Chapter 10 - Victor fell.The gunshot echoed through the warehouse.
Adrian dragged Samuel behind a concrete barrier.
Evelyn screamed.
“Malcolm, what have you done?”
Malcolm stared at Victor.
“He knew too much.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You're killing your own people now.”
Malcolm turned.
“I've been doing that for twenty years.”
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“And I'm done taking orders.”
Evelyn's face went pale.
“You betrayed me.”
Malcolm smiled.
“No.”
He raised the gun.
“I finally understood who the real problem was.”
Evelyn took a step backward.
Adrian stared at them.
For twenty years, they had appeared united.
But greed had finally cracked the foundation.
Malcolm said:
“Thomas should have killed you when he had the chance.”
Evelyn looked at Adrian.
“You see?”
She smiled.
“He was always jealous of your father.”
Malcolm snapped:
“Enough.”
Adrian moved toward him.
“Where is Grace?”
Malcolm's expression changed.
“She's alive.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere your mother will never find her.”
Evelyn looked confused.
“You moved her?”
“I moved everyone.”
Adrian understood.
Malcolm had been planning his own coup.
“How long?”
“Years.”
Malcolm lowered the gun.
“Your mother wanted the company.”
He looked at Adrian.
“I wanted the company too.”
Adrian laughed.
“At least you're honest.”
Malcolm nodded.
“You taught me that honesty doesn't matter.”
Then sirens sounded.
Malcolm's face changed.
Adrian had called the police before entering.
Malcolm ran.
Adrian chased him.
They burst through a side door into the forest.
Malcolm disappeared between the trees.
Adrian followed.
But he stopped when he saw something on the ground.
Grace's necklace.
He picked it up.
There was blood on it.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Adrian.”
Grace.
He froze.
“Grace?”
“I don't have much time.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“What can you see?”
“Water.”
“Anything else?”
“A lighthouse.”
Adrian looked at the sky.
There was no coast nearby.
“Can you hear traffic?”
“No.”
“Boats?”
“One.”
“Grace, stay on the line.”
A man's voice shouted in the background.
Grace whispered:
“They found me.”
The call ended.
Adrian immediately accessed regional surveillance.
There was only one abandoned lighthouse within range.
Blackwater Point.
Twenty-five miles away.
Adrian drove.
When he arrived, the lighthouse door was open.
Inside were footprints.
A broken chair.
A bloodied scarf.
And photographs covering the walls.
Hundreds of them.
Grace as a child.
Grace at school.
Grace working at Whitmore House.
Grace entering the mansion.
Grace talking to Adrian.
Someone had been watching her for years.
Then Adrian saw one final photograph.
It showed him.
Standing at the mansion gate.
Dressed as a beggar.
Taken from a distance.
On the back was written:
THE TEST WORKED.
Adrian turned.
A voice came from behind him.
“You finally understand.”
He spun around.
A woman stepped from the shadows.
Grace.
Alive.
Blood on her forehead.
But standing.
Adrian rushed toward her.
She stopped him.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because the person you came here for isn't me.”
Adrian stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Grace pointed toward the stairs.
“There is someone upstairs.”
Adrian raised his gun.
“Who?”
Grace's eyes filled with fear.
“Your mother.”
May you like
A voice floated down from above.
“Hello, Adrian.”
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