She hadn’t randomly targeted Evelyn.
She had been watching her.
And she had been watching me.
A sound came from behind me.
I turned.
Evelyn was standing in the doorway.
“You found it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I needed to know whether you were ready.”
“Ready for what?”
She walked inside.
“For the truth.”
I held up the papers.
“My father discovered this.”
“Yes.”
“And somebody killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at me for a long moment.
Then she said:
“The person who ordered it is still alive.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The entire cell block fell into darkness.
Women began shouting.
Doors slammed.
Somewhere down the corridor, an alarm started ringing.
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
“Don’t move.”
Then we heard footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming toward us.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Someone stopped outside.
Then a voice whispered:
“Give me the box.”
Evelyn looked at me.
I looked at her.
Neither of us moved.
The voice came again.
“You have ten seconds.”
I whispered, “Who is that?”
Evelyn’s face had gone pale.
Then she said something that terrified me more than the voice outside.
“It’s someone who was supposed to be dead.”
The door began to open.
PART 4 — THE TRUTH NOBODY EXPECTED
The door opened slowly.
I prepared myself for Mack.
But it wasn’t her.
It was the prison doctor.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
He stood in the doorway holding a flashlight.
“Come with me,” he whispered.
Evelyn didn’t move.
“Why should we trust you?”
“Because your father saved my life.”
I stared at him.
“My father?”
He nodded.
“Thomas Vale discovered the corruption here years ago. He gave me evidence before he died.”
“Then why didn’t you go to the police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They told me to stop asking questions.”
The lights came back on.
A guard appeared at the end of the corridor.
Dr. Reed looked toward him.
“We don’t have much time.”
He led us through a side corridor and into an old storage room.
Then he locked the door.
“What is happening?” I asked.
Dr. Reed looked at Evelyn.
“Tell her.”
Evelyn sighed.
“Your father didn’t die because he discovered money being stolen.”
“Then why?”
“Because he discovered something bigger.”
She opened the metal box.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
And one small cassette tape.
