Chapter 6 - RUN
Mara slammed a metal cart into Hale’s path.
He crashed into it.
The syringe flew.
Mara sprinted toward the elevator.
Locked.
Of course.
She hit the button.
Nothing.
Hale got up.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
“I know enough.”
“You know nothing.”
Mara grabbed a fire extinguisher.
Hale stopped.
“Put it down.”
“Come closer.”
“This can still be fixed.”
“You keep a woman locked underground.”
“She is dangerous.”
“She’s Eli’s mother.”
“She is mentally ill.”
“Then why tell everyone she’s dead?”
Hale’s face tightened.
Mara had him.
One second of hesitation.
That was enough.
She fired the extinguisher.
White powder exploded into Hale’s face.
He screamed.
Mara ran down the opposite hallway.
She found a stairwell.
Up.
Locked at the top.
She kicked the door once.
Twice.
Third time, the latch cracked.
Mara burst into the pantry.
Mrs. Bell stood there.
They stared at each other.
Then Mrs. Bell saw the white powder on Mara’s clothes.
“You went downstairs.”
Mara grabbed her shoulders.
“Rebecca is alive.”
Mrs. Bell closed her eyes.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
Mara stepped back.
“Two years?”
“I heard her once. Grant told me she was a patient receiving private treatment.”
“In a locked basement?”
“I needed the job.”
“A child is being drugged!”
Mrs. Bell snapped.
“You think I don’t know that?”
Mara froze.
Mrs. Bell began crying.
“My husband needs dialysis. The Callahans pay for it. You think courage is free? It isn’t.”
Mara had no answer.
Mrs. Bell wiped her face.
Then she reached into her apron.
A key.
“Third door past the wine cellar.”
Mara stared.
“What?”
“Grant’s archive room.”
“You’re helping me?”
“I’m helping that boy.”
Mrs. Bell pushed the key into Mara’s hand.
“Go before I change my mind.”
The archive room was hidden behind a wall of wine racks.
Inside were filing cabinets.
Contracts.
Medical records.
Court documents.
Mara found Rebecca’s file.
Diagnosis: schizoaffective disorder.
Danger to self and others.
Emergency guardianship approved.
Signed by Judge Malcolm Reed.
Then Mara found something else.
Bank transfers.
Three hundred thousand dollars to a consulting company owned by Judge Reed’s brother.
Another payment to Hale.
Another to a police charity.
Then a document marked CONFIDENTIAL.
THE REBECCA CALLAHAN TRUST.
Rebecca controlled twenty-two percent of Callahan Holdings.
If she was dead, the shares transferred to Eli.
If Eli was declared mentally incompetent before age eighteen, temporary control transferred to his legal guardian.
Grant.
Mara stared at the paper.
This wasn’t about family shame.
It was about billions.
She pulled out her phone and began photographing everything.
Then the archive door clicked shut behind her.
Vivian Callahan stood there.
“You know,” Vivian said, “my son was right about you.”
Mara slowly lowered the phone.
May you like
Vivian smiled.
“You are very difficult to scare.”
