Chapter 9: The Storage Unit With My Name on It
The storage facility was located behind an old shopping center.
It had rows of metal doors, security cameras, and a narrow office that smelled of floor cleaner and burnt coffee.
Mr. Bennett parked near the entrance.
Elizabeth checked the address again.
“Unit 214,” she said.
I remembered the brass key Grandpa had given me.
The number was the same.
My heart began pounding.
“Grandpa knew about this place?””
Elizabeth nodded.
“He rented the unit several years ago.””
“Why?””
“To keep certain documents away from people who shouldn't have access to them.””
Mr. Bennett approached the office.
A young employee looked up from his computer.
“Can I help you?””
Elizabeth introduced herself and presented the necessary legal documents.
The employee examined them.
“Unit 214 has been placed under a temporary security hold.””
“By whom?”” Mr. Bennett asked.
The employee checked the screen.
“By the facility manager.””
“Why?””
The young man hesitated.
“Someone reported that the unit contained stolen property.””
Elizabeth's expression hardened.
“That's an interesting accusation.””
The employee lowered his voice.
“There's something else.””
He turned his monitor toward us.
A visitor had accessed the unit the previous evening.
The name on the record was Richard Collins.
I stared at the screen.
“My dad was here?””
The employee nodded.
“About nine o'clock last night.””
I looked at Mr. Bennett.
“Why didn't he tell us?””
Nobody answered.
The employee picked up a telephone.
“Let me call the manager.””
While we waited, I noticed a security camera pointed toward the entrance.
“Can we see the video?””
The employee hesitated.
“Only with authorization.””
Elizabeth presented another document.
The manager arrived five minutes later.
He was a short man with gray hair and a thick mustache.
He introduced himself as Mr. Wallace.
After reviewing Elizabeth's paperwork, he agreed to show us the security footage.
We gathered around a small monitor.
The first recording showed my father entering the facility.
He was carrying a brown paper bag.
He looked over his shoulder twice before approaching the office.
The next camera showed him walking down the corridor.
He stopped outside Unit 214.
Then someone else appeared.
A woman.
Diane.
She was wearing a red coat.
She approached my father and handed him something.
He looked at it.
Then he shook his head.
Diane pointed toward the storage unit.
They argued.
The audio was poor, but we could hear fragments.
“You promised,” Diane said.
My father replied, “I didn't promise that.””
She stepped closer.
“Then you'll lose everything.””
He opened the storage unit.
She followed him inside.
The door remained open for several minutes.
When they emerged, my father was carrying the brown paper bag.
Diane was holding a small metal box.
I stared at the screen.
“What did they take?””
Mr. Wallace checked the inventory.
“According to the original registration, there should be several boxes of personal records.””
Elizabeth asked him to open the unit.
He hesitated.
Then he unlocked the door.
The metal shutter rolled upward.
Inside were three cardboard boxes, an old wooden chair, and a small filing cabinet.
But the boxes had been opened.
Papers were scattered across the floor.
The filing cabinet was empty.
I stepped inside.
The air smelled of dust and damp cardboard.
On the wall was a small photograph.
I recognized it immediately.
Grandpa had taken it years earlier.
It showed me sitting on his shoulders at the county fair.
I was laughing.
He was laughing too.
Underneath the photograph, someone had written my name.
MAYA.
I touched the letters.
“Why would Grandpa put this here?””
Elizabeth examined the wall.
“Perhaps he wanted you to know this place belonged to you.””
I looked around.
Then I noticed a small wooden box beneath the chair.
It was hidden behind a stack of old newspapers.
I crouched and pulled it out.
The lid was locked.
I looked at the silver key.
“Can I try this?””
Mr. Bennett examined the lock.
“Go ahead.””
The key fit.
Inside was a small digital recorder, a sealed envelope, and a folded map.
My hands trembled.
Elizabeth carefully removed the envelope.
It was addressed to her.
She opened it.
The first sentence made her stop.
Elizabeth, if you are reading this, Richard has finally returned to Unit 214.
She looked at me.
“Your grandfather expected this.””
I frowned.
“Why?””
Elizabeth continued reading.
He will not be alone. Diane will be with him. I believe she intends to retrieve the original evidence before anyone else can examine it.
Mr. Bennett looked toward the entrance.
“Then the recordings are important.””
Elizabeth removed the digital recorder.
She pressed the play button.
Grandpa's voice filled the small storage unit.
“If you're hearing this, Maya, then I wasn't able to finish what I started.””
I closed my eyes.
His voice sounded so real.
Like he was standing beside me.
“I want you to know that the people who have hurt you are not the only people who love you. There are people who have been protecting you quietly, even when you didn't know it.””
There was a pause.
Then Grandpa continued.
“Richard made a terrible mistake. But I don't know whether it was his first mistake or his worst one.””
I looked at Elizabeth.
She kept listening.
“Diane has been using information from Laura's medical records to threaten people. She believes she can control the family by controlling the truth about Maya's birth.””
My chest tightened.
Then Grandpa said something unexpected.
“The truth is not that Maya is not my son's daughter. The truth is that someone changed the records to make it appear that Richard had signed away his parental rights.””
I blinked.
“What?””
Elizabeth turned up the volume.
Grandpa continued.
“I found the original document. It was signed by Richard, but the signature was obtained under circumstances he has never explained.””
The recording crackled.
Then came another sentence.
“Richard, if you're listening to this, I hope you have finally found the courage to tell your daughter what happened.””
The recording ended.
I stared at the device.
“Does that mean Dad gave up his rights?””
Elizabeth shook her head.
“Not necessarily. We need to examine the original documents.””
Mr. Bennett picked up the folded map.
It showed a property outside town.
A small farmhouse.
At the bottom, Grandpa had written:
Ask Margaret about the red barn.
I looked at Elizabeth.
“What's in the red barn?””
Before she could answer, a noise came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Then the sound of a metal door slamming.
Mr. Bennett moved toward the entrance.
“Stay behind me.””
He stepped outside.
A second later, he called our names.
“Elizabeth! Maya!””
We hurried into the corridor.
A man in a dark jacket was running toward the exit.
Mr. Bennett shouted for him to stop.
The man turned briefly.
I recognized him.
It was the same man from the photograph beside Grandpa.
The man named Daniel Hayes.
He disappeared through the gate before anyone could reach him.
Elizabeth stared after him.
“Daniel?””
I looked at her.
“Who is he?””
She slowly shook her head.
“I don't know why he's here.””
Then Mr. Bennett returned carrying a small envelope.
“It was left outside the unit.””
My name was written across it.
Maya Collins.
I opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed my mother holding a newborn baby.
On the back, someone had written:
Your father is not the man you think he is.
I looked at Elizabeth.
She read the sentence.
Then she looked toward the gate where Daniel had disappeared.
“There's only one person who can explain this.””
“Who?””
She folded the photograph carefully.
“Daniel Hayes.””
My phone vibrated again.
Another unknown number.
This time, the message contained a photograph of my father sitting alone in a hospital waiting room.
Underneath it were six words.
Richard has been hurt. Come alone.
I looked up at Mr. Bennett.
He immediately took the phone from my hand.
“Absolutely not.””
But before he could say anything else, Elizabeth's phone rang.
She answered.
A man's voice came through.
It was my father.
“Elizabeth, listen carefully.””
His breathing was uneven.
“Diane knows about the farmhouse. She's going there tonight.””
Elizabeth tightened her grip on the phone.
“Richard, where are you?””
There was a pause.
Then he whispered:
“I made a deal with her twenty years ago.””
May you like
Another pause.
“And tonight, she's coming to collect what I promised.””
