Kevin did not head back to the hangar. He had a feeling that something was off a feeling he developed as a kid when he had to figure out which rooms in his house were safe to talk in. He thought that once those three devices stopped working the hangars location would not be a secret for long.
The van drove into Maryland before the sun came up. By morning they were standing inside a storage unit on the outskirts of Baltimore. It looked like a bunch of junk to anyone who walked by.. Behind a fake wall they had a backup plan. It was not as big as the hangar. It was good enough. There was a bed, a safe and a laptop that had never been connected to the internet.
Eva watched as Kevin opened the wall. He did it like he had done it times before. She said, "Your dad really thought of everything did he not?"
Kevin shook his head. "My dad thought of everything for himself. For the ten years I have been trying to find everything he built and make something new out of it. I thought I was being clever. Now I think I am just predictable just like my dad was."
He opened the laptop. Pulled out a small drive from his jacket. It was not Evas drive it was an one that he had never shown her before. "My dad gave me this before he died. He called it insurance. I always thought it was insurance against Eleanor.. Now I am not so sure."
The drive started working. One file. It was locked. It did not ask for a password it asked for a name.
Kevin typed: C-A-S-S.
The screen unlocked.
Eva read, "Cassandra. Your dad named his secret after someone that nobody believed in."
Kevin said, "My dad liked drama." He started scrolling through the files. They were moving fast for them to really understand. "This is not a trick to hide money. It is a list of names, dates and money transfers. It goes back forty years. Whitfields name is on the list. Eleanors name is on the list too.. There are other people, people that nobody knows are connected to them. There are directors from agencies and a shipping company that has been breaking rules for years. This is bigger than a company. This is bigger than the government. My dad was not working for a group he was working for something that does not answer to anyone."
Eva felt like everything that had happened in the two weeks was connected to something bigger and scarier.
She asked, "What do we do with all this information?"
Kevin did not say anything away. He just stared at an entry at the bottom of the file. It was from today a few minutes ago.
"Kevin " Eva said.
He said, "Someone just looked at this list from outside. That is not possible because this laptop has never been connected to the internet. But they did not hack it they already had a copy. They probably had it before we were born."
The laptop screen started blinking. A new window appeared. It was not a virus it was a blinking text field waiting for them to type something.
A message appeared, one character at a time. It was like they wanted Kevin and Eva to feel every second of it.
We have been waiting for someone to open this file for eleven years Kevin. Your dad always said that his son would either destroy it or hide it. It seems you have chosen an option. We would like to talk about what that option's
Eva put her hand on her gun. Kevin stared his jaw clenched, trying to think of all the possibilities. None of them were good.
"Kevin " Eva whispered. "Who are they?"
He did not answer. He typed back his fingers
Tell me where. We will find out.
The response was fast like they had written it before Kevin even typed.
You already know where, Kevin. You have been going around it your life. Come home.
The laptop turned off. The connection was gone. There was the sound of the fluorescent lights and Evas heartbeat.
Kevin sat back. When he finally looked at Eva all the thinking was gone from his face. What replaced it was a look of recognition.
"There is a house " he said quietly. "It was the house my family ever owned. Before the company before the money before everything. I have not been back since I was seven years old. My dad used to call it 'the beginning.' I always thought it was a nice memory."
". Now?" Eva asked.
Kevin closed the laptop his hand on the lid.
"Now I think he meant it. Exactly."
Outside the storage facilitys gate was making noise in the wind. Out there a car, with no plates was driving north. It was heading towards a house that had been waiting patiently for eleven years waiting for Kevin to finally come home.