“Thomas Vale discovered the corruption here years ago. He gave me evidence before he died.”
“Then why didn’t you go to the police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They told me to stop asking questions.”
The lights came back on.
A guard appeared at the end of the corridor.
Dr. Reed looked toward him.
“We don’t have much time.”
He led us through a side corridor and into an old storage room.
Then he locked the door.
“What is happening?” I asked.
Dr. Reed looked at Evelyn.
“Tell her.”
Evelyn sighed.
“Your father didn’t die because he discovered money being stolen.”
“Then why?”
“Because he discovered something bigger.”
She opened the metal box.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
And one small cassette tape.
My father’s voice.
I had heard it only in old recordings.
But when the tape began to play, my knees nearly gave out.
“If Nora ever hears this, it means I failed to protect her.”
My eyes filled with tears.
His voice continued.
“There are people inside the system who believe they own everything. They steal from the vulnerable, they manipulate records, and they make people disappear when they become inconvenient.”
The recording crackled.
Then my father said something that changed everything.
