Chapter 8

"Mr Carlos Alfred."

"It appears your secret code ain't any secret code."

Jake immediately broke the shocking revelation to Kyle and Carlos Alfred who stared at the phone in bewilderment.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We found that code in a secured vault…there is no way it's not a secret code."

Carlos Alfred immediately said, his voice was ortund.

Jake kept silent for a while and then gave out a silent giggle.

"Jake!" Kyle immediately screamed.

"Okay you got me… it's a secret code and it belongs to Mr Douglas Lincoln."

Jake said laughing out loud.

"It appears to be the code of 1 of his 32184 depository boxes at Vortex Vaults, the world's most secure vault system."

Jake added now losing his playfully demeanor and putting on a serious look.

"Nice work Jake…nice work."

Kyle immediately said, his voice was laced with respect for the young boy's expertise.

"I heard you run my dad's cyber security company?"

"Yes Lord Lincoln… I do."

Jake replied, smiling gleefully from his seat in the Lincolns mansion.

"Keep up the good work."

Kyle said as he stared at Carlos Alfred who was still looking into the bookcase to possibly find more clues.

"Carlos Alfred, this is really huge, my dad has 32184 depository accounts with the vortex Vault system, the world's most secured and most expensive vault system."

Kyle said as his gaze moved from Carlos Alfred to the other side of the room where the curtain had suddenly begun dangling.

"Yes I'm aware of those accounts but he never revealed what was inside those boxes to anyone, not even to your mom."

"And can you believe it costs more than $1,000,000 a month to house anything in their lowest safe."

Carlos Alfred said as he walked towards the curtain to check what was causing it to dangle.

"What!!!"

Kyle's voice was vehement.

"You see, now imagine how much your dad would have to spend to keep all those 32,184 boxes running?"

Carlos Alfred added as he walked back towards Kyle.

"What was that behind the curtain?"

Kyle asked, his voice was barely above whispers.

"It's nothing." Carlos Alfred immediately replied.

"So Jake what's inside those depository boxes?"

Kyle asked Jake who was still on the line all this while.

"I don't have that information, Lord Lincoln."

"The only way to know what's inside those boxes is to access the depository boxes at the Vortex Vaults."

Jake said as he stood up from his chair and went to the refrigerator to grab a can of soda.

"Okay thanks…Jake I will talk to you soon."

"Okay boss." Jake immediately replied and dropped the call.

The safe room was silent as Kyle and Carlos Alfred walked around the room trying to make sense of their recent findings.

"So Kyle, what do you think your dad might be housing in those depository boxes?"

The question came as a shock to Kyle.

His face was laced with a mixture of confusion and anxiety as he gazed at Carlos Alfred.

"I really don't know, I'm stunned at this point."

"What the hell would he even be housing in 32,148 depository boxes?"

"Unless he is using the remaining boxes as decoy and only one depository box actually contains whatever it is that he is hiding."

Kyle immediately added intelligently.

"I just hope it's information that can help you and I to find out what happened to them that night."

Carlos Alfred immediately added, his voice was barely above whispers as he tugged his hands into his head.

"Kyle we need to get access to those depository boxes, I have a strong feeling your parents are trying to tell us something important."

Kyle immediately stared at Carlos Alfred," Definitely, but we need the access key to the vault."

"We can't just walk into Vortex Vaults and demand for a depository box that we don't have the key to."

Kyle said as he walked towards the table to pick up a brown envelope on the table.

"You are right Lord Lincoln, we definitely need to find that depository box key."

With that been said, the search for the key to the depository box began.

The search was intense and after 45 minutes they still hadn't seen anything that looked like the key after going through all the drawers and safe boxes.

"I have an idea." Kyle said as he closed the last drawer in the room.

"Let's call Jake and ask him to get us into the Vortex Vaults."

Carlos Alfred immediately stared at Kyle as he made faces showing that the idea wasn't the best.

"Okay…Let's give it a try…I just know that it's an impossible feat to pull off."

Carlos Alfred's voice was barely above whispers as he immediately placed a call back to Jake.

"Hello, Jake we need you to penetrate the firewalls of Vortex Vaults and get us to those depository boxes without the keys."

Carlos Alfred said immediately Jake picked the call.

There was silence from the other end of the phone for 40 seconds.

"Lord Lincoln, I'm afraid that's impossible."

"What do you mean that's not possible?!"

Kyle asked almost immediately, his voice laced with anger and frustration.

"Because I was the one who built the Vortex Vaults security system on a blockchain technology and it's hack proof even for me as the builder."

"I'm afraid Lord Lincoln, the only way to access those depository boxes is to get those access keys."

Jake said as he maintained his serious countenance.

Moments later

"Lord Lincoln, this is fruitless, let's just let go of the safe…we are basically going through all the boxes the 7th time."

"If the access key isn't here, then it's possible it could be at the mansion."

As Carlos Alfred was complaining he turned as Kyle tapped him slowly.

"What is it, Lord Lincoln?" 

Carlos Alfred asked immediately.

"The access key…do you have a picture of what it looks like?"

Kyle immediately asked, his eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.

"Yes, here it is."

Carlos Alfred said as he provided a picture of the vortex vault access key on his phone.

Kyle gazed at the picture and back at Carlos Alfred.

The situation was intense and palpable.

"Carlos Alfred…I have seen this key before."

Kyle immediately spoke out loudly.

"Where, Lord Lincoln?!" Carlos Alfred asked immediately.

"Where did you see the access key?"