CHAPTER 4 - The Elevator That Doesn’t Log
538 Words
Rafe didn’t like Naina.
Not personally—he didn’t know her.
He didn’t like the way she asked questions like she expected truth.
People who worked for places like Atlas survived by smoothing edges, not sharpening them.
But when Rafe turned back to the monitors, his jaw was tight in a way that wasn’t annoyance.
It was concern.
“Meera didn’t leave through the front,” he said.
Naina’s pulse spiked. “Then where?”
Rafe stared at the feed, scanning.
“There are private elevator lines,” he said. “Not in the public logs. Residents with certain packages—”
Sienna cut in, too fast, “That’s confidential.”
Rafe didn’t look at her. “Shut up, Sienna.”
Sienna went still, shock flashing across her face.
Naina’s stomach tightened. “You’re telling me there’s an elevator that doesn’t log?”
Rafe’s eyes met hers. “I’m telling you there’s a route that doesn’t exist unless you know it does.”
Naina swallowed. “Show me.”
Rafe hesitated.
Then he did something unexpected: he took out his phone and opened a notes app.
He typed one line and turned the screen to her.
IF I HELP YOU, YOU DON’T TRUST ME.
Naina stared at it.
He kept typing.
IF I DON’T HELP YOU, SHE’S DEAD.
Naina’s throat tightened. “Is she dead?”
Rafe’s eyes held hers. “Not yet.”
The words were cold, but not cruel. They sounded like truth.
Naina nodded once. “Then show me.”
Rafe gestured toward the door. “Come.”
Sienna stepped forward. “Rafe, you can’t—”
Rafe’s gaze snapped to her, and the calm in his eyes disappeared.
“Get back to your desk,” he said. “And erase the visitor log entry for her.”
Sienna’s mouth fell open. “What?”
Rafe’s voice was low and lethal. “Do it.”
Sienna hesitated, then left quickly.
Naina’s pulse hammered. “You’re deleting me.”
Rafe glanced back. “You came here. That makes you a liability. Liabilities get removed.”
Naina swallowed. “And Meera?”
Rafe’s jaw tightened. “Meera was a threat. Different category.”
They moved through a service corridor that smelled like detergent and cold air.
Rafe swiped his card at a blank wall panel.
A seam opened.
A hidden elevator door slid back like a secret admitting itself.
Naina stared. “Of course.”
Rafe stepped inside. “You want her? You see where the building hides things.”
Naina entered, heart pounding.
The elevator had no buttons.
Only a scanner.
Rafe pressed his thumb.
The elevator moved.
No sound. No display. No floor numbers.
Only downward motion.
Naina swallowed. “Where is this going?”
Rafe looked at her, expression tight. “The place people go when they don’t want to be seen.”
Naina’s mouth went dry. “The garage?”
Rafe shook his head.
“Lower,” he said.
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
Cold air spilled in like a warning.
And Naina saw a hallway lit with red security lights—doors without labels, cameras angled away from faces.
Rafe stepped out and said quietly:
“Welcome to Atlas’s basement.”
- Writer
