Chapter 9 - THE MAN IN THE GRAY SUITElias returned an hour later.
The first thing he asked was:
“Where is the bride?”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she is missing.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“I've been here.”
He smiled.
Not warmly.
Coldly.
“You shouldn't be.”
I saw it instantly.
Something about his expression had changed.
The calm professional mask was gone.
I reached into my pocket.
The photograph of him from the chapel.
I stared at it.
“Who hired you?”
He didn't answer.
“Was it my father?”
Still nothing.
“Or Richard?”
Rebecca stepped back.
Elias pulled a weapon.
Daniel shoved me sideways.
The bullet struck the wall.
Chaos exploded.
We ran behind the chapel.
Elias followed.
My mother shouted that Emily was still alive.
He didn't care.
He wanted the documents.
Specifically, the trust file.
Rebecca handed them to me.
“Run!”
We sprinted toward the cemetery.
The trees were thick.
Rain had started.
Our shoes slipped in the mud.
Behind us, Elias shouted:
“You don't understand what you're protecting!”
I turned.
“Then come tell me!”
His response chilled me.
“Your daughter isn't the heir.”
I stopped.
“What?”
He smiled.
“She is the key.”
Rebecca grabbed my sleeve.
“Don't listen to him.”
“What does he mean?”
“He means nothing.”
Elias laughed.
“You still don't know?”
I stared at him.
“Know what?”
He pointed toward the cemetery.
“Ask Sarah.”
Then he disappeared into the trees.
We reached the cemetery.
There was a small stone building at the back.
Old.
Abandoned.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, I found Sarah.
Alive.
Holding Emily.
My daughter saw me and ran.
“Daddy!”
I dropped to my knees.
She crashed into my arms.
I held her so tightly she complained.
“Daddy, you're squeezing me.”
I laughed through tears.
“I'm sorry.”
Sarah stood a few feet away.
She looked older than I remembered.
But it was her.
There was no doubt.
“You're alive.”
She nodded.
“I am.”
“Why?”
She looked at Emily.
“Because I had to be.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead I whispered:
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because every time I tried, someone found me.”
“Who?”
She looked at Rebecca.
Then at my mother.
“Almost everyone.”
I felt sick.
She continued.
“Your father wasn't the only one.”
“Who else?”
“People inside the government.”
I stared at her.
“What did Dad do?”
“He built a network.”
“What kind?”
“Money laundering. Identity fraud. Blackmail. Medical records.”
I thought of my forged records.
“My father's network forged my medical files.”
“Yes.”
“And the trust?”
“Was never about money.”
I looked at Emily.
“What is it about?”
Sarah knelt beside her.
“Your grandfather discovered that your father had stolen billions.”
“Billions?”
“He hid evidence inside the trust.”
I stared at the papers.
“So whoever controls Emily controls the evidence.”
Sarah nodded.
“That is why they want her.”
My daughter looked confused.
“Why does everyone want me?”
Sarah pulled her into her arms.
“Because you're the one person they couldn't corrupt.”
Then the door behind us locked.
A voice came from the darkness.
“That's not entirely true.”
A flashlight turned on.
Richard.
Rebecca's father.
He held a gun.
May you like
And beside him stood my father.
Alive.
