Chapter 21: Ten Minutes

I stared at the phone.

The call had ended.

But my brother's voice was still ringing in my head.

You have exactly ten minutes.

"Call him back," I whispered.

I pressed the number.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

"He's not answering."

Samuel looked at his watch.

"How long ago did he call?"

"Maybe thirty seconds."

He looked towards the warehouse entrance.

"Then we have nine and a half minutes."

"Nine and a half minutes for what?"

He didn't answer.

That frightened me more than anything else.

I turned to my mother.

"What did Dad know?"

She wiped her tears.

"I don't know everything."

"Then tell me what you do know."

She looked at the journal in my hands.

"Your father discovered that several powerful people were working together. Politicians, businessmen, police officers..."

She stopped.

"...and people inside organisations that were supposed to protect the public."

"Project Echo was his way of exposing them."

She nodded.

"But when they discovered what he was doing, they threatened our family."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were a child."

"You could have told me when I grew up!"

"I was trying to keep you alive!"

Her voice broke.

Silence followed.

Then Daniel spoke.

"Guys..."

We turned towards him.

He was staring at the laptop.

"The files are changing."

"What?"

He turned the screen towards us.

Folders were disappearing one by one.

Someone was remotely accessing the computer.

"They're deleting everything."

Samuel moved closer.

"Can you stop it?"

"I'm trying."

His fingers flew across the keyboard.

One folder remained.

FATHER

Daniel clicked it.

The screen displayed a single video.

I pressed play.

My father's face appeared.

I had seen pictures of him before.

But never like this.

He looked directly into the camera.

"Maya, if you're watching this..."

He smiled sadly.

"...then your mother couldn't keep you away from the truth forever."

My eyes filled with tears.

He continued.

"There's something I never told you."

The video suddenly froze.

A loading symbol appeared.

Daniel frowned.

"Someone is blocking the file."

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm trying."

The warehouse lights suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed us.

Lily screamed.

Then we heard it.

Footsteps.

Coming from the entrance.

Slow.

Heavy.

Several people.

Samuel pulled out his gun.

"Everyone stay together."

A voice came from the darkness.

"You should have listened to the warning."

Another voice answered from behind us.

"There's nowhere left to run."

We were surrounded.

I held my father's journal tightly against my chest.

Then someone switched on a flashlight.

The beam landed directly on me.

A familiar voice whispered:

"Maya..."

I froze.

It was the police officer who had stolen the evidence.

He stepped into the light.

And beside him...

stood the woman in black.

She smiled.

"Time's up."