Chapter 6 - The Warehouse
---
Detective Morrison met me at the warehouse.
It was old. Abandoned. The kind of place you'd see in a horror movie.
"This is it?"
"This is it."
We walked inside. Dark. Dusty. Smelled like mold and decay.
"The floor," I said. "Under the concrete."
He looked at me. "You're saying there are bodies under the floor?"
"I'm saying there are bodies everywhere. This place. The estate. A cabin upstate. They've been killing people for decades."
"How do you know?"
"Because I found the records. And I'm not the only one who kept them."
We walked to the far end. A door. Locked. I pulled out a key.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Ethan's key ring. He didn't know I knew about it."
I opened the door. Inside was a room. Small. Windowless. Walls covered in photographs.
Dozens. Hundreds. Faces. Names. Dates.
"So many," Morrison whispered.
"Thirty years. Maybe more."
He walked to the wall. Studied the photos. His hand shook.
"These are missing persons. Cases we never solved."
"They're all here. All the ones they killed."
"Who's this?" He pointed to a photo. A young woman. Smiling. Red hair.
"Emily Hartley. Ethan's first wife. She died in a car accident."
"Accident?"
"They pushed her car off a cliff. She found out what they were doing. Same as me."
Morrison looked sick. "And they got away with it?"
"They got away with everything. Until now."
I handed him a flash drive.
"This is everything else. Names. Dates. Locations. Evidence."
He took it. Stared at it.
"Why are you doing this? You could have run. Disappeared. Started over."
"I could have. But then they'd win. And I'm done letting them win."
He nodded. "I'll make sure this gets to the right people. The ones who can't be bought."
"Thank you."
"We'll protect you. Witness protection. New identity. New life."
I thought about it. A new life. Far away. Safe.
"No."
"No?"
"I'm not running. I'm not hiding. I'm going to see this through."
"Ms. Reilly—"
"I'm going to testify. At every trial. Every hearing. Every appeal. I'm going to look them in the eye and tell the world what they did."
"That's dangerous."
"I know."
"They'll try to kill you."
"Let them try."
He stared at me. Then smiled. Grim. Determined.
"You're something else, Kate Reilly."
"I'm just a woman who's done being a victim."
---
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
---
