Chapter 7 - The Dead Don't Stay DeadDaniel was alive.
Elias was alive.
Isabelle might have been alive after the shooting.
And my daughters knew something I had spent fourteen months trying to uncover.
My world had become a hall of mirrors.
Every truth reflected another lie.
I flew to the location where the photograph had been taken.
An abandoned estate in Connecticut.
Grace came with me.
Marcus's replacement stayed behind with Olivia and Sophie.
Before leaving, Olivia grabbed my arm.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“Don't bring Mom back.”
I froze.
“What?”
She whispered:
“She isn't alone.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“She changed.”
Then she let go.
The estate was empty.
Except for one room.
A kitchen.
Fresh food on the counter.
A child's cup.
Nora's favorite cereal.
Someone had been there recently.
I found a basement.
Inside were hundreds of photographs.
Isabelle.
Daniel.
Elias.
Me.
My daughters.
A timeline covered one wall.
ISABELLE'S DEATH.
MY MEMORY LOSS.
THE GIRLS' SILENCE.
THE HOUSE.
PROJECT SUNSHINE.
At the center was a photograph of me.
A red line connected it to one word.
TRIGGER.
Grace read it.
“What does trigger mean?”
“I don't know.”
A voice answered from behind us.
“You were programmed.”
I turned.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
My gun came up.
“Don't.”
Daniel raised his hands.
“You won't shoot me.”
“You killed Isabelle.”
“No.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was hiding.”
“From whom?”
“From the people who killed her.”
I stepped closer.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were compromised.”
“By Elias?”
Daniel nodded.
“And by someone else.”
“Who?”
He looked at Grace.
She lowered her eyes.
“I don't trust her either.”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“Neither did Isabelle.”
Grace didn't defend herself.
That frightened me more.
Daniel explained.
Years ago, our family had become involved with a private organization that manipulated wealthy families.
Blackmail.
Surveillance.
Assassinations.
Memory conditioning.
They didn't need to destroy people.
They needed to control them.
Isabelle had discovered the organization.
She tried to expose it.
They threatened the girls.
Daniel tried to help her.
Then Elias betrayed them.
The preschool murder was supposed to be staged as a clean assassination.
But Isabelle survived the first shot.
She was taken to the mansion.
My daughters saw everything.
They watched the killer carry their mother underground.
They saw me arrive.
They saw me attack someone.
Then the girls were drugged.
I was drugged.
The house was cleaned.
The cameras were installed.
And everyone was given a false story.
“Where is Isabelle now?” I asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
Grace did.
“She survived.”
I turned.
“What?”
“She survived for three days.”
“Where?”
Grace closed her eyes.
“In the basement beneath your house.”
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“You've been walking over the place where your wife spent her final hours.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then a phone rang.
Not mine.
Daniel's.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“She's gone.”
“Who?”
“Isabelle.”
The line went dead.
A second later, every light in the estate turned on.
Screens around the room displayed one message.
COME HOME.
Then another appeared.
YOUR WIFE IS WAITING.
May you like
And beneath it:
SO IS THE MAN WHO KILLED HER.
