“Open it, Nathan!” Julian’s voice shouted from the hallway, muffled but clear.

“We know you’re in there with the girls!”

“Just give us the drive, and we can all leave this mountain alive!”

Nathan ignored his brother-in-law’s voice and slid the brass key into the keyhole.

It turned with a heavy, satisfying click that vibrated through the metal wall.

He pulled the small steel door open.

Inside the wall safe sat three thick, leather-bound notebooks.

Beside them lay a small digital voice recorder and a silver thumb drive.

I reached in and pulled out the first notebook, its leather cover worn at the edges.

“These are Claire’s private diaries,” I whispered, holding it under the red light.

“The physical backup,” Nathan said, his hands trembling as he took the second book.

Outside, the saw started up again, screeching with a high-pitched, desperate energy.

The gap in the steel door frame was growing wider, a thin line of sparks bouncing onto the carpet.

“We don’t have much time,” I said, opening the first diary to the final pages.

“Look at the dates.”