by Sara Schoen
Luckily, this filing system made perfect sense, mostly because there were only two sections: completed jobs and open jobs. I skimmed through the names in both sections, there were only last names on the outside of the files, at least that was my assumption when a name caught my attention; my own. There were two files, one with the last name Night under completed jobs and the other with Ricker under open jobs. I felt a bile rise in my throat as I yanked both files from their spots and held them tightly in my hands.
There was a strange fear that raced through my veins as I looked at the names printed in black permanent marker. I couldn't explain it as I placed the files on the top of the cabinet and flipped open the files as fast as I could. A cry escaped my lips as I looked between the files, one was on my family and the crash, and the other one was focused on me and the Rickers. I had put them in danger and now they were on his list. They were going to die because of me, and I wasn't sure what to do about it. There were hundreds of files in the cabinet and I wasn't sure what was in the desk.
I forced myself to look away from the files that were about me, and went to the desk to pull open drawers. There didn't seem to be anything in his desk about people he was after or hired to kill, frankly there didn't seem to be anything in it except office supplies, but for some reason that worried me. If everything was in one spot then how did he make sure to keep it out of others' hands or sight? I didn't have time to worry about that though, I reminded myself. I have to find a hiding spot so that I can watch him for an opportunity.
That came first, I thought, until my eyes landed on a shredder on the other side of his desk. I bit my bottom lip trying to control the thought process that was racing through my mind, but I couldn't. I grabbed the shredder and moved it over to the file cabinet. Sliding the switch to the 'on' position I began the daunting task of shredding the files. I tentatively slipped the first one in, testing the noise the machine would make, but amazingly it wasn't as loud as I thought it would be. It had a low hum, but it didn't sound anything like my mother's shredder which reminded me more of a mix between a snarling beast ready to attack and a raging blender that was trying to tear apart ice.
I slipped in files two at a time, starting with the open cases since most of them were still being targeted. Whoever he wanted gone in the completed files was already beyond my help, and no matter what I did I wouldn't be able to do anything for them. Their files, along with both of mine, could wait for the others to be out of danger. I wasn't even halfway through when I heard footsteps coming toward me. The slow rhythmic footsteps told me they were traveling up stairs and would be close to me soon. I dumped the contents of the shredder into the fire place across the room, placed it back in its original spot and swiped the files about me off the table before I made a beeline toward the only hiding space I had seen.
There was a medium sized vent above the bookcase in the far corner of the room. I climbed furniture, thinking about Rum's last minute training to make my footsteps completely silent. She had me practice with sand first so that I could see the weight I was putting on my feet, until I was able to run across the sand while barely making a footprint. Once on the bookcase, I slipped the vent cover off easily which allowed me to hide when one of Ash's men came into the room to investigate. He opened the door as the shredder came to a stop, and looked around the room.
He took a few paces into the room and glanced at the shredder curiously, but before he could turn around to investigate the fire place, another man came in and told him to prepare for Ash's return. There was a chill that raced up my spine. He was coming, and I wasn't sure if I was ready.
Chapter 29
Knowing I was running out of time, I tried to finish shredding the files. I couldn't stop myself from doing it, even though I knew if Ash opened that cabinet and saw they were gone he would know someone was here or had been. There was just a force inside of me that was beating out the logical part of my brain, and it was going to get me killed unless I moved fast. When the guards left I went back into the office and started shredding files three at a time, there were some bigger ones and I decided that I would save those for later as I picked out the thinner files to shred more in the limited amount of time.
For the ones that I had already shredded, I let the fire crackle lightly in the fire place thanks to the lighter that Ash kept in his desk. Must be a smoker, I thought as I lit the corner of one of the papers I ripped out of a file. Once the flame was burning bright and strong, I placed it over the scraps and let the flame take care of the rest. The paper would burn quickly, but to prevent the smell from reaching the outside of the room I had to open the windows and that was a dangerous act. If the guards realized the small change in the building then they would come up here to look for what was causing it and this time they wouldn't leave without an answer.
With the shredder slowly making its way through the three files and the fire burning the scraps, I decided to give in to my curiosity. I had both of my files in front of me, and I could finally have the answers that eluded me for years. I wasn't going to pass that up without a fight.
The paper slipped through my fingers as I opened the current case file on myself. I felt the breath leave my lungs as I looked at the name on the inside of file. The one on the outside had said Sara Night, but on the inside, over my birth name that was currently scratched out with a few lines through it, was Sara Ricker. Our home address was written in the margins of the page, and the names of my brothers along with their schools and after school clubs. I felt tears well up in my eyes as fear caused my body to shake. Jax hadn't lied when he said Ash had found me, and that he knew where I was and my new family. I was putting them in danger and hadn't realized it.
He had the adoption papers, and in the margins had written that even though I was eighteen I had chosen to live under them as my parents. There were records from my school, and copies of the accident report from my family's accident. There were highlighted parts of newspapers clippings that said I survived, but he had notes on them asking where I went and where had I gone. The clippings continued, very few mentioned my new name until there was a photo of my family that was taken for the high school’s paper to congratulate me on receiving credit for some of my courses from the previous year. Since I had skipped a majority of the year after the accident I had to take a test to determine the credits I would receive.
My senior year this go around had only been filled with history, math and electives so I could focus on my tougher classes. It had been a miracle that I passed most of it, and an even better one that I received credit for most of the classes. It was such a miracle that the school’s journalism teacher thought it would make a heartwarming article, and that time they used my new name. I flipped to the last page that discussed my injuries while in the hospital before I disappeared with my name change. There was another mark at the bottom of the page that read, 'round two'.
I felt my heart stop as the words raced through my mind, without a moment of hesitation I shoved the file into the shredder and watched it turn to scraps. My breathing picked up as I raced to empty the contents of the shredder into the fire. The paper was keeping the fire going, but it wasn't enough to have it build up and increase the heat. That was good for when I doused the flames, but for now it was making a slow burn for the documents. I raced back and forth until I had about half of the open case files shredded and burning in the fire.
My gaze had continually turned to the other file on Ash's desk, the one of my old life. The one that would tell me about why he took my family from me and targeted me in the first place. I had been fifteen at the time, and was sure that I had never met a man named Ash Crest. So what made him go after my family then, and why was he willing to do it again? I didn't know him, and I didn't have a problem with him so why was he so dedicated to find me, and kill me? It was time to find out. I slipped in another two files into the shredder and flipped open the file.
It started with information on my siblings and me, but after looking through the l
ast one, I knew that the last pages in the file he had put in first. He had my hospital reports in first then built up to the complete information he had on the front page, this was bound to be the same way. I flipped through information on my siblings and me, eventually getting to my mother, and finding sporadic information on my old house. There were newspaper clippings of the crash, the memorial and the burial, but what I noticed is it was only on my mother and my siblings. There was very little on my father in the folder.
He had focused on everyone except my father, and I didn't understand until I found a hand written note that I was having trouble making out. It looked like my mother's name, but I couldn't be sure because the handwriting was shaky and indiscernible. I flipped through the pages until I found more information on my father. The file had started with my father's information, stating where he worked, his position, the year my parents were married, his schedule and the properties he owned other than our house. He had been tracking my father thoroughly and then expanded onto the family.
But why? What did my dad do to start this, if anything? I wondered as I put a few of the remaining thinner files into the shredder. I wasn't finding the answers from the file as I had hoped, because in Ash's mind, he knew why each person was his list. There was a reason, whether hired or personal as Jax had said, but there was always a reason. I was trying to discern what that reason was as the shredder came to a halt and screeched, unable to push anymore paper into the bin.
With a heavy sigh, I retrieved the bin and dumped the contents into the fire. As I looked back into the open drawer where Ash kept his files, I realized all that remained were the larger files that would have to be done one at a time so I wouldn't destroy or damage the shredder. I was about to put the shredder back together when I heard the guards racing through the house. I glanced back at the fire to see that most of the paper hadn't been burned yet, and had to act fast. I put the shredder back together and closed the cabinet drawer, not taking the time to space the files out so it looked full. Ash seemed to me meticulous, he was going to notice that files were missing if I spaced them out or not, but I had to try.
I heard a car door slam, which sent me spiraling into a panicked frenzy. I stroked the fire, while straining to hear for footsteps that would be coming my way any moment. The paper shreds turned to ash before my eyes as footsteps started to come up the stairs. I didn't know the layout of the building, but from the last time a guard came up here I knew that the stairs weren't more than a few feet from this door. I raced to pick up the water from his desk, and drenched the fire until it was out. I didn’t waste the time placing the cup back on the desk, and climbed back up to the vent just in time for the door to open.
I was sure I was caught. I wasn’t even in the vent shaft when the door opened, but the guard stopped momentarily outside to talk to someone allowing me to slip into the vent before they came into the room. I hit the side of the vent shaft in my haste, causing a metal bang that I hoped would go unnoticed. The cover slipped over my hiding spot as a new voice drifted through the air and hit my ears.
“I don't care what you have to do to get the information, I need it. I want to know everything before I begin to work on the case,” a man said as he walked briskly into the room. His features were stone cold as he sat in his desk, the cool blue gaze looked at his guards and then around the room. My breath was held deep in my chest, my hand tightly clasped over my mouth and a pressure on my tongue from my teeth, as I tried to regain composure so I wouldn't make a sound. I had almost been caught, and that had shaken me to the core.
Maybe I wasn't cut out for this, I thought to myself as the man sat in the office chair and ran his fingers through his dark black hair.
“We can't find anything on her, Ash,” one of the men said. “She dropped off the grid two days ago. We haven't seen her at the Ricker home and a phone call from a blocked number was the last one the family received. Her phone hasn't had any activity on it, and she's not showing up at any of the regular places. She's gone.” I bit my tongue harder to control the emotions that raced through me when I realized that they were talking about me. The fear and anger that I was leading these men to my family without even knowing. They had so much information on me, and were able to keep track of me no matter where I went except at the agency.
“Then until we find her let's focus on the other case, Kayta Petrov, what did the father want?” Ash asked carefully, as if he was accounting for every motion the man in front of him made.
“He says that he no longer needs our services. It appears that the girl has calmed down and will not be a problem. If it happens again, he will contact us with whether he's gotten rid of her himself or needs a less diplomatic approach.”
“That's fine by me, I never enjoy dealing with Russians. They are far too trigger happy and would rather deal with family in their own way,” Ash said as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his face. “I actually pity that poor girl if she tries to escape. Having a dictator as a father must be difficult,” he said with a chuckle. “Keep the file open, just in case. Next please.”
“The case for the Cardoza Cartel was taken care of, luckily before they had that run in with agents from the CIA.”
“Good to hear, keep tabs on them. I will want to know how they are doing in a few weeks,” he said with a cruel smile. “For now let's focus on the latest case, I hear a family knows too much for their own good or the father does at least. Rig up another car accident,” Ash ordered with a smile. “But, Theo, how about you keep it clean this time. They are supposed to look like one-car accidents, you can't have skid marks giving away that there was another car again. We were going to be investigated until I paid to make it go away. Make sure it doesn't happen again.”
My stomach leapt into my throat at his words, he was going to kill another family just to silence them. I swallowed the bile that had risen in my throat, but that only allowed the anger I was feeling take its place. I'm not letting this happen to anyone else, I thought as I slowly crawled backward through the ducts as Theo replied and the door slammed shut. I wasn’t going to stand by and let Ash continue to tear people’s lives apart. It needed to stop, and I was going to be the one to do it. I couldn’t hesitate as I had done with Jax. No one was here to shoot him for me; I’d have to do it myself. I needed to stop more people from going through what I had. For now, I needed time to think while I tried to think of a new plan to finish him off for good. I wasn't going to let him get rid of another family. I would sacrifice my life for that and it was a necessary risk owing to the amount of files he had, the number of families he could tear apart.
Chapter 30
I had been listening to Ash talk about his top cases for a few hours now, silently waiting in the ducts for a moment to strike. He had killed another family about five years ago the same way he had done with my family, but the son and daughter survived from what I could figure. It was hard to tell because nothing he said was straight forward. It seemed as if he spoke in code, I guess in case he ever got bugged, but it took a lot of effort to get in here. I doubted that he would ever be bugged, and if he was the person would be found and killed. I felt a shiver run down my spine at the thought and tried to focus on the parents the kids had lost.
It had happened before my family’s car accident, he said that it was one of his first jobs, and now the girl was finishing her last year of college and the son had gone off the map. He disappeared one day, and hadn’t made an appearance since. It was strange, how could someone just disappear and not resurface? Unless, I thought just as Ash slammed his fists onto the table and forced those thoughts out of my head while I tried not to gasp from the sudden noise.
“Do you have any information on him or are you just bringing me more bad news?” Ash asked Theo, the tall blond who I could barely see through the vent cover, and his right-hand man. Theo was the only one that responded or talked to Ash, but he also took most of the heat from him. He followed orders, but something about his posture and the autho
rity in his voice told me that he was who Ash delegated everything to.
Ash was in hot pursuit of the son who had escaped him the last few years. He wanted the entire family gone as he wanted me to be dead and buried like my family, although to do that, he needed the son. Because Ash knew that if he got rid of the sister before the son came out of hiding, then he would lose the last piece of the family. The son would never reveal himself after his sister was killed, so they had to wait. He had to have all of them or it was wasted. That’s just how his job was, but he seemed to enjoy it a little too much in my opinion.
“He knows too much. He knows my face!” Ash cried out. “You have to find him! He could find me!” Then he could do exactly what I was planning to do; kill Ash Crest. “Do you know anything?”
“Nothing yet, sir. He dropped off the radar five years ago and hasn't resurfaced since. We've been keeping track of his sister, and she is still trying to find him so that's reason to believe they haven't been in contact with each other. I’m sure if we stay with the sister he will eventually resurface to talk to her.”
“Jackson goes off the map for almost five years now, and no one can find him? How is that possible? He has to pop up at some point! He needs supplies and everything, why hasn't he been seen getting those things?”
“Living off the land?” Theo suggested cautiously. He must have known that was a stupid suggestion, I thought it was, and judging from Ash's violent response of slamming his fist on the table again, it was a dumb suggestion to bring up.
“Theo, just find him. I want him handled, and if it comes to it I will do it myself personally,” he said as a cruel smile curved onto his lips. “I also want another case handled personally. I think it's time to end her life, end her suffering so to speak.”
