Chapter 9 - THE BLOOD ON THE SNOWMaria fell into Shawn's arms.
Blood spread across her coat.
“Mom!”
She was conscious.
Barely.
“It missed my heart.”
Shawn looked toward Brenda.
Brenda had fired.
But another shooter had fired too.
Kane was already disappearing through the chapel doors.
Emma rushed to Maria.
“She needs a hospital.”
“No,” Maria whispered.
“They'll track us.”
“Then let them.”
Shawn grabbed Brenda.
“You shot her.”
“I didn't.”
“I saw you.”
“I fired at Kane.”
“Then who fired the second shot?”
Nobody answered.
A third shot struck the chapel window.
They dropped.
Someone was shooting from the cemetery.
Emma dragged Maria behind a stone pillar.
Shawn looked outside.
A man stood beside a black SUV.
Not Kane.
Someone older.
He wore a police uniform.
Shawn recognized him.
Sheriff Daniel Reeves.
Reeves had attended Shawn's grandfather's funeral.
He had brought flowers.
Now he aimed a rifle at them.
“Give me the notebook!”
Shawn froze.
“How did he know?”
Emma looked at the list.
“He's on it.”
Reeves shouted.
“Kane doesn't own this town anymore!”
Shawn looked at him.
“You work for him.”
Reeves laughed.
“No.”
He fired again.
“I work for myself.”
Brenda pushed the chapel door shut.
“We need another exit.”
Maria pointed weakly toward the floor.
“There.”
A trapdoor.
They opened it.
Stairs descended beneath the chapel.
Shawn carried Maria.
Emma followed.
Brenda stayed behind.
“Go.”
Shawn looked back.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying time.”
“Brenda…”
She shut the trapdoor.
Shots echoed above.
They ran through the underground passage.
Eventually they reached an old crypt.
Maria was losing blood.
Shawn tore part of his coat into a bandage.
“Tell me who shot you.”
“Reeves.”
“No.”
Maria shook her head.
“Someone else.”
“Who?”
She looked at Brenda's blood-stained hands.
“Your sister.”
Shawn stopped.
“What?”
“She knew where I would stand.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
Maria coughed.
“She wanted the bullet to hit me.”
Shawn's face hardened.
“Why?”
“To make you angry enough to open the notebook.”
Emma stared.
“The notebook isn't complete.”
Maria nodded.
“Of course not.”
Shawn looked down.
“What is missing?”
“The final page.”
He flipped through the notebook.
The last page had been torn out.
“Who has it?”
Maria closed her eyes.
“Kane.”
“No.”
She grabbed Shawn.
“Listen.”
“He will use that page to prove you're his heir.”
“What heir?”
“Kane's company.”
Shawn stared.
“He wants me to inherit?”
“He needs your name.”
“Why?”
“Because the money is already yours.”
Shawn's eyes widened.
“What money?”
Maria whispered:
“Your grandfather moved billions before he died.”
Silence.
“He hid everything inside accounts tied to your identity.”
Shawn looked at the notebook.
“Kane wants access.”
“Yes.”
“That's why he needed me.”
“Yes.”
Emma suddenly looked toward the passage.
Footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Brenda.
She emerged from the darkness.
Blood covered her sleeve.
Shawn immediately reached for the gun.
“You lied to us.”
Brenda shook her head.
“I did.”
“Did you shoot Mom?”
“No.”
“Did you work for Kane?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Brenda stopped.
“Because he had my daughter.”
Shawn froze.
“What daughter?”
Brenda began crying.
“I gave birth to a little girl before I married David.”
Shawn stared.
“She disappeared six years ago.”
Kane had taken her.
“She's alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Brenda looked at Emma.
“She's with Evelyn.”
Emma's face changed.
“My mother has your daughter.”
Brenda nodded.
“And she wants you to find her.”
Shawn's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
COME TO THE MILLER HOUSE BEFORE MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Below it was a photograph.
The photograph showed a little girl.
Standing beside Evelyn.
Alive.
May you like
And beneath the image were five words:
YOUR FATHER IS NEXT.
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