Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO DIED
Adrian watched the video twice.
Daniel stood in a dark room, his face thinner than Adrian remembered. A scar ran from his temple to his jaw.
Behind him was a white crib.
Emma’s crib.
Adrian’s blood turned cold.
Claire grabbed his wrist. “That video was recorded last year.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that crib belonged to Emma when she was a baby.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Daniel was alive?”
“I didn’t know.”
Marcus stepped closer. “The file is encrypted. We need to get to the cemetery before the police breach the building.”
Adrian looked at Claire. “You’re coming with me.”
“I’m not leaving Emma.”
“Neither am I.”
They escaped through an underground maintenance tunnel while sirens surrounded the office.
Bellhaven’s rain had started by the time they reached the cemetery.
The Vale family mausoleum stood at the highest point, surrounded by black iron fencing.
Adrian stopped in front of Daniel’s grave.
The marble stone read:
DANIEL VALE — BELOVED SON AND BROTHER
He had attended the funeral. He had carried the coffin.
Claire pointed toward the base of the monument. “There.”
A loose stone concealed a narrow compartment.
Inside was a second metal box.
Adrian opened it with the silver key.
The box contained a ledger, several bank cards, and a letter addressed to Claire.
She read it aloud.
“Claire, if you are reading this, Adrian believes I am dead. That was the only way to keep him alive.”
Adrian snatched the letter.
The next lines were worse.
“Father’s network did not end with him. The person controlling it now sits closest to Adrian. Trust no one wearing the Vale family ring.”
Adrian looked down at his own hand.
He wore the ring his father had given him.
A flashlight swept across the cemetery.
Marcus whispered, “We’re surrounded.”
Men stepped between the tombstones, dressed in dark coats.
At their center stood a man with silver hair.
Adrian recognized him from childhood photographs.
His father’s former attorney.
“Mr. Vale,” the man called. “Hand over the ledger.”
Adrian raised his weapon. “Who sent you?”
The lawyer smiled.
“Your brother.”
A shot struck the ground beside Adrian’s foot.
Claire pushed Emma behind the mausoleum.
Marcus returned fire while Adrian dragged Claire and Emma toward the rear gate.
They escaped through the rain, but the lawyer’s voice followed them.
“Daniel wants his daughter back!”
Adrian stopped running.
His daughter.
Not Claire’s daughter.
His.
Emma began crying.
Claire grabbed Adrian’s face. “Don’t listen to him.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Why does Daniel believe Emma belongs to him?”
May you like
Claire’s silence answered before her words could.
Cliffhanger: Claire whispered, “Because Daniel was there the night Emma was born.”
