Unit 214
Chapter 08 - Unit 214
The storage facility sat on the edge of town behind a chain-link fence and a row of cottonwood trees.
Ethan drove.
Lauren sat beside him.
Nathan followed on the Harley.
Nobody talked much.
At Unit 214, the key opened the padlock.
Inside were four plastic bins, a metal filing cabinet, two old motorcycle helmets, and a wooden desk that Ethan remembered from his childhood.
His father’s desk.
Ethan stood in the doorway for a long moment.
The smell of machine oil and cedar dust transported him backward twenty years.
He remembered Edward helping him build a go-kart.
He remembered being told to hold the flashlight straight.
He remembered his father saying, “A man’s hands should fix more than they break.”
Ethan had not thought about that sentence in years.
Nathan opened the first bin.
Old photographs.
Lauren opened another.
Tax files.
Ethan went to the filing cabinet.
One drawer held employee records from Cole Auto & Machine.
The second held property deeds.
The third was locked.
Nathan used a screwdriver.
Inside were folders labeled ETHAN and NATHAN.
Ethan sat down.
His folder contained school photographs, military academy brochures, newspaper clippings, and every letter Ethan had sent home during basic training.
Nathan’s contained fewer things.
But they were no less personal.
A motorcycle certification.
A wedding announcement.
A photograph of Nathan holding a little girl.
Ethan looked at him.
“Your daughter?”
Nathan nodded.
“Her name’s Lily.”
“How old?”
“Ten.”
Ethan realized he had a niece.
The fact hit him more softly than the rest, which somehow made it hurt more.
Lauren found a small digital recorder in the bottom drawer.
A label on it read:
FOR BOTH BOYS.
The battery was dead.
Nathan stared at it.
Ethan whispered, “Dad’s voice.”
They took everything back to the house.
That night, after buying new batteries, Ethan sat at the kitchen table with Lauren on one side and Nathan on the other.
He pressed play.
Static crackled.
Then Edward Cole’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this,” he began, “then I ran out of courage before I ran out of time.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
May you like
His dead father continued speaking.
And within thirty seconds, Uncle Richard’s entire story began to collapse.
