Chapter 14 - The Unmarked Box
I walked down the porch steps toward courier driver.
"Delivery for Officer Rachel Brooks," the driver called out.
I signed the digital pad, taking the small box.
"Thank you," I said, looking at the label.
The brown cardboard package had no return address listed.
I walked back to the wooden porch table carefully.
Clara looked up from her tea cup with curiosity.
"Who is the package from, Rachel?" Clara asked.
"I don't know, there is no address on."
I pulled open the brown sealing tape with fingers.
Inside the box lay a sleek silver flash drive.
Beside the drive rested a single old photograph document.
I picked up the photograph with careful, trembling fingers.
The image showed an old military research facility building.
A compound located deep inside a remote forest mountain.
Standing in front of the building was a woman.
A woman wearing an expensive cream silk trench coat.
She held a newborn baby girl in her arms.
My blood ran completely ice cold in one second.
The woman in the photo was our biological mother.
The mother we believed died twenty years ago today.
Our mother hadn't died of illness back then.
She was alive and standing outside the secret facility.
I flipped the photograph over to read back side.
A message was written in neat, elegant handwriting text:
"Hello, my brave daughters Rachel and Clara."
"Chief Harrison was only executing my instructions all along."
"I created the syndicate to test your tactical minds."
"You both passed the test, my brilliant girls."
"Now it is time for you to take over."
"I am waiting for you at the mountain facility."
Pure, paralyzing, freezing terror flooded my entire body.
Our own mother was the ultimate mastermind behind Harrison.
She had orchestrated Clara's hiding and my investigation.
The entire syndicate was a test for her daughters.
A test to see if we were strong enough.
Clara dropped her tea cup onto the wooden deck.
The ceramic cup shattered into pieces on the floor.
"Our mother... she is alive?" Clara whispered terrified.
I plugged the flash drive into my mobile laptop.
A single video file opened on the screen display.
May you like
The video showed a live satellite camera feed above.
A feed pointing directly down at our front porch.
