Chapter 5 - THE WATER RISING
The water hit the concrete floor with a violent splash, spreading quickly across the room.
It was freezing. Sourced straight from the old city mains.
Evan screamed and scrambled backward, climbing onto the metal desk.
Claire forced herself to stand. Her world had just been shattered, her identity ripped away, but she couldn't afford to break down. Not with her nephew terrified and trapped.
“Evan, look at me,” Claire shouted over the roar of the water.
He covered his ears, sobbing.
Claire waded through the ankle-deep water, grabbed his shoulders, and forced him to make eye contact. “Look at me! We are not going to die down here. Do you understand?”
He nodded, terrified.
The water was rising fast. It was already at Claire’s shins. The camping lanterns flickered, casting wild shadows on the walls.
Claire waded to the heavy steel door. She pulled on the handle. It wouldn't budge. She looked for a manual override, a lever, a keypad—anything.
Nothing.
“Think,” Claire muttered to herself. “Grandfather wouldn’t just leave a diary. He wouldn’t just leave a confession. He was too methodical.”
She looked at her purse, sitting on the desk next to Evan.
The brass key.
She splashed back to the desk and dug the tiny key out. It had the number 317 engraved on it.
They were in Room 317.
“It’s not for the door,” Claire realized.
She looked frantically around the room. The walls were lined with old, empty filing cabinets. But in the far corner, partially obscured by a corkboard, was a square panel set directly into the concrete.
Claire waded over. The water was at her knees now.
She tore the corkboard down.
Behind it was a single, heavy steel safe-deposit box built flush into the wall. It had a tiny brass keyhole.
Claire’s hands shook violently as she inserted the key.
It turned with a smooth, heavy click.
She pulled the door open.
Inside was a sealed, waterproof document pouch.
Claire pulled it out and ripped the seal.
It wasn't a confession. It wasn't a letter.
It was a stack of physical, unregistered bearer bonds.
Claire stared at the denominations. Millions of dollars. The money wasn't in an offshore account. It had been sitting in the basement for thirty years.
“The account was never empty,” the note in the watch had said.
This was the real missing money. The money her grandfather had stolen from Thomas Hayes. The proof that Thomas was innocent.
“Claire!” Evan screamed.
She turned. The water was at her waist. It was pouring in faster now, the pressure blowing out a second vent in the ceiling.
The desk Evan was standing on was completely submerged. He was clinging to the top of an old bookshelf, the water creeping up his legs.
“Evan, hold on!” Claire waded toward him, fighting the freezing current.
She reached the bookshelf and held him tight against her chest.
“We can’t get out!” Evan cried.
Claire looked up at the ceiling. The air vents were too small for her to fit through. But...
She looked at Evan.
“Evan,” Claire said, her voice deadly serious. “The vent where the water is coming from. It’s too small for me. But you can fit.”
Evan looked in horror at the gushing pipe. “I can’t!”
“You have to,” Claire said. “Once you’re in the duct, crawl straight. It will lead to the primary maintenance shaft. You can get out. You can find help.”
“I won’t leave you!”
“You aren't leaving me, you’re saving me,” Claire lied. If the water kept rising, she would drown before he found anyone. But he had to survive.
She grabbed the waterproof pouch of bearer bonds and shoved them into Evan’s backpack. She zipped it tight and strapped it to his shoulders.
“Take this. Whatever happens, don’t let anyone but your parents see it.”
The water was at Claire’s chest.
She lifted Evan, straining against the cold and the weight. She pushed him up toward the open vent.
Evan grabbed the metal edge, pulling his small body inside the dark shaft.
“Go!” Claire shouted.
Evan disappeared into the duct.
Claire dropped back into the water. It was at her neck. She tilted her head back, gasping for the rapidly shrinking pocket of air.
Suddenly, a massive, deafening explosion rocked the room above her.
May you like
The ceiling cracked.
And from inside the vent, Evan screamed.
