Kaven handed over the envelope to lara. Her fingers trembled. She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
The same photograph she had seen before — her father, Mr. Hartley, and Kaven's father. Only this one had something else.
A fourth man.
His face was partially visible, standing slightly behind the others.
"Who the hell is that?" Kaven asked, frowning.
Lara stared. Her breath caught.
"I don't know... but this picture was taken after my mom died."
Kaven's jaw clenched.
"Why would Dad keep this here?"
Before she could answer, something clattered behind them.
They spun around.
A thin voice, hoarse with age, came from behind a metal shelf in the shadows.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Lara froze.
An old man stepped into the faint light. His hair was thin, his posture crooked — but there was something sharp about his eyes.
"Who are you?" Kaven demanded, stepping in front of Lara.
The man didn't answer. He looked at Lara, then at the picture in her hand.
"That's not just a photograph," he said.
"It's a warning."
—
The old man's voice was barely more than a whisper, but it echoed through the warehouse like thunder.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Lara took a small step back, instinctively brushing against the desk. Her heart thudded in her chest.
Kaven's body stiffened beside her. "Who are you?" he asked again, louder this time.
The man didn't move. Shadows clung to the folds of his clothes, and though his frame was thin, there was something steady about his presence. His eyes, sharp and strangely familiar, flicked from Kaven to Lara.
"I knew your father," he said slowly. "Both of them. Martin Hale... and Jonathan Hollins ."
Kaven's breath caught. "How—?"
"I was there the day they shut everything down. The day they made the decision."
Lara stared at him. "What decision?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he limped closer, boots scraping against the dusty floor. His face came into clearer view — wrinkled, with a long scar trailing just past his left temple.
"You kids have no idea what you're walking into," he muttered. "That photo shouldn't even exist anymore. He wasn't supposed to be in it."
Lara clutched the picture tighter. "The fourth man?"
The old man nodded. "His name was Calden Rowe. He wasn't part of the company. Not officially. But he was involved in... let's say, the kind of work that doesn't leave a paper trail."
Kaven stepped forward, voice tense. "What kind of work?"
The man looked him square in the eyes.
"Buried work. Work that cost your fathers more than just their careers."
Silence fell.
Outside, the wind creaked through the broken warehouse vents.
Lara's voice was faint. "My parents died in a car accident."
The man tilted his head slightly. "Did they?"
Her blood ran cold.
Kaven grabbed his arm. "What do you know?"
The man pulled away gently. "Enough to warn you. This place isn't safe. And the more you dig, the harder it'll be to get out clean. People around here... they remember."
He looked toward the open warehouse doors, then back at them.
"If you really want answers," he said, "don't waste time here. Go to the lake house."
Kaven frowned. "What lake house?"
The man gave a dry chuckle. "Ask your manager. Mr. Hartley. He knows. He was the one who signed the papers. All of them."
He started to walk away, slowly, toward the rear exit of the warehouse.
"Wait!" Lara called out. "Who are you?"
He paused at the door, half-turned.
"My name doesn't matter," he said. "But if you're serious about the truth... don't trust Hartley."
And then he disappeared into the dark.
---
End of Chapter 14