Chapter 7 - THE MAN IN THE CHURCH
Ethan did not go alone.
He went with Marcus.
Grace followed them anyway.
They discovered her in the back seat three miles from the church.
Ethan stared at her in the rearview mirror.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Grace crossed her arms.
“You were going to leave me locked in Claire’s office.”
“For a reason.”
“Yeah. You’re controlling.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Ethan saw it.
“Not helping.”
The abandoned church sat behind a line of dying trees.
No cars.
No lights.
Ethan parked fifty yards away.
“Grace stays in the SUV.”
“Dad—”
“That one is not negotiable.”
She saw his face.
“Fine.”
Marcus and Ethan entered through a side door.
The church smelled like dust and wet wood.
Broken pews filled the room.
At the altar sat a man.
Thin.
Gray beard.
One bad leg stretched in front of him.
Michael Vance.
Ethan stopped.
Vance looked up.
“I wondered if you’d come.”
Ethan hit him.
One punch.
Hard.
Vance fell sideways.
Marcus grabbed Ethan.
“Enough!”
Ethan shook him off.
Vance wiped blood from his mouth.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“I know.”
“Did you kill Laura?”
Vance stared at the floor.
“No.”
“Did you help?”
Silence.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Did you help?”
“Yes.”
Ethan grabbed his jacket.
Marcus intervened again.
“Ethan!”
Vance shouted, “I disabled her security tracker!”
Ethan froze.
Vance breathed hard.
“Raymond told me he just wanted to scare her.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
Vance laughed bitterly.
“Because I owed him eighty thousand dollars.”
Marcus looked disgusted.
“Gambling?”
“My wife had cancer.”
That stopped them.
Vance’s voice broke.
“Insurance denied an experimental treatment. Raymond paid.”
Ethan said, “And collected you.”
“Yes.”
“What happened the night Laura died?”
Vance looked at him.
“I disabled the tracker. Sloan pulled a patrol unit away from the highway. Another man tampered with the steering.”
“Who?”
“I never knew his real name.”
“Then give me something.”
Vance reached into his coat.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Slow.”
Vance pulled out a flash drive.
“I kept this because I knew one day Raymond would kill me too.”
Ethan took it.
“What’s on it?”
“Project Keystone.”
“Everything?”
“Enough.”
A gunshot cracked through the church.
Vance jerked.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Grace screamed outside.
“Dad!”
Ethan and Marcus dropped behind the pews.
A second shot hit wood.
“Sniper!” Marcus yelled.
Ethan crawled toward Vance.
Vance was gasping.
“Stay with me.”
“Too late.”
“Who is shooting?”
Vance grabbed Ethan’s sleeve.
“Raymond…”
“Raymond’s here?”
“No.”
Vance coughed.
“Worse.”
“What’s worse than Raymond?”
Vance looked terrified.
“His partner.”
Another bullet shattered stained glass above them.
Ethan pulled Vance behind stone cover.
“Who?”
Vance’s eyes began to lose focus.
He whispered a name.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Because the man Vance named was someone Ethan had trusted even more than Raymond.
Someone who had been at Laura’s funeral.
Someone who had hugged Grace when she was eleven.
Someone currently sitting inside Ethan’s company headquarters.
Vance whispered it again.
“Marcus Reed.”
Ethan slowly turned.
Marcus stood ten feet away.
May you like
Gun in his hand.
And Grace was screaming outside.
