The footsteps grew louder.
Slow. Measured. Not rushed.
Elena's pulse pounded in her ears as Daniel gently pulled her behind one of the tall filing shelves.
The shadow stretched along the wall outside the records room.
A figure paused at the doorway.
Keys jingled softly.
Elena held her breath.
The man stepped inside.
Not the mayor.
A security guard.
Older. Heavy steps. Flashlight in hand.
The beam of light swept across the cabinets.
Daniel's hand brushed Elena's wrist — a silent signal to stay still.
The guard muttered something under his breath and walked toward the far end of the room.
Elena noticed something strange.
He didn't check the cabinets.
He didn't look around carefully.
He simply stood there for a moment…
As if making sure something was still in place.
Then he turned and left.
The hallway fell silent again.
Daniel waited ten more seconds before moving.
"That wasn't random," he whispered.
"No," Elena agreed. "He was checking."
"On what?"
Elena looked back at the cabinet they had opened.
It hadn't been locked.
And the folder had been thin.
Too thin.
Daniel reopened it carefully.
He scanned the inspection report again.
Then he noticed it.
A gap in the paperwork.
The file referenced attached photographs
But there were none inside.
"They removed something," he said quietly.
Elena's stomach tightened.
Photos of what?
The subterranean structure?
Or something inside it?
Daniel closed the folder and slid it back into place.
"We can't take anything," he said. "They'd know."
Elena nodded.
As they slipped out of the building and into the cool night air, she felt the weight of something heavier than fear.
The Bellinis hadn't just buried a secret.
They were still guarding it.
And if they were still guarding it—
That meant whatever happened in 1987…
Was worse than the tape had revealed.