Chapter 12 - THE LAST WARNINGEvelyn appeared on the screen.
“Bring me the original trust documents.”
I stared at Lily.
She looked frightened.
But she wasn't crying.
That scared me more.
Evelyn continued.
“And come alone.”
Cross shook his head.
“She wants you isolated.”
I ignored him.
“What if I refuse?”
Evelyn placed a hand on Lily's shoulder.
“Then she disappears.”
The screen went black.
Claire turned toward me.
“We can't go alone.”
“We have no choice.”
“We always have a choice.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“This time she has Lily.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“I won't let her take my niece.”
Vivian stepped forward.
“Then don't follow the rules.”
She opened an old leather case.
Inside was a key.
“What's that?”
“The trust was never controlled digitally.”
She handed it to me.
“This key opens the original vault.”
“Where?”
Vivian smiled.
“Under St. Andrew's Chapel.”
The same chapel where my wedding had almost happened.
We returned there after midnight.
Beneath the altar, we found a hidden compartment.
Inside was a metal box.
The documents were untouched.
But there was one additional envelope.
Addressed to me.
I opened it.
My father's handwriting.
Mark, if you're reading this, your wedding has been compromised.
I read faster.
He explained that Evelyn had been stealing from the family for decades.
He had discovered it.
She threatened Claire.
She threatened me.
And finally, she threatened Lily.
He created the trust as protection.
Then he disappeared.
Not because he was dead.
Because he was hiding.
But the letter contained one final sentence.
Thomas Vance is not your enemy.
I looked at Claire.
“That changes everything.”
We searched for Thomas.
No answer.
Then Vivian received a call.
Her face changed.
“It's him.”
She put the phone on speaker.
Thomas spoke.
“I never wanted this.”
I answered.
“Where is Lily?”
A long silence.
“With Evelyn.”
“Why are you helping her?”
“I'm not.”
“Then help me.”
“I can.”
“How?”
“I can open the room.”
“What room?”
“The original room.”
My heart sank.
“The one under the house?”
“No.”
Thomas whispered:
“The one beneath the chapel.”
Vivian looked at me.
“That's where Evelyn is taking Lily.”
We ran downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs was a steel door.
Thomas had given us the code.
The door opened.
Inside was a room larger than anything beneath my house.
Monitors covered the walls.
Files covered the floor.
And in the center stood a chair.
Lily's chair.
Still warm.
She had been there moments ago.
I turned.
A speaker crackled.
Evelyn laughed.
“You're late.”
Then the lights came on.
Claire screamed.
Because on the far wall was a live camera feed.
Lily wasn't alone.
She was standing beside a man.
A man I recognized.
Jonathan Reed.
May you like
And he wasn't holding a weapon.
He was holding a bloodstained cloth.
