chapter 17: underneath the facet

Cassidy's heart raced. They stood at the boarded-up building in front of them—a once-grand estate on the outskirts of Gracetown, long desserted but now linked to a secret account that Lawson had used to conceal funds. The unsettling silence enveloped them, magnifying every creak and rustle in the shadows.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aaron asked, his voice barely above a whisper as they approached the building.

Cassidy nodded with determination.

"This spot is part of the puzzle. Whatever Lawson and his accomplices are hiding, we might uncover it here."

Aaron sighed heavily and signalled Cassie to follow him. They sneaked through a broken side entrance, their flashlights slicing through the thick dust and shadows that clung to the crumbling walls. The air was stale,like it was concealing secrets long buried.

The first couple of rooms were vacant, but as they ventured deeper, Cassidy noticed a faint glimmer of something metallic—a hinged sliding door in the floor, nearly obscured by an old, worn out rug.

"Check this out," she whispered, stooping to take a closer look. A heavy padlock secured the door, and it appeared new—a weird expression in a house thought to be deserted.

Aaron crouched beside her. He pulled a small pry from his jacket. He wedged it into the latch and twisted it open with a swift, powerful motion. Cassidy flinched at the noise, her heart racing.She imagined what would become of them,if there was anyone watching the place,who they would be alerting with that noise.

With one final tug, the hinged door screeched open, revealing a constricted, debile staircase descending into darkness. Aaron shone his flashlight into the darkness, and they exchanged a tense glance.

"Ready?" he asked with a resolute expression.

Cassidy swallowed hard and nodded. "Let's do this."

They carefully descended down the stairs, the steps creaking under their weight. At the bottom, they found themselves in a palely illuminated passageway that stretched far beyond the confines of the house. The air was dank, heavy with the scent of decay and mold, and Cassidy shivered.

They moved quietly, their footsteps reverberating ominously against the stone walls. The passageway was tortuous, seemingly long, until they reached a door reinforced with heavy steel—a door that seemed out of place in an old estate.

Cassidy's heart raced as Aaron carefully turned the handle and pushed it open.

The room had it walls lined with shelves filled with files, boxes, and outdated computers. A large map of Gracetown dominated one wall, dotted with red pins marking various locations. Cassidy stepped closer to the map, her heart pounding as she saw areas that she was well conersant with;schools, government buildings, and places where disappearances had been reported over the years.

"What is all this?" she gasped, struggling to keep her voice steady.

Aaron quickly scanned through one of the files, his complexion growing paler with each page. "These are… tracking records," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "Of people. Gatherings &meetings. Families, entire families. See—dates, addresses, payments." He held up a document displaying a list of names, some of them were people Cassidyrecognized as missing persons from Gracetown.

A chill ran down her spine. "They've been watching these people… like a...prey."

Aaron continued to sift through more files, his eyes widening as he began to grasp the scale of the operation. "This isn't just a local crime ring. This is… organized. Look at these names, Cassidy. Some of these people have been missing for a long time."

Cassidy's eyes fell on a familiar name in one of the files: Wheeler. Her throat tightened as she noticed the notations beside his name, with dates and mystifying remarks like "transfer complete" and "asset secured."

"They didn't just kill him," she said in a low tone. "They… collected him."

The weight of the implications was overwhelming, and the horror of it all crashed down on Cassidy. The consortium they were onto, was not just targeting people, but it was also merchandizing them, planning their disappearances for some dark, twisted purpose.

Her shock was abruptly interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoing from down the passageway.

"Seems like someone is coming," Aaron said in a low voice as he pulled Cassidy towards a pile of crates in the corner of the room. They crouched down, their breaths were barely becoming controllable as the footsteps approached.

Cassidy could hear subdued voices, low and ominous, discussing plans she could only hear fragments of.

"... shipment by Friday… don't leave any trails of evidence…"

"... town hall knows… keeping an eye on them…"

Her mind whirled as the voices passed by, the words oozing into her like venom. Whoever these people were, they were not just criminals but were intertwined with Gracetown's power structure, distorting corruption into every sector of the town. And unfortunately, she and Aaron were caught right in the middle of it.

After the voices disappeared gradually, Cassidy threw a glance at Aaron, her face was covered with fierce determination. "We have to expose this."

Aaron nodded implacably. "But that won't be a walk in the park, This is grander than just Lawson or the sheriff's department. This goes to the highest unimaginable hierarchy, Cassidy. And if we don't tread carefully…"

The weight of all the unfolding events settled between them, heavy and unyielding. Cassidy Aaron was right, but she also knew that,there was no turning back at that moment. Her reslove to expose the frauds was a raging fire within her, and it burned away any trace of fear or doubt she had in her.

"one advantage that we have over them is that, we know much than they are assuming we do." Cassidy said quietly, her gaze locked onto Aaron's.

Aaron's face softened slightly, a glimmer of respect and admiration flickering in his eyes. "Then,we shall keep it that way."

Together, they moved back through the passageway, moving through the intricate passages until they got to the surface once again. Cassidy's mind whirled with several questions and plans as they made their way to her car. There was so much at stake, and she couldn't shake the feeling that they were running out of time.

While driving away,Cassidy's phone buzzed. She looked at the screen,she was expecting to see another threat, but instead, she found a single message from an unknown number:

"You're closer than you think. But you won't survive if you keep digging. Consider this your last warning."

She showed Aaron the message,who frowned, his hands clutched on the steering wheel. "This just shows us how desperate they are right mow," he said in a low and dangerous voice. "They wouldn't bother threatening us if they knew that we weren't close."

Cassidy couldn't deny the exhilaration that she felt in her chest. In as much as the danger was real,but so was the hope that they were finally closing in on something monumental. The thought stirred her resolve, arousing a fierce determination.

"We're going to put this to an end, Aaron. All of it." she said, her voice full of conviction.

He looked at her, and for a moment, there was something unspoken between them—a glimmer of shared purpose, a bond sprouting in the fire of their fight for the truth. His eyes became soft, the hard edges always covering them,fading just enough to make conspicuous a vulnerability that he usually kept hidden.

"I don't know how you do it,Sheriff. You are fearless and bold." He said in a whisper, almost as if he were talking to himself.

Cassie couldn't help herself conceal the warmth rising in her cheeks. She kept her gaze locked in his.

"You know, fear is what brought us here, but won't keep us here. We must get out of this—alive."

Aaron's hand hovered on hers for a second, longer than necessary before he pulled it away, he clutched the wheel once more. As they sped off into the darkness, Cassie could not rub off the feeling that the scheme of lies was unraveling fast—and they were standing right in the heart of it.

The stakes had never been this higher, and now, they were closer than ever to uncovering the twisted truth that had inhabited Gracetown for years.