Chapter 5 - WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO GRACE
I crossed half the warehouse before the laser sight moved from my chest to Emma’s forehead.
I stopped instantly.
Raymond smiled.
“That’s better.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“You already know enough.”
“No.”
My voice shook with rage.
“You’re going to tell me every second.”
Raymond stared at me.
Then he shrugged.
“Grace discovered the twins made Victor nervous.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
Raymond continued.
“He wanted both girls under his control.”
“Grace refused.”
“She planned to take them and disappear.”
“But she trusted Anna.”
“Anna agreed to hide Emma.”
“What about Lily?”
“Grace thought one child with you would be safer than both.”
I felt sick.
“She was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Raymond almost smiled.
“She underestimated me.”
The car crash had happened six weeks after Lily was born.
Grace had been driving home from a doctor’s appointment.
Her car went through a barrier and rolled down an embankment.
I arrived after the fire department.
The vehicle was burned.
They identified Grace through dental records.
I never saw her body.
Raymond had insisted it would be better that way.
I looked at him now.
“You changed the records.”
“I paid the coroner.”
Victor chuckled.
“Money is cleaner than bullets.”
“Where did you take her?”
Raymond’s eyes held mine.
“To a private clinic.”
“Why keep her alive?”
Victor answered.
“Because we needed Emma.”
“Grace was the only person who knew where Anna had taken her.”
I looked at Victor.
“And she never told you.”
“No.”
There was something almost respectful in his voice.
“She endured seven months.”
Seven months.
My wife had been alive seven months after I buried an empty coffin.
“What did you do to her?”
Raymond looked bored.
“We asked questions.”
I took another step.
The laser moved back to Emma.
I stopped.
“Did you kill her?”
This time, Raymond didn’t smile.
“No.”
Victor looked sharply at him.
Something passed between them.
I saw it.
“What?”
Raymond didn’t answer.
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
“Where is Grace?”
Victor spoke first.
“Dead.”
Raymond said nothing.
I looked at him.
“Raymond.”
He turned away.
And that was when a gunshot exploded.
The overhead light shattered.
My men stormed through the side entrance.
Everything erupted.
Victor’s guards fired.
I threw myself behind a metal pillar.
Emma screamed through the tape.
Raymond grabbed her chair and dragged her backward.
I fired twice.
One of his men went down.
Victor disappeared behind a row of crates.
“Emma!”
I ran toward her.
Raymond cut the rope around her ankles.
Then pressed a gun to her head.
“Stop!”
I froze.
He dragged her toward a rear door.
Emma’s eyes locked on mine.
She was crying.
But she wasn’t panicking.
She was watching me.
Then she did something I never expected.
She stomped hard on Raymond’s foot.
He cursed.
Emma dropped.
I fired.
The bullet struck Raymond’s shoulder.
He fell backward.
Emma crawled toward me.
I grabbed her and pulled her against my chest.
“I’ve got you.”
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
“Dad.”
One word.
Quiet.
Terrified.
But unmistakable.
Dad.
Something inside me broke.
Then Raymond laughed from the floor.
I looked at him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“You think you won.”
My men surrounded him.
“Where is Victor?”
Raymond coughed.
“Gone.”
I grabbed his collar.
“Where is Grace?”
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then whispered.
“Ask Anna.”
“Anna’s dead.”
“No.”
I went still.
Raymond smiled through the pain.
“That’s what she wanted everyone to believe.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman’s voice spoke.
Soft.
Breathless.
Familiar enough to rip open every scar I had.
“Marcus?”
I couldn’t move.
May you like
The voice trembled.
“It’s Grace.”
