Alexander had just watched her standing beside Grant in the lobby.
His eyes met Emma's.
Then the voice outside whispered:
“Open the door.”
Alexander didn't move.
The voice came again.
“Please.”
Emma suddenly noticed something.
There were two shadows beneath the door.
One belonged to Sophia.
The other was much taller.
Alexander slowly stepped backward.
Someone was standing beside her.
And whoever it was had been waiting for them.
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