Chapter 6 - MaraMara locked the cellar door behind her.

Then she lowered the gun.

"You need to listen," she said.

I couldn't stop staring.

I had seen her photograph dozens of times in the files.

But the woman standing before me was real.

Alive.

Terrified.

And furious.

"You were my husband's fiancée."

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I found the ledger."

"What ledger?"

"The same one your father found."

My heart pounded.

Mara looked at Daniel.

"You never told her?"

"I was going to."

"When?"

"When it was safe."

Mara laughed bitterly.

"Nothing about this family has ever been safe."

She explained everything.

Twenty-four years ago, Daniel's father had built a network of shell companies.

Money moved between construction firms, charities, and private trusts.

But the money wasn't the darkest part.

Some of the companies didn't legally exist.

They were used to move people across borders.

Children.

Witnesses.

People who were being hidden from authorities.

My mother had discovered it while working in one of the offices.

My father discovered the financial records.

They tried to expose it.

Instead, my father died.

My mother disappeared from the records.

And Eleanor's husband became untouchable.

"Why didn't my mother tell me?"

"Because she was trying to protect you."

I shook my head.

"She's dead."

Mara hesitated.

"Are you sure?"

The room went silent.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know."

She looked at Eleanor.

"She believed your mother might still be alive."

Eleanor nodded.

"I found evidence."

My heartbeat became thunderous.

"Where?"

"Three years ago, I received a photograph."

She pulled a folded image from her coat.

I opened it.

A woman stood beside a lake.

Older.

Thinner.

But unmistakably familiar.

My mother's face.

I couldn't breathe.

Behind her was a handwritten date.

Only one.

September 14.

"That's next week," I whispered.

Eleanor nodded.

"Which means someone expected you to find this today."

Daniel suddenly looked toward the ceiling.

"What?"

He heard it too.

Footsteps.

Above us.

Someone was walking across the kitchen.

Mara raised her gun.

"How many people know you're here?"

Daniel shook his head.

"I don't know."

The cellar door slammed.

Then the lights went out.

A second later, the old house above us filled with the sound of a smoke alarm.

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Mara whispered:

"Someone's trying to burn us alive."