Chapter 9 - The Secret MotherThe photograph changed everything.
Mara finally stopped resisting.
“She was there before Clara was born.”
Stone held the photograph.
“Who is she?”
Mara looked at the woman.
“Isabel Voss.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Elias’s wife.”
Stone looked at him.
“You said Evelyn was Elias's daughter.”
“She is.”
“Then Isabel is her mother.”
Daniel nodded.
Mara whispered:
“And Clara is her granddaughter.”
Noah stared.
“But why would they want Clara dead?”
Mara looked toward her son.
“Because Isabel believed Clara carried proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“Her husband's betrayal.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“There was a second ledger.”
Stone looked at him.
“The blue box isn't the real evidence.”
Daniel pointed toward the photograph.
“It contains the location of the archive.”
“Where?”
“Under the Voss estate.”
Jax swore.
“Then why haven't they taken it?”
Daniel answered:
“Because only Clara can open it.”
Everyone stared at him.
Mara explained.
“When Daniel disappeared, he left instructions.”
Stone frowned.
“What instructions?”
“A phrase.”
“What phrase?”
Mara looked at Noah.
Noah answered.
“Under the moon, the little bird comes home.”
Stone frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel gave a bitter smile.
“The archive recognizes Clara’s voice.”
Stone stared.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It isn't.”
Before anyone could move, the church doors slammed shut.
Locks clicked.
Smoke began pouring through the vents.
Mara screamed.
“Gas!”
Stone smashed a window.
“Get them out!”
Jax kicked open a side door.
They carried Noah first.
Then Mara.
Daniel went after them.
Stone stopped.
“Where's Clara?”
Everyone froze.
“She wasn't here.”
Stone remembered the video.
The screen.
The room.
Evelyn wanted him to go to the estate.
“She never took Clara to the estate.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Where, then?”
A phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Stone answered.
Evelyn's voice.
“You finally understand.”
“Where is the girl?”
A pause.
Then:
“Beside someone you trust.”
Stone looked around.
The riders.
Mara.
Daniel.
Noah.
Then his eyes stopped on Rook.
Rook was standing alone near the motorcycles.
Stone slowly lowered his phone.
Rook looked at him.
“What's wrong?”
Stone raised his gun.
“Where is Clara?”
Rook blinked.
“I don't know.”
Stone stepped closer.
“Drop your weapon.”
Rook's face hardened.
“Stone.”
“Now.”
Rook slowly placed his gun on the ground.
Then smiled.
It wasn't Rook's smile.
Too cold.
Too controlled.
He reached into his jacket.
Stone fired into the dirt beside his foot.
“Don't.”
Rook froze.
Jax moved behind him.
Stone reached forward and tore the man's beard away.
A disguise.
A stranger stared back.
The real Rook lay unconscious inside the church basement.
The impostor laughed.
“You're too late.”
Stone grabbed him.
“Where is Clara?”
The man leaned close.
“You've been guarding the wrong family.”
May you like
Then he whispered four words:
“Ask who killed Samuel.”
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