Chapter 12 - The BetrayalStone looked at Mara.
She appeared terrified.
Crowe smiled.
“Beautiful family reunion.”
Clara began crying.
“Mom?”
Mara tightened her grip.
Crowe pointed his gun at Stone.
“Drop yours.”
Stone didn't move.
“You're done, Crowe.”
Crowe laughed.
“You've been saying that since sunrise.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Crowe fired.
The bullet struck the wall inches from his face.
“Next one won't miss.”
Mara looked at Stone.
“You have to listen.”
Stone's eyes hardened.
“To him?”
“To me.”
Her voice shook.
“I took Clara because Evelyn was going to kill her.”
Evelyn shouted:
“Liar!”
Mara turned.
“You wanted the archive.”
“I wanted my granddaughter safe.”
“You wanted the names.”
“Both.”
Crowe interrupted.
“Enough.”
He pointed toward the ledger.
“Where is the blue box?”
Stone said nothing.
Crowe looked at Clara.
“Tell him.”
Clara whispered:
“Mom said the blue box was inside the house.”
Crowe smiled.
“So go get it.”
Stone understood.
They had not come for the archive.
They had come for the key.
The blue box opened the final section.
The names of the people who funded Elias Voss.
Crowe needed them destroyed.
Stone looked at Clara.
“Clara, remember the signal.”
Her eyes widened.
She understood.
She nodded.
Stone suddenly threw a chair.
Jax fired.
The room exploded into chaos.
Mara pushed Clara down.
Daniel tackled Crowe.
Evelyn pulled a hidden gun from beneath her coat.
Stone grabbed Noah and pulled him behind a cabinet.
Shots echoed.
Glass shattered.
Crowe escaped through the archive door.
Stone chased.
They emerged into the estate basement.
Crowe disappeared behind a wall.
Stone searched.
Then he saw a red button.
He pressed it.
A section of floor opened.
A tunnel.
Jax arrived.
“Stone!”
They entered.
The tunnel led beneath the estate.
At the far end was a steel door.
Behind it was a small room.
The blue box.
Stone lifted it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Samuel's handwriting.
If you're reading this, I failed to protect you.
Stone swallowed.
Underneath:
Trust the girl. She sees what adults miss.
He opened the second compartment.
There was a key and a cassette tape.
Jax stared.
“A tape?”
Stone inserted it into an old player.
Samuel's voice filled the room.
“If Clara survives, Elias will come for her.”
Static.
Then:
“Not because she is my daughter.”
Stone froze.
“Because she is the only witness.”
The recording crackled.
“Clara saw who killed her father.”
Stone looked at Noah.
“Your sister saw it?”
Noah nodded slowly.
“She told me once.”
“What did she see?”
Noah whispered:
“A man with a silver ring.”
Stone looked at Jax.
“Crowe?”
“No.”
Jax looked at the tape.
“Someone else.”
Stone replayed the final seconds.
A man's voice appeared under the static.
“Samuel Mercer must disappear tonight.”
Stone recognized it.
His face went cold.
May you like
It belonged to someone standing only a few feet away.
Someone they had trusted all night.
