Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew Too MuchThe safe house erupted into chaos.
Daniel pushed Emma through a hidden doorway.
"Run."
"What about you?"
"Run!"
Gunfire cracked behind them.
Emma stumbled down a narrow corridor.
She had never imagined her life could become this.
A week ago, she had been choosing flowers for an engagement party.
Now armed men were hunting her.
She reached the end of the passage.
A steel door opened.
Someone grabbed her wrist.
Emma screamed.
"Don't!"
The woman pulled her inside.
"Quiet!"
Emma froze.
The woman was in her late forties.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
There was something familiar about her.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Claire."
"I don't know you."
Claire closed the door.
"You don't remember me."
"What does that mean?"
Claire looked at Emma's stomach.
Then whispered:
"I worked for your mother."
Emma's eyes widened.
"My mother?"
Claire nodded.
"Before she died, she told me something."
"What?"
"She said if anything happened to her, I was to protect you."
Emma's breath caught.
"Why?"
"Because your father wasn't the only person she feared."
A loud bang sounded from the corridor.
Claire pulled Emma toward another exit.
They emerged into a small garage.
A car waited.
Claire drove.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke.
Finally Emma asked:
"What was my mother investigating?"
Claire's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Project Eden."
Daniel had told her the name.
"Tell me everything."
Claire sighed.
"Your mother discovered that several billion dollars were being moved through shell companies."
"By my father?"
"By a network."
"Who?"
"Businessmen. Politicians. Banks. International investors."
Emma looked out the window.
"And my father?"
"He was one of them."
Her stomach twisted.
"But why would he kill her?"
"Your mother found evidence."
"What evidence?"
"Names."
Claire reached beneath the dashboard and removed a small metal box.
She handed it to Emma.
Inside was an old key.
Emma frowned.
"What is this?"
"The key to your mother's safety deposit box."
Emma stared.
"Where?"
Claire answered:
"The First National Bank."
Emma's heart raced.
"Does my father know?"
Claire shook her head.
"He thought he found it."
"Thought?"
Claire smiled sadly.
"Your mother was smarter than everyone gave her credit for."
They arrived at the bank before dawn.
The vault manager recognized Emma's name.
"You have access," he said.
Inside the box was a single envelope.
Emma opened it.
Her mother's handwriting.
Emma,
If you are reading this, I am gone.
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
She continued.
There is one person you can trust.
She turned the page.
A name appeared.
Emma's heart stopped.
Adrian Blake.
"No."
Claire touched her arm.
"Keep reading."
The next line was worse.
I asked Adrian to protect you if I failed. He promised.
Emma's hands shook.
Then came the final sentence.
But your father will make him hate you first.
Emma stared.
Claire whispered:
"Your mother knew."
"She knew what?"
"That William would manipulate Adrian."
Emma flipped the page.
There was a photograph.
Her mother.
Adrian.
And a baby.
Emma stared at the baby.
She recognized the hospital blanket.
The date was fifteen years earlier.
Adrian's face looked painfully young.
Emma's voice trembled.
"Who is that baby?"
Claire lowered her eyes.
"Your mother's secret."
Emma looked closer at the photograph.
Then she recognized the woman standing behind them.
Vivian.
Her heart stopped.
"She was there."
May you like
Claire nodded.
"And that's where everything began."
