Chapter 8 - The Last Conversation With GrandmaWe watched the footage three times.
Brett entered the warehouse.
Seventeen minutes later, the fire began.
He didn't run.
He walked calmly out the side door.
My stomach turned.
“Where was Grandma?”
Sienna scanned the archive.
“There.”
She opened another file.
A transcript.
A police interview.
The warehouse had burned almost completely.
But one person had been rescued.
My grandmother.
Alive.
For two weeks.
Hospital records showed she had suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns.
But not a stroke.
She recovered.
Then, six months later, she died.
I stared at the dates.
“She lied to me.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“She told everyone she had a stroke.”
“Maybe to protect you.”
“From what?”
We found the answer in another audio file.
My grandmother's voice.
“Claire, if you ever hear this, understand one thing.”
She paused.
“Brett did not start the fire.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Sienna looked equally shocked.
The recording continued.
“He wanted to.”
“Victor ordered it.”
“But someone stopped him.”
My grandmother whispered:
“Someone inside the family.”
Then the recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
“Who?”
We searched the archive.
Nothing.
Then Micah noticed a second audio file.
It had been deleted.
He restored it.
My grandmother's voice returned.
“The person who stopped the fire paid a terrible price.”
A man's voice answered.
“You don't have much time.”
I knew that voice.
Daniel Price.
Our CFO.
He had been the one who secretly helped her.
The recording continued.
Daniel said:
“I copied the records.”
Grandma replied:
“Keep them hidden.”
“Claire will need them.”
“Not until Brett moves.”
Then Daniel asked:
“What if he kills you?”
My grandmother's voice was calm.
“Then he'll reveal himself.”
I stared at Margaret.
“Daniel was working for Grandma.”
“Yes.”
“But then he betrayed her.”
“Or he was pretending to.”
The pieces started shifting.
Daniel hadn't disappeared randomly.
Maybe he was hiding.
Maybe he had been playing both sides for years.
Then Micah found something else.
A file named:
WHEAT.
Inside was a scanned photograph of the brooch.
Next to it was a diagram.
The clasp wasn't the only hidden compartment.
There was a second one.
Under the decorative center.
I touched the brooch.
My fingers found another seam.
But before I could open it, the lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A gunshot cracked somewhere upstairs.
Micah jumped.
Sienna pulled him down.
Margaret whispered:
“Don't move.”
Another gunshot.
Then another.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Heavy.
Someone was coming toward us.
I reached for the emergency flashlight.
Nothing.
Then the archive door opened.
A silhouette appeared.
I couldn't see the face.
He raised a gun.
Sienna stepped in front of Micah.
The figure said:
“Claire.”
I knew that voice.
Daniel.
He lowered the gun.
“Don't make a sound.”
I stared.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Grandma.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Brett.”
“No.”
“Then why did you let him think you did?”
Daniel looked around.
“Because I needed him to trust me.”
He held up a metal case.
“Your grandmother's evidence is inside.”
I moved toward him.
He stopped me.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
He looked at Micah.
“Brett isn't the final threat.”
“Who is?”
Daniel's face went pale.
“Your husband knows I'm alive.”
A noise came from the corridor.
Daniel shut the door.
“He also knows about the second compartment.”
I touched the brooch.
“What is inside?”
Daniel whispered:
“The original ownership certificate.”
I waited.
“Your grandmother's proof that Holloway House was never Brett's company.”
He paused.
“It was always yours.”
Then the hallway exploded with footsteps.
Daniel looked at me.
“Run.”
May you like
The door burst inward.
And Brett stood there.
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