Chapter 6: The Message From My Mother
I stared at the screen.
My mother’s name.
Written in red letters.
A warning.
A threat.
A message that should have been impossible.
For twenty-two years, Elena Brooks had been gone.
Dead.
Buried.
A memory.
Yet somehow, her name had appeared in front of me inside a locked airport conference room.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody even breathed normally.
Because we were all thinking the same thing.
How could a dead woman send a message?
Thomas Reed moved first.
He rushed to the computer and began typing.
“Get away from the system,” Richard said.
“I need to find the source.””
“You don’t know if it’s safe.””
Thomas ignored him.
His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.
“This wasn’t a normal message.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“What do you mean?””
Thomas looked at the screen.
“The message didn’t come from outside.””
A chill moved through the room.
“It came from inside the network.””
Richard frowned.
“Impossible.””
Thomas shook his head.
“Not impossible.””
He looked at the words again.
“Someone has administrator-level access.””
Samuel’s face tightened.
“Who has that kind of access?””
Nobody answered.
But everyone in the room knew.
Very few people.
Very powerful people.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did my mother know?””
His expression was filled with pain.
“More than I did.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“I know.””
He ran a hand through his hair.
“I spent twenty-two years trying to understand what happened to her.””
“Then tell me what you found.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Your mother was investigating someone.””
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
“You keep saying that.””
His eyes lowered.
“Because it’s true.””
The honesty frustrated me.
But somehow, I believed him.
Daniel wasn’t hiding the truth because he wanted power.
He looked like someone who had been chasing the truth and losing every time he got close.
Richard walked toward the door.
“We need to secure this room.””
Thomas nodded.
“I’ll lock down all access points.””
I looked at the message again.
“Wait.””
Everyone stopped.
I stepped closer to the screen.
There was something bothering me.
The message.
The wording.
It wasn’t written like a threat.
It was written like a warning.
“Stop searching for the truth, Maya.””
I whispered the sentence.
Then I noticed something.
At the bottom of the screen, barely visible beneath the red letters, was a small line of text.
“What is that?””
Thomas returned.
“What?””
I pointed.
“There.””
He zoomed in.
A few seconds later, his expression changed.
“It’s a timestamp.””
Richard looked confused.
“When?””
Thomas swallowed.
“Twenty-two years ago.””
Nobody moved.
“What?””
Thomas enlarged the text.
“The message was created on the same day Elena Brooks died.””
The room became colder.
“That’s impossible,” Samuel whispered.
Thomas shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at the screen.
“It was created back then.””
My voice became quiet.
“But it was activated today.””
Daniel stared at the monitor.
“Someone scheduled it.””
The realization hit all of us.
My mother had known.
She had prepared this.
She had left something behind.
Something meant for me.
“But why?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Because she knew someone would eventually find you.””
The words hurt.
Because they meant my mother had been waiting for this moment.
A moment she knew she would never see.
I turned away.
I didn’t want them to see me cry.
But I couldn’t stop remembering.
My mother brushing my hair before school.
My mother holding my hand when I was afraid.
My mother promising me that everything would be okay.
She had known something terrible was coming.
And she still smiled at me.
“Maya.””
I wiped my face.
“What?””
Samuel reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small box.
“I should have given you this earlier.””
I stared at it.
“What is it?””
“Something your mother left with me.””
My heart stopped.
“You had something from her this whole time?””
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I was afraid.””
The answer surprised me.
“Afraid of what?””
“That giving it to you would put you in danger.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently keeping it hidden did that too.””
Samuel accepted the words.
Because they were true.
He opened the box.
Inside was a necklace.
Simple.
Silver.
With a small circular pendant.
I recognized it immediately.
My mother used to wear it.
Every day.
“She left this for you.””
I reached for it.
My fingers touched the pendant.
Then it opened.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Me.
As a baby.
With my mother and Daniel.
All three of us together.
A family.
A family I never knew existed.
I looked at Daniel.
His eyes were wet.
“I carried a copy of that picture for years.””
I looked down.
“You remembered me?””
He gave a sad smile.
“Maya, I remembered everything.””
The words broke something inside me.
Because for years, I had wondered if I was easy to forget.
Apparently, I wasn’t.
Apparently, someone had been searching.
Someone had been waiting.
Before I could respond, the conference room door opened.
Everyone turned.
Derek Collins stood there.
Thomas immediately stepped forward.
“How did you get in?””
Derek looked nervous.
“I need to talk to Maya.””
Richard frowned.
“You are not cleared to be here.””
“I know.””
Derek looked at me.
“But I found something.””
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Why should we trust you?””
Derek looked down.
“Because I think I made a mistake.””
Nobody answered.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper.
“I found this near Terminal C after the man left.””
He handed it to me.
I unfolded it.
My heart stopped.
It was a printed photograph.
A photograph of me.
Taken that morning.
At the airport.
I was standing beside the old man.
Helping him into the wheelchair.
But on the back was a handwritten message.
*She doesn’t know who she is yet.*
My hands trembled.
Derek continued.
“There was more.””
He pulled out another paper.
“This was underneath it.””
I looked.
It was a list.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
And near the bottom…
My name.
Next to a date.
Today.
I looked at Derek.
“Where did you find this?””
“Near the employee entrance.””
“Why didn’t you report it?””
His face changed.
“Because I recognized the handwriting.””
Everyone turned.
“What?””
Derek looked at Samuel.
“I saw it before.””
Samuel’s expression changed.
“Where?””
Derek hesitated.
“In the old executive archives.””
Richard stepped forward.
“Derek.””
“I’m telling the truth.””
“Whose handwriting was it?””
Derek looked at me.
Then whispered:
“Your mother’s.””
The room went silent again.
“No.””
I shook my head.
“No, that’s impossible.””
Derek looked at the paper.
“I know.””
“Then how?””
He didn’t answer.
Because none of us had an answer.
Then Thomas’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed almost immediately.
“What?””
A pause.
Then:
“Are you sure?””
Everyone watched him.
He slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”” Richard asked.
Thomas looked at me.
“The airport security system just detected an unauthorized person inside the restricted archives.””
Daniel stood.
“Who?””
Thomas hesitated.
The fear in his eyes said enough before he spoke.
“The system identified the person.””
I felt my stomach drop.
“Who is it?””
Thomas looked at the screen on his phone.
Then at me.
“It’s Elena Brooks.””
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
May you like
Then Daniel whispered the words that made every piece of the puzzle fall apart.
“She’s alive.””
