Chapter 13 - The Man Behind the Walls
Ethan pulled Lily close.
Marcus ordered everyone into the safe room.
Elena refused to leave Carmen.
Sofia grabbed her hand.
"Together."
Emergency lights flickered on.
Samuel's voice moved through the house.
"Rachel was always curious."
Ethan searched the monitors.
Nothing.
"You killed her," he said.
"No."
"Victor sabotaged her car."
"Victor was crude."
"Then why were you there?"
"To retrieve what she stole."
Elena shouted, "Come out."
A soft laugh.
"You sound like her."
Carmen whispered, "Don't listen."
Samuel continued.
"Ask Carmen who Rachel's father was."
Elena turned.
Carmen cried.
"Thomas Carter."
Ethan froze.
"My father?"
Rachel had been Thomas Carter's biological daughter from an affair before his marriage.
Which meant—
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
Carmen understood his horror.
"Thomas was not your biological father, Ethan."
Another secret.
Ethan's mother had been pregnant when she married Thomas.
Thomas raised Ethan as his own.
Rachel and Ethan were not biologically related.
But Samuel had exploited the hidden parentage for decades.
Rachel's birth.
Elena and Sofia's birth.
Westbridge.
Every secret created leverage.
Samuel stepped from a concealed service passage.
Gun in hand.
Marcus raised his weapon.
Samuel pressed a trigger.
A red light flashed on Lily's bracelet.
"Lower it."
Marcus did.
Samuel had placed an explosive tracker inside Lily's bracelet while she was with Claire.
Ethan's face went white.
"Let her go."
"I don't want Lily."
Samuel looked at Elena.
"I want the ledger."
"We sent copies to federal agents."
"Not that ledger."
He wanted the original list connecting powerful families to Westbridge.
Elena held up the microfilm.
"This?"
Samuel smiled.
"Smart girl."
She closed her fist.
"You don't get it."
"Then Lily pays."
Ethan stepped forward.
"You touch her—"
"Stop."
Elena looked at him.
Then at Lily.
Her sister.
A child who had already lost three years.
Elena handed Samuel the locket.
He took it.
Sofia moved subtly toward Lily.
Samuel noticed.
"Don't."
Then Carmen stood.
"Samuel."
He looked at her.
"You should have stayed quiet."
"I did. For thirty years."
"And look what happened."
Carmen stepped closer.
"You always thought secrets made you powerful."
"They do."
"No."
She smiled sadly.
"They made you lonely."
His expression flickered.
That second was enough.
Lily ripped off the bracelet.
She threw it.
Ethan lunged.
Marcus tackled Samuel.
The trigger fell.
Sofia kicked it away.
Samuel fought harder than anyone expected.
Then Elena saw him reaching for another weapon.
She shouted.
Ethan turned.
Marcus pinned Samuel.
Federal agents flooded the mansion.
It was over.
Almost.
Samuel laughed as they handcuffed him.
"You still don't know."
Ethan looked down.
"Know what?"
"Who ordered Rachel followed that night."
"Victor."
Samuel smiled.
"Victor ordered the mechanic."
"On whose instruction?"
Samuel looked directly at Daniel.
Daniel had just entered with agents.
"No," Daniel said.
Samuel laughed.
"Ask him where he was at 8:17."
Daniel's face changed.
Ethan saw it.
"Daniel?"
His brother backed away.
"I can explain."
"Then explain."
Daniel's eyes filled.
"Rachel called me."
"We know."
"No."
He shook his head.
"After the crash."
Silence.
Ethan stepped toward him.
"You said you arrived afterward."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because Rachel was conscious."
Ethan stared.
"And she told me who had ordered Victor to follow her."
"Who?"
Daniel looked toward Carmen.
Then Elena.
Then Lily.
His voice broke.
"It was someone in this family."
He reached into his coat.
"I kept the recording."
May you like
And before he could press play, a gunshot exploded through the window.
Daniel fell.
