Storage Unit 214
Chapter 05 - Storage Unit 214
The police found the storage unit before midnight.
Inside were boxes belonging to Rachel.
Old photographs.
School records.
Letters.
Tax documents.
And one locked metal case.
The case contained enough information to explain Martin's panic.
Rachel had been preparing to leave him.
She had opened a separate bank account.
Contacted an attorney.
Documented his gambling.
Recorded threats.
Most importantly, she had filed a sealed petition seeking emergency protection for Ethan.
Martin was Ethan's biological father.
But Rachel believed he had become dangerous.
Jax read the attorney's notes.
Coercive control.
Financial abuse.
Threats involving children.
Lily stood beside him.
"Mom was leaving."
"Yes."
"So what happened on the stairs wasn't an accident."
Jax looked at the detective.
Detective Maria Ruiz had been careful with every word.
"We don't know yet."
Jax hated that answer.
But he respected it.
"Where's Martin?"
"We're looking."
Inside another box, Lily found something unexpected.
A birth certificate.
Her own.
Father: Unknown.
Beneath it was an unsigned legal document.
Acknowledgment of Paternity.
Jax Morgan.
Never filed.
Lily stared at it.
"She was going to tell you."
Jax nodded.
Then Ethan called from across the unit.
"What's this?"
He held a bank statement.
Lily took it.
Her face changed.
The account belonged to her.
A custodial account established when she was a baby.
Balance one year earlier:
$186,000.
Current balance:
$4,312.
Jax looked at the detective.
"Where did the money go?"
The answer appeared in the next folder.
Withdrawals.
Transfers.
Casino payments.
All authorized by Martin using forged documents claiming to be Lily's legal guardian.
Lily sat down.
"That was for college."
Jax crouched beside her.
"We'll fix it."
She looked at him sharply.
"You can't fix everything."
"I know."
"Then stop saying things like that."
Jax nodded.
"Okay."
He sat beside her on the concrete floor.
After a moment, Lily leaned against him.
It lasted only a few seconds.
But Jax didn't move.
Then Detective Ruiz's phone rang.
Her face hardened.
"We found Martin's car."
Jax stood.
"Where?"
"Outside your motorcycle shop."
Jax's blood turned cold.
May you like
Because Helen was still there.
And so was Ethan.
