Silence In The Echoes
Bella sat in the shower longer than necessary, watching the steam blur the glass, her arms wrapped around her knees.
She didn't cry. She wasn't sober.
Not anymore.
She just felt hollow.
The contents of Emily's storage unit haunted her. The envelope. The confession. The USB drive.
The lies.The pretence.
Every instinct screamed to confront Mason Cole. But the part of her that had survived the last year, the part Emily had toughened with a dozen whispered warnings—knew better.
You don't show your hands too early. Don't show them what's coming.
So she waited.
---
That morning, she pretended that everything was fine.
She poured Mason a hot coffee from the white mug, she laughed softly when he complained about Monroe's snoring in the other room, and she let him kiss her on the temple when he left to meet a "client."
As soon as the door was shut, she moved.
---
Monroe wasn't far. He was in the hallway, leaning against the wall with a toothpick in his mouth and an old revolver tucked into his waistband.
"You trust him again?" he asked, not looking at her.
"No," she said. "But I need him to think I do. I need to play along . I have to pretend that everything is fine." She replied.
Monroe gave a grunt of approval. "Did you get anything from the drive yet?" he asked.
"Not yet. I want to use your laptop. Mine is too easy to track."
He led her back to his small hotel room, filled with old files, bulletproof vests, and one carefully cleaned coffee mug.
She plugged in the USB drive.
Video files. Two folders. One labeled "Gala – November," the other "Patient Records – Eyes Only."
They opened the gala footage first.
---
The camera was shaky and a bit blurry . It had clearly been recorded from a hidden source, maybe a pinhole camera or a disguised lens. Female guests in elegant gowns and the male guests in tuxedos smiled for press photographers on the red carpet, unaware they were being filmed.
Bella recognized Mason instantly. Young, cleaner-shaven. He stood beside Lang, a glass of wine in his hand. He was laughing loudly.
Next to them... It was her sister. Emily.
Bella's heart stopped for a minute.
Her sister looked nervous. Not like the confident Emily she remembered. She was clinging to a glass of champagne, her eyes darting everywhere.
Then, Lang leaned in, whispered something in her ear.
Emily flinched.
Bella reached for the pause button.
"Go back," Monroe said quietly.
She rewinded the footage and hit the pause button at the moment Lang's lips brushed Emily's ear.
Monroe leaned in.
He was slipping something into her hand.
"Zoom in," he muttered.
She did.
It was small. Black color. Looked like a flash drive.
"That's not seduction," Monroe said. "That's a transaction."
Bella looked at him. "So she had something on him?"
"Or he was giving her a way out."
Bella turned to the other folder: "Patient Records."
Locked.
Password protected.
She bit her lip. "Try Emily's birthday," Monroe said to her.
No luck.
"Try mine," he said again.
He told her his birthday, but there was still nothing.
Monroe stared at the file name. "What if the password wasn't about her?"
Bella blinked. Then she typed the word "GhostEye13".
The folder unlocked.
---
Inside the folder were hundreds of names. Women, their age and medical histories.
Drug trials.
Unlicensed procedures.
Falsified parental waivers.
Bella felt physically sick.
At the top of the folder, a note in Emily's handwriting was displayed.
> "If they find this, I'm dead. If you're reading this, it means I didn't make it. Please, Bella. Don't let them bury this. And don't trust anyone... not even him."
Bella looked up slowly in his direction.
"Him?" Monroe asked. " Who is she referring to? "
Bella didn't answer. She kept mute.
She didn't need to. He knew the answer. He knew who Emily was referring to.
---
Later that day, Mason called her on the phone.
"Dinner tonight. " Are you in?" he asked. His voice was warm and hopeful.
Bella hesitated.
"Sure," she said. " Let's go somewhere quiet." You can come pick me at 7.
He picked her up at 7 pm. They went to a small place outside the city. There was candlelight in the room. Soft jazz. Everything designed to make her forget.
She didn't. She can't easily.
As he told her stories about his travels in Lisbon, she watched his eyes closely.
She listened for the gaps.
And when he touched her hand gently across the table, she didn't pull away. She didn't flinch.
But inside, her heart was a battlefield.
"Why do I feel like your mind is somewhere else tonight?" he asked gently as they walked out.
She smiled. "I am just tired." She lied.
" I want you to trust me again. I want to earn your trust back," he said softly.
"I'm trying." She responded quickly.
They stood by the car in silence for a moment.
Then Mason took something out of his suit pocket.
A small red box. Inside the box, a silver necklace.
"I bought this the day before I left. I bought it for Emily. I never had the chance to give it to her."
Bella took it from him slowly, her fingers brushing the chain. "It's so lovely".
"I think she would've wanted you to have it," he said softly.
Her throat tightened but she said nothing.
---
That night, back in her room, Bella examined the necklace carefully.
Something felt off. Something seems wrong.
She took it apart carefully.
Inside the clasp, there was a tiny microchip.
Encrypted.
Hidden.
Emily never had the chance to get this necklace from him.
Mason still had it.
So how did it contain the data Emily had been protecting?
Bella backed away from the bed. Getting more confused.
Her mind raced.
Had Mason found the drive after Emily's death?
Had he taken it?
If he had… why give it to Bella now?
To earn her trust?
Or to control the narrative?