Chapter 6 - Graham had seen powerful people lie before.
Politicians.
Executives.
Investors.
He had spent twenty years watching men in expensive suits smile while destroying other people's lives.
But Evelyn Harper frightened him for a different reason.
She didn't look angry.
She looked patient.
As though she had already won.
“Stay away from my daughter.”
Evelyn smiled.
“You still think this is about stealing a child.”
“It is.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“This is about protecting an empire.”
Victor moved toward the door.
The fake officer stopped him.
“Sit down.”
Graham's heart pounded.
“How many people are in this house?”
Evelyn glanced around.
“Enough.”
“Where's Sloane?”
“She is doing exactly what a devoted daughter should do.”
Graham laughed bitterly.
“Devoted?”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“You misunderstand her.”
“I saw what she did to Maisie.”
“Your daughter is not innocent.”
“She's five.”
“She is a witness.”
The room went silent.
Graham stared.
“To what?”
Evelyn took out a photograph.
Claire.
Standing beside a black SUV.
“That night,” Evelyn said, “Claire stole something from me.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Victor looked at the photograph.
Evelyn noticed.
“You know it.”
Victor's face tightened.
Graham turned to him.
“What ledger?”
Victor didn't answer.
Evelyn laughed.
“Your attorney knows exactly what I mean.”
Graham looked between them.
“You've both been lying to me.”
Victor stepped forward.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By hiding everything?”
“By keeping you alive.”
Evelyn raised a hand.
“Enough.”
The fake officer grabbed Victor.
Graham lunged.
A struggle erupted.
The laptop crashed to the floor.
The library table overturned.
Maisie screamed.
Graham pulled her behind him.
The fake officer swung.
Graham blocked the blow.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
Then he heard glass break.
The window behind them shattered.
Someone climbed inside.
Another man.
He grabbed the fake officer.
They fought.
Graham stared.
The newcomer wore a black jacket.
“Move!”
Graham didn't know him.
But he knew one thing.
He had a gun.
The newcomer pointed toward the hidden door.
“Take the girl and go.”
Graham grabbed Maisie's hand.
They ran.
Victor followed.
They reached the hallway.
The house was chaos.
Security alarms finally began to scream.
Doors slammed.
People shouted.
Graham dragged Maisie toward the garage.
Then she stopped.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“My rabbit.”
“We don't have time.”
“Mommy put something inside.”
Graham looked at her.
“What?”
“The lady said so.”
He hesitated.
They ran anyway.
Inside the garage, Victor locked the main door.
The stranger joined them.
“Who are you?”
“Daniel Cross.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Daniel looked at Maisie.
“Because Claire asked me to.”
Graham froze.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
Graham recognized Claire's handwriting.
The envelope read:
FOR GRAHAM. ONLY WHEN SLOANE MOVES AGAINST MAISIE.
Graham tore it open.
Inside was a short note.
Graham,
If Sloane ever tries to send Maisie away, do not fight her in public.
Go to the old lake house.
Open the fireplace.
There is something there that proves who caused my death.
And Graham...
Trust Daniel.
He may be the only person left who knows the whole story.
Graham looked up.
“Where's the lake house?”
Daniel answered.
“Twenty miles north.”
Victor shook his head.
“They'll be waiting.”
Daniel looked at him.
“They already are.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel opened the garage side door.
Outside, headlights appeared.
Three black SUVs.
Graham stared.
“How did they find us?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Because someone inside this house has been tracking your phone.”
Victor looked at his own phone.
Then at Graham.
Graham's eyes narrowed.
“You.”
Victor shook his head.
“I swear.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Forget the phone.”
He pointed at Maisie.
“Look at her dress.”
Graham looked down.
A tiny white flower near the hem had a blinking red light.
A tracker.
Graham tore it off.
His face hardened.
“They knew where she was every second.”
Daniel nodded.
“And they know where you'll go next.”
Graham looked at the lake house keys in his hand.
Then at the SUVs.
“Then we don't go there.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“We go somewhere they don't expect.”
Maisie tugged at his sleeve.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“Mommy told me one more thing.”
Graham knelt.
“What?”
“Never trust Uncle Victor.”
Victor went completely still.
Graham slowly stood.
Daniel raised his gun.
Victor's face drained.
“I can explain.”
Graham stared at him.
“No.”
He remembered Claire's note.
Trust Daniel.
May you like
And suddenly he understood why she had written it.
Because she knew Victor would still be standing beside him when the truth finally came out.
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