Chapter 9 - THE TRAITOR INSIDE THE HOUSE
Emergency lights turned red.
Julian stood instantly.
Not beside the wheelchair.
Not pretending anymore.
“Lock the estate.”
Luke spoke into his radio.
No answer.
His face changed.
“Security channel is dead.”
Margaret reached for her phone.
No signal.
Julian looked toward me.
“Stay with Sofia.”
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Elena.”
“We are done with you ordering me into corners while everyone else knows what’s happening.”
His jaw tightened.
“This is dangerous.”
“I know.”
He stared at me.
Then nodded once.
“Fine.”
Progress.
A crash sounded downstairs.
Julian drew a handgun from the desk.
Sofia looked at me.
“Does he always keep one there?”
“Yes.”
“Some things never change.”
We moved toward the service hallway.
Luke checked the security room.
Empty.
Monitors disabled.
One chair overturned.
No blood.
Someone had intentionally abandoned the post.
“Who was assigned?” Julian asked.
Luke’s expression hardened.
“Martin.”
Julian went still.
Martin Reese had served as his head of estate security for twelve years.
Trusted.
Quiet.
Almost invisible.
Exactly the kind of man nobody watched.
We searched his room.
Gone.
Closet empty.
Passport missing.
Then Luke found a phone hidden beneath the mattress.
Burner.
Messages.
Most deleted.
One remained.
SHE TOOK THE BULLET POSITION. SHE’LL DO IT AGAIN. USE HER.
I stopped breathing.
“They were talking about me.”
Julian’s face darkened.
“They watched the test.”
The fake armed attack.
The three gunmen.
Martin knew I had stepped in front of Julian.
He reported it.
They now knew I could be used against him.
A second message:
VALE GIRL IS LEVERAGE.
Julian looked toward me.
“No.”
“What?”
“You leave tonight.”
My anger surged.
“I am not running.”
“You are if staying gets you killed.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“This isn’t about control.”
“It sounds exactly like control.”
He stepped closer.
“This is me telling you that I cannot think clearly when you’re in danger.”
Silence.
My anger weakened.
Julian’s voice dropped.
“I spent months pretending not to feel anything because everyone around me was a potential traitor.”
His eyes held mine.
“Then you walked into my house and ruined that.”
My breath caught.
Sofia quietly moved away.
Margaret pretended to study the phone.
Julian continued.
“When you stood in front of that gun, I realized the one person I had been testing was the only person who never cared whether I could walk.”
I swallowed.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“So did I.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m asking.”
His voice softened.
“Will you leave until this is over?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
Then Luke spoke.
“I found Martin’s last location.”
We turned.
“Where?”
“Cross Memorial Hospital.”
Margaret frowned.
“Why?”
Luke looked at Sofia.
Then at me.
“He accessed Elena’s medical records.”
My stomach dropped.
“The surgery?”
“Yes.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
Luke continued.
“And someone changed them three months ago.”
“What changed?”
“The listed donor.”
I froze.
“Donor?”
My heart surgery had required emergency blood products because of my rare type.
AB negative.
The file showed a private donor.
Name:
Julian Cross.
I stared at him.
He stared at the screen.
“I never donated for you.”
May you like
Luke looked pale.
“Then someone used your blood under your name.”
