CHAPTER 10 — THE DEAD MAN’S HOUSE
The motorcycle trail led to a mansion overlooking Malibu.
The property belonged to a shell company registered in Panama.
Ruiz obtained an emergency warrant.
Emily refused to stay behind.
“You’re a civilian,” he told her.
“So was my mother when Richard killed her.”
Victoria stepped beside Emily.
“And this is my husband.”
Ruiz looked at both women.
“This is not revenge.”
Emily answered, “Then arrest him before it becomes revenge.”
They entered through the rear courtyard just before dawn.
The house was silent.
No guards.
No cameras.
That made Ruiz more nervous.
They found a wall covered with newspaper clippings.
Emily’s arrest.
The hospital collapse.
Anna’s death.
Grant’s childhood.
Photographs of Emily appeared across twenty-seven years.
School plays.
Graduation.
Her first apartment.
Her first day working for Victoria.
Emily felt sick.
“He’s been watching me my entire life.”
Victoria found a photograph of Richard standing beside Anna.
On the back, he had written:
THE ONLY WOMAN WHO EVER BEAT ME.
A voice came through hidden speakers.
“She almost did.”
Victoria looked up.
“Richard.”
“You still recognize my voice.”
“Show yourself.”
A panel slid open at the far end of the room.
Richard Hayes stepped out.
He was seventy-two, thinner than in public photographs, but his eyes remained sharp.
The jewelry box rested in his hand.
Emily stared at the man who had killed her mother.
“You pushed her off that cliff.”
Richard looked at her calmly.
“Anna was already dying.”
“You murdered her.”
“I stopped her from destroying hundreds of lives.”
“You mean yours.”
Richard smiled.
“You have her fire.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“You faked your death.”
“I needed freedom from the Hayes name.”
“You let your son believe you were dead.”
“Grant was useful when he was angry.”
Victoria slapped him.
Richard barely moved.
“You turned him into a killer.”
“No. You did that by teaching him love had to be earned.”
Victoria’s face collapsed.
Emily kept her eyes on the jewelry box.
“Give it to the detective.”
Richard laughed.
“This box contains enough information to collapse courts, banks, hospitals, and half the state government.”
“Then they deserve to collapse.”
“Spoken like someone who has never seen what chaos costs.”
Emily stepped closer.
“I’ve seen the cost. My mother paid it.”
Richard’s expression changed.
“Anna was not innocent.”
“I know.”
“She blackmailed people.”
“I know.”
“She threatened families.”
“I know.”
“She started the fire.”
Emily’s voice remained steady.
“And then she tried to stop what she created.”
For the first time, Richard looked uncertain.
Emily continued.
“You couldn’t stand that she changed.”
Richard lifted a gun.
Ruiz raised his weapon.
“Drop it!”
Richard pressed a button.
Steel shutters sealed the windows.
Gas began hissing from ceiling vents.
Victoria coughed.
“What is that?”
Richard held up the box.
“Anna burned one house to destroy the truth. It feels appropriate to finish the story the same way.”
Flames erupted along the walls.
Ruiz fired.
Richard disappeared behind the panel.
Emily ran after him.
Behind the wall was a narrow tunnel descending toward the ocean.
Richard was already halfway down.
Emily followed.
Victoria shouted her name.
The tunnel door slammed shut behind her.
May you like
Emily was trapped underground with her mother’s killer.
And Richard had the only key.
