Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO CONTROLLED THE TRUTH
Mara reached for the secure-room door.
Adrian caught her wrist.
“No.”
“She’ll kill Noah.”
“She’ll kill you too.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Adrian stared at the monitor.
Evelyn began counting.
“Twenty-eight.”
Mara’s face tightened.
“Adrian.”
He released her wrist.
Then opened the hidden weapons compartment.
Mara blinked.
“How many guns do you have in this house?”
“Not the time.”
“Fair.”
He handed her a small pistol.
She looked at it.
“I haven’t fired one since witness protection.”
“Do you remember how?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He opened the secure door.
They entered the hallway through a concealed passage behind the library wall.
Evelyn continued counting.
“Eleven.”
Adrian stepped into view.
“Let him go.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Big brother.”
The words sounded poisonous.
“You’ve known?” Adrian asked.
“Since I was seventeen.”
“You let our father hide you.”
“He protected me.”
“He used you.”
“Same thing in this family.”
Mara moved silently along the side corridor.
Evelyn didn’t see her.
Adrian kept her talking.
“Jonah Quinn discovered you.”
“Yes.”
“You ordered his murder.”
For the first time, Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Mara froze behind the doorway.
“Victor killed Jonah without my permission,” Evelyn continued.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I needed Jonah discredited. Not dead.”
Noah glanced toward Adrian.
Small movement.
Enough.
Mara understood too.
Evelyn was losing control.
“Where’s Victor?” Adrian asked.
“Cleaning up another mistake.”
“What mistake?”
Evelyn looked toward the hallway.
“Mara’s mother.”
Mara stepped into view.
“My mother is dead.”
Evelyn smiled.
“No.”
Mara’s face went white.
“Cancer. Eleven years ago.”
“Was there a body?”
Mara stopped breathing.
Adrian saw the answer.
No.
Evelyn continued.
“Your mother entered federal protection before you did. Different program. Different name.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew where Jonah kept the original evidence.”
Mara’s gun lowered slightly.
That was all Evelyn needed.
She fired.
Adrian moved.
The bullet struck the wall.
Noah tackled Evelyn’s knees.
Mara fired once into the ceiling by instinct.
Luca stormed in with security.
Within seconds, Evelyn was pinned to the floor.
Alive.
Furious.
Adrian checked Mara.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
Noah rubbed his bruised neck.
“I’d like a raise.”
Adrian almost laughed.
Then Evelyn began laughing from the floor.
Everyone looked at her.
“You think arresting me fixes this?”
Mara stepped closer.
“Where is my mother?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Victor moved her this morning.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara’s voice broke.
“Tell me.”
Evelyn looked almost pitying.
“Ask Adrian.”
Mara turned.
Adrian frowned.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, but you know the place.”
Evelyn’s smile widened.
“Your father built it.”
Adrian stared at her.
Then realization struck.
The old Vale hunting lodge.
A property no one had used in fifteen years.
Two hours north.
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And according to Dominic Vale’s private records, there was something beneath it no blueprint showed.
A room designed to hold people who were never supposed to leave.
