Chapter 14 - THE MAN WHO STOOD BESIDE ME
Backup lights flickered on.
I ran toward Sophia’s room.
Grace was already there.
Both girls were safe.
Marcus came over the radio.
“North entrance breached.”
“Who?”
“No one came in.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“They’re already inside.”
A shot echoed downstairs.
Then another.
I handed Grace my gun.
“Lock the door.”
“What about you?”
“I end this.”
I found Marcus in my office.
Blood on his sleeve.
Not his.
A guard lay unconscious near the wall.
Marcus pointed toward my desk.
The safe was open.
“Elena’s financial records are gone.”
“Who has the access code?”
“You. Me. Adrian.”
Adrian.
My stomach dropped.
I called him.
No answer.
We found him in the garage.
Standing beside a running car.
A bag at his feet.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Don’t move.”
Adrian turned slowly.
His eyes were red.
“I didn’t want this.”
My heart sank.
“You?”
He shook his head.
“Not the murders.”
“What did you do?”
“I helped Claire move money.”
I stared at my brother.
“You knew.”
“I knew about the theft.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Before Elena died?”
“Yes.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I asked,
“Why?”
He laughed bitterly.
“Because I was your little brother.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means every room I entered, people asked about you.”
His voice rose.
“Julian’s brother. Julian’s company. Julian’s house. Julian’s money.”
“So you stole from me?”
“I wanted something that was mine!”
“You could’ve asked.”
“I didn’t want your permission!”
He kicked the bag.
“I wanted out.”
There was that word again.
Out.
Elena.
Marcus.
Adrian.
How many people had wanted out while I kept tightening my grip?
Adrian wiped his face.
“I gave Claire access to company accounts. She brought Crowe in. I didn’t know they’d kill Elena.”
“You covered it up afterward.”
“I was terrified.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin!”
“I thought Sophia was dead!”
I stepped toward him.
“You watched me fall apart.”
“I was falling apart too!”
“No.”
My voice became quiet.
“You were hiding.”
He looked away.
Marcus asked, “Why steal the records now?”
Adrian’s face changed.
“I didn’t.”
We froze.
“What?”
“I came down because someone texted me from Julian’s number.”
I checked my phone.
Nothing.
Then the garage door began closing.
Marcus shouted, “Move!”
A man stepped from behind the SUV.
Dr. Helen Shaw.
Sophia’s pediatrician.
She held a gun in one hand.
A lighter in the other.
I stared at her.
“You.”
She smiled.
“You finally got there.”
Marcus aimed at her.
“Drop it.”
She held up the lighter.
Gasoline covered the floor.
One spark would turn the garage into an oven.
“You all keep blaming each other,” she said.
“Vince. Claire. Crowe. Adrian.”
She laughed.
“Men are so easy to control when you give them someone else to hate.”
I stared at her.
“You organized it.”
“Not all of it.”
“You moved Sophia.”
“I saved her.”
“You falsified her death.”
“To protect her.”
“You took money from Crowe.”
Her smile disappeared.
There.
That was the truth.
“You weren’t protecting Sophia. You were protecting yourself.”
Dr. Shaw flicked the lighter.
A flame appeared.
And from behind her came a child’s voice.
May you like
“Put it down.”
Sophia stood in the doorway.
