Chapter 6 - My Sister Was AliveThe darkness lasted only seconds.
Then emergency lights flickered on.
Richard pulled a gun from his jacket.
“You stay behind me.”
I stared at him.
“You carry a gun now?”
“Tonight, yes.”
He moved toward the front door.
Something crashed through the window.
We ducked.
Glass exploded across the room.
A smoke grenade rolled onto the floor.
Richard pulled me toward the kitchen.
“Back exit!”
We ran.
Three masked men entered the house.
Gunshots echoed.
We escaped through the woods.
Only when we reached the road did Richard stop.
He looked at me.
“Your sister knows something.”
“She told me not to trust you.”
“I know.”
“Why would she say that?”
“Because Amelia believes I betrayed her.”
“Did you?”
Richard said nothing.
That was answer enough.
I walked away.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Charlotte.”
I turned.
“I didn't betray her willingly.”
“Then explain.”
He finally did.
Eleven years ago, Amelia had disappeared.
Richard had been the last person to see her.
He told my mother that Amelia had run away.
But that wasn't true.
“She was taken.”
“By who?”
“The same people who are after you now.”
“Why?”
“Because Amelia inherited something.”
“What?”
Richard's eyes hardened.
“Knowledge.”
He told me Amelia had discovered a hidden system inside the Solmere's finances.
A network of secret accounts.
Money moved through the hotel, through banks, through charities.
But that money wasn't simply stolen.
It was being used to buy influence.
Judges.
Politicians.
Police officials.
Business leaders.
The Solmere was financing an invisible empire.
Amelia had found it as a teenager.
That was why she disappeared.
My mother spent eleven years searching for her.
And shortly before her death, she finally found her.
“Where?”
Richard shook his head.
“She made me promise not to tell anyone.”
“Even me?”
“Especially you.”
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because she knew you would come looking.”
Then another vehicle appeared on the road.
Black SUV.
Richard pushed me behind a tree.
The vehicle stopped.
A woman stepped out.
Victoria.
She wasn't wearing the white gown anymore.
She wore black.
And she wasn't smiling.
She looked at Richard.
“Where is she?”
He raised his gun.
“You're too late.”
Victoria's expression turned cold.
“This isn't about Charlotte.”
She looked toward me.
“It never was.”
I stepped out.
“Then what is it about?”
Victoria stared at me for several seconds.
Then whispered:
“Your father.”
I froze.
“You said he was dead.”
Victoria shook her head.
“He isn't.”
Richard looked horrified.
Victoria continued.
“Daniel Cross has been alive for eleven years.”
My world tilted.
“Where?”
She smiled.
“Under this hotel.”
Then the SUV doors opened.
Two men dragged someone out.
A woman.
Bruised.
Bound.
I recognized her face.
Amelia.
My sister.
She looked at me.
Her eyes widened.
“Charlotte…”
Then she screamed.
May you like
“RUN!”
A gunshot exploded.
