Suicide Mission (Guarded Secrets #1)

29: "Keep the file open, just in case."

Knowing I was running out of time, I tried to finish shredding the files. I couldn't stop myself from doing it, even though I knew if Ash opened that cabinet and saw they were gone he would know someone was here or had been. There was just a force inside of me that was beating out the logical part of my brain, and it was going to get me killed unless I moved fast. When the guards left I went back into the office and started shredding files three at a time, there were some bigger ones and I decided that I would save those for later as I picked out the thinner files to shred more in the limited amount of time.

For the ones that I had already shredded, I let the fire crackle lightly in the fire place thanks to the lighter that Ash kept in his desk. Must be a smoker, I thought as I lit the corner of one of the papers I ripped out of a file. Once the flame was burning bright and strong, I placed it over the scraps and let the flame take care of the rest. The paper would burn quickly, but to prevent the smell from reaching the outside of the room I had to open the windows and that was a dangerous act. If the guards realized the small change in the building then they would come up here to look for what was causing it and this time they wouldn't leave without an answer.

With the shredder slowly making its way through the three files and the fire burning the scraps, I decided to give into my curiosity. I had both of my files in front of me, and I could finally have the answers that alluded me for years. I wasn't going to pass that up without a fight.

The paper slipped through my fingers as I opened the current case file on myself. I felt the breath leave my lungs as I looked at the name on the inside of file. The one on the outside had said Sara Night, but on the inside, over my birth name that was currently scratched out with a few lines through it, was Sara Ricker. Our home address was written in the margins of the page, and the names of my brothers along with their schools and after school clubs. I felt tears well up in my eyes as fear caused my body to shake. Jax hadn't lied when he said Ash had found me, and that he knew where I was and my new family. I was putting them in danger and hadn't realized it.

He had the adoption papers, and in the margins had written that even though I was eighteen I had chosen to live under them as my parents. There were records from my school, and copies of the accident report from my family's accident. There were highlighted parts of newspapers clippings that said I survived, but he had notes on them asking where I went and where had I gone. The clippings continued, very few mentioned my new name until there was a photo of my family that was taken for the high school's paper to congratulate me on receiving credit for some of my courses from the previous year. Since I had skipped a majority of the year after the accident I had to take a test to determine the credits I would receive.

My senior year this go around had only been filled with history, math and electives so I could focus on my tougher classes. It had been a miracle that I passed most of it, and an even better one that I received credit for most of the classes. It was such a miracle that the school's journalism teacher thought it would make a heartwarming article, and that time they used my new name. I flipped to the last page that discussed my injuries while in the hospital before I disappeared with my name change. There was another mark at the bottom of the page that read, 'round two'.

I felt my heart stop as the words raced through my mind, without a moment of hesitation I shoved the file into the shredder and watched it turn to scraps. My breathing picked up as I raced to empty the contents of the shredder into the fire. The paper was keeping the fire going, but it wasn't enough to have it build up and increase the heat. That was good for when I doused the flames, but for now it was making a slow burn for the documents. I raced back and forth until I had about half of the open case files shredded and burning in the fire.

My gaze had continually turned to the other file on Ash's desk, the one of my old life. The one that would tell me about why he took my family from me and targeted me in the first place. I had been fifteen at the time, and was sure that I had never met a man named Ash Crest. So what made him go after my family then, and why was he willing to do it again? I didn't know him, and I didn't have a problem with him so why was he so dedicated to find me, and kill me? It was time to find out. I slipped in another two files into the shredder and flipped open the file.