THE LULLABY KEY : THE FALL
CHAPTER 31: The Aftermath – Day One
The Senate hearing room was packed.
Every seat filled. Journalists crammed into the back. Cameras lined the walls. The whole world was watching.
Lena sat at the witness table, a glass of water in front of her, a microphone clipped to her lapel. She had testified for fourteen hours yesterday. Today would be longer.
Senator Elizabeth Croft, the chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, rapped her gavel.
“The committee will come to order. Ms. Ashford, thank you for your continued cooperation. We know this is difficult.”
Lena nodded. “Thank you, Madam Chair.”
“Let’s start with the tunnel under the Supreme Court. How many bodies did you find?”
“Two hundred and seventeen. So far. The excavation is ongoing.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
“Two hundred and seventeen,” Senator Croft repeated. “And you believe these individuals were killed on the orders of August Marchetti?”
“I don’t believe. I know. The evidence is in the files we recovered. Confessions. Photographs. Witness statements. Marchetti didn’t just order these killings. He documented them. He kept trophies.”
Senator Croft leaned forward. “Why?”
“Because he’s a psychopath. Because he wanted to remember. Because he thought he would never be caught.”
“And now he has been.”
Lena shook her head. “No. Marchetti is still free. We’ve arrested his associates. We’ve seized his assets. We’ve exposed his network. But the man himself—the ghost—is still out there.”
Another senator, a man with a red tie and a face like a bulldog, spoke up. “Ms. Ashford, you’ve made some extraordinary claims. You claim that a secret cabal has been running this country for thirty years. You claim that the Vice President—the former Vice President—ordered the murder of your mother. You claim that the President himself was a puppet. But you haven’t provided a single piece of evidence that directly implicates this ‘August Marchetti.'”
Lena met his gaze. “With respect, Senator, you haven’t read the files. There are hundreds of references to Marchetti. Thousands. He’s mentioned in emails. In audio recordings. In handwritten notes. He’s a real person. He just doesn’t have a real name.”
“Then what is his name?”
“I don’t know. No one does. He’s used at least seventeen different aliases over the years. He’s never been photographed. Never been fingerprinted. Never been arrested. He’s a ghost.”
The senator smirked. “A ghost. How convenient.”
Lena’s jaw tightened. “Senator, I’ve spent the last two weeks running for my life. I’ve been kidnapped. Tortured. Nearly killed. I’ve lost my father, my brother, and my sense of safety. I didn’t go through all of that to lie to you. Marchetti is real. And if you don’t believe me, ask the families of the two hundred and seventeen people whose bones are stacked like firewood under the Supreme Court.”
The room went silent.
Senator Croft rapped her gavel. “The witness will refrain from emotional outbursts.”
Lena took a deep breath. “My apologies, Madam Chair.”
The hearing continued for another six hours.
By the end, Lena was exhausted. Her voice was hoarse. Her hands were shaking.
Marcus met her outside the hearing room.
“You did good.”
“I did terrible. They don’t believe me. They don’t want to believe me.”
“They’ll come around. Give them time.”
“We don’t have time. Marchetti is still out there. Every day he’s free, he’s destroying evidence. Killing witnesses. Covering his tracks.”
Marcus put his hand on her shoulder. “Then we find him. Together.”
Lena leaned into him.
For a moment, just a moment, she let herself feel safe.
Then she straightened up and walked toward the exit.
There was work to do.