Chapter 13 - The Last Lie
Emma landed in my arms.
I caught her against my chest and instinctively wrapped my coat around her. She cried, frightened but alive.
Adrian reached us within seconds.
“Emma!”
“She’s breathing,” I told him. “She's okay.”
He pressed his forehead against hers, his hands trembling.
For a moment, the gunfire, the shouting, and the shattered glass seemed to disappear. There was only a father holding his daughter.
Then Santos shouted from the doorway.
“Silas is escaping!”
Dante chased him outside.
Karen sat on the floor near the altar, staring at the blood spreading across her sleeve. The gunshot had grazed her shoulder.
Adrian looked at her with pure hatred.
“You're going to prison.”
She nodded faintly.
“I know.”
“You'll tell the police everything.”
“I will.”
“Then tell me who killed Sofia.”
Karen's lips trembled.
“Silas didn't kill her himself.”
Adrian went rigid.
“Who did?”
“Dr. Whitmore gave her the medication. Silas ordered it. I changed the records afterward.”
“Why?”
Karen began to cry.
“Because Sofia discovered the stolen money. She was going to send everything to the police.”
“Did she know she was dying?”
“No. She thought she was being treated for complications. By the time she realized the medication was wrong, it was too late.”
Adrian turned away.
I had never seen a man look so completely broken.
Santos took Karen into custody and dispatched officers after Silas. The chapel was surrounded, but Silas had disappeared into the woods beyond the property.
Dante returned ten minutes later, empty-handed.
“He had a second vehicle waiting.”
Adrian looked down at Emma.
“Then we know where he'll go.”
“Where?” Santos asked.
“The Saint Fund's original records office. If the ledger is real, he needs the access codes to move the remaining accounts.”
My father appeared at the chapel entrance, supported by an officer. His face was bruised, and his shirt was torn.
I rushed toward him.
“Where have you been?”
“Trying to keep Silas from getting what he wanted.”
“You could have helped us sooner.”
“I know.”
He looked at Adrian.
“The ledger isn't the only evidence. Your father left an encrypted recording in the fund's original server. It contains the account numbers, the payments, and the voice of the man who ordered Sofia's death.”
Adrian's expression sharpened.
“Can it be recovered?”
“Yes, but someone needs to enter the original access code.”
I took the number from my mother's note out of my pocket.
317.
My father stared at it.
“Your mother was smarter than I ever gave her credit for.”
Then the officer's radio crackled.
A vehicle had been found abandoned near the river.
Inside lay a bloodstained jacket.
Silas's jacket.
But there was no sign of Silas.
Instead, someone had left a phone on the driver's seat.
It was playing a live video.
Lucia lay in a hospital bed, connected to a monitor.
May you like
A voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Bring me the original recording, or your sister won't survive the night.”
