Chapter 5 - The Call From Lena's Number.
No one moved for three rings.
On the fourth, Naomi reached for the speaker button.
Vincent stopped her with one hand.
"Let it go to voicemail."
The phone rang twice more and became silent.
A red light appeared beside the voicemail icon.
Naomi pressed play.
For several seconds there was only room noise and the faint hum of traffic.
Then Derek spoke.
"Lena, I know Vincent is with you."
Lena gripped the edge of the table.
"I know what he showed you, and I know what Naomi thinks she found."
His tone was calm, almost patient.
That was the version of Derek other people trusted.
"Before you make a mistake you can't undo, go to Grant Street Storage."
A pause followed.
"Unit 314."
Another pause.
"You'll understand why I did everything."
The message ended.
Naomi stared at Lena.
"How is he calling from your number?"
Vincent answered.
"Number spoofing, cloned access, or an account-level forwarding service."
Lena looked at him.
"Which one?"
"We find out after we secure your accounts."
He called Mara and asked her to contact the mobile carrier's fraud department.
Then he asked Naomi to make a copy of the flash drive and place the original in a sealed evidence bag.
Lena watched him work and felt a sharp flare of irritation.
"Stop managing everything."
Vincent went still.
"I'm helping."
"I know."
She stood carefully.
"But Derek managed everything too."
The words hurt both of them.
Vincent nodded once.
"Then you decide what happens next."
Lena looked at the envelope, the fake signatures, and the paused audio file on the monitor.
She thought about Derek telling her she could not survive without him.
She thought about how easily she had accepted being treated like a guest inside her own life.
"We're going to the storage unit."
Naomi started to object.
Vincent did not.
"Your decision," he said.
"My decision."
Grant Street Storage sat behind a row of closed auto shops near the river.
The facility manager met them at the gate after checking Lena's identification twice.
He looked uneasy when she explained why the unit might contain disputed property.
"I can open the main building," he said, "but I can't break a private lock without authorization."
Lena pulled the rental agreement from Vincent's folder.
"My name is on the unit."
The manager studied it.
"Then you can access it."
Unit 314 was at the end of a climate-controlled corridor.
The lock was new.
Lena entered the code Derek always used for luggage.
It opened on the first try.
Vincent raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Lena rolled the metal door upward.
Inside were six labeled storage boxes, a filing cabinet, two suitcases, and a small desk lamp.
Nothing looked dramatic.
That made it worse.
Every box was labeled with a year from Lena's life.
2019.
2020.
2021.
2022.
2023.
2024.
She opened the oldest one.
Inside were photographs, copies of emails, medical bills, old pay stubs, and printed text messages.
The second box held bank records and notes about her friends.
The third contained copies of private letters she had never given Derek.
Then Lena saw a black binder sitting on top of the filing cabinet.
Her full name was printed across the cover.
Underneath it was one word.
TIMELINE.
She opened to the first page.
At the top was a sentence typed in bold.
Objective: establish pattern before separation.
Lena stopped breathing for a moment.
Vincent looked over her shoulder.
"Lena."
She turned the page.
A photograph slid out and landed face up on the floor.
It showed Vincent standing outside her apartment two years earlier.
May you like
Across the bottom, Derek had written a date, a time, and two words.
PRIMARY THREAT.
