Chapter 9 - The Woman in the VideoThe mansion fell silent.
Mark stared at the screen.
Eleanor's recorded message had been dated two days after her death.
Impossible.
Unless she hadn't died when everyone thought.
Daniel sat down.
"I didn't know."
Mark grabbed him by the collar.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I swear."
"You buried her."
Daniel's voice broke.
"I represented you. I didn't identify the body."
Mark stopped.
"What?"
Daniel nodded.
"The vehicle was destroyed by fire."
"Then who was in it?"
Daniel shook his head.
"An unidentified woman."
Mark felt the floor move beneath him.
"Why wasn't I told?"
"Because the authorities believed the dental records matched."
Mark remembered the funeral.
The closed coffin.
The rushed burial.
Victoria crying at the front.
Daniel standing behind her.
Everything came rushing back.
Mark turned toward Victoria.
"You knew."
She said nothing.
"Did you know Eleanor survived?"
Victoria looked at Lily.
Then at Mark.
"I knew she was alive."
The words hit harder than a gunshot.
Maria began crying.
Mark's voice dropped.
"Where is she?"
Victoria smiled.
"You've been searching for her in the wrong places."
Daniel stepped forward.
"What did you do to her?"
Victoria finally looked at him.
"What I had to do."
Mark grabbed her arm.
"Where is my wife?"
Victoria pulled away.
"Not your wife."
She whispered:
"She chose to disappear."
Lily stepped forward.
"Mommy wouldn't leave me."
Victoria crouched.
"She left because she knew your father was dangerous."
Mark immediately stood between them.
"Enough."
Suddenly the front gate alarm screamed.
The security monitor showed someone entering the property.
A woman.
Long coat.
Dark hair.
Face obscured.
Mark rushed toward the front door.
The woman stopped beneath the porch light.
She slowly lifted her head.
Mark saw her face.
His heart stopped.
Eleanor.
Older.
Paler.
Alive.
Lily screamed:
"Mommy!"
The woman began walking toward the house.
But before she reached the door, a single gunshot shattered the night.
She collapsed.
Mark ran outside.
The woman was bleeding.
Lily screamed.
Mark looked toward the forest.
A figure disappeared among the trees.
Daniel shouted:
"Don't chase him!"
Mark knelt beside Eleanor.
Her eyes opened.
She grabbed his hand.
"Mark..."
"I'm here."
Her lips moved.
"Victoria..."
Mark leaned closer.
"Yes?"
Eleanor whispered:
"She wasn't the one who killed me."
Mark looked toward the mansion.
Victoria was gone.
Again.
Then Eleanor said one final sentence.
"The person who ordered it..."
May you like
She coughed.
"...is your father."
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