Chapter 7 - THE BLUE DOOR
The Mercer textile mill stood beyond a rusted fence at the edge of the river.
At eleven forty-five, I parked outside and walked in alone.
At least, that was what Juliette was supposed to believe.
Lena had placed a transmitter inside my coat button. Three tactical teams waited two miles away. She promised they would move the moment anyone threatened Dad.
Promises had never kept my family safe, but I had nothing else.
Inside, the mill smelled of wet concrete and machine oil.
A row of portable lights led me through the empty factory.
Nathan waited near an old freight elevator.
“Where’s my father?”
“Safe for now.”
“You lied to us.”
“I left something out.”
“You carried those crates.”
His face tightened. “I was gathering evidence.”
“Or protecting your share.”
Before he could answer, Juliette’s voice came through the elevator speaker.
“Send her down.”
Nathan held out his hand.
“The access card.”
I gave him a fake.
The elevator descended below ground.
When the doors opened, I saw the blue metal door from my mother’s photograph.
Juliette stood beside it wearing black pants and a cream coat. Without her wedding dress and makeup, she looked like the sister I remembered.
That hurt more than I expected.
Dad was tied to a chair.
Owen lay nearby with blood on his face.
Captain Shaw held a gun behind them.
“Take off the coat,” Juliette ordered.
She knew about the transmitter.
I removed it and dropped it onto the floor.
Shaw crushed the button beneath his shoe.
Juliette held out her hand. “The card.”
Nathan gave her the fake.
She swiped it.
A red light flashed.
Her smile vanished.
“Where is the real one?”
“Somewhere you’ll never find it.”
She slapped me across the scarred side of my face.
Pain exploded down my neck.
Dad fought against the ropes. “Don’t touch her!”
Juliette turned on him.
“You had two daughters, and somehow she was always the one you protected.”
“I failed to protect her.”
“You handed her thirty-two percent of the company!”
“It was your mother’s decision.”
“She loved Caroline more too.”
There it was.
Not money. Not entirely.
A lifetime of jealousy had rotted into something Juliette could no longer control.
“You killed Mom,” I said.
Juliette’s eyes shifted toward the blue door.
“She was dying anyway.”
Dad made a broken sound.
“You poisoned her?”
“I helped nature move faster.”
Shaw ordered Juliette to stop talking.
She ignored him.
“Mom wanted to expose everything. The laundering. The bribery. The politicians Shaw had been paying. She would’ve destroyed us.”
“She would’ve saved us,” I said.
Juliette stepped close.
“And you were going to help her. So I burned the house.”
Dad began sobbing.
My sister smiled at me.
“But you didn’t die. Owen pulled you out before the roof collapsed.”
Owen lifted his head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Juliette pointed Shaw’s gun at him.
“He was supposed to finish the job.”
Nathan suddenly grabbed Juliette from behind.
The gun fired.
Dad’s chair tipped over.
The blue door swung open.
Inside were shelves filled with files, hard drives, and millions of dollars in cash.
May you like
Then the lights went out.
In the darkness, Captain Shaw said, “Nobody leaves alive.”
