Chapter 11 - The RingThe first thing I noticed after the gunshots was the silence.
Then screaming.
Then footsteps.
Officer Harris moved first.
He pushed us behind a concrete wall.
"Stay here."
Daniel grabbed his arm.
"Who is up there?"
"We don't know."
A man's voice echoed through the house.
"Elena!"
Victor.
My mother stood frozen.
My father looked at her.
"How many people?"
"Two."
"Where?"
"Front and garage."
Officer Harris whispered:
"We have exits."
"Can we get out?"
"Maybe."
I looked down at my wedding ring.
The ring my mother had just identified as the hiding place.
I twisted it.
Nothing.
"How?"
My mother said:
"Pull the inner band."
I did.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a microSD card.
I stared at it.
Twelve years.
Twelve years on my finger.
I turned toward Daniel.
"You knew?"
"No."
"I thought you might."
He looked hurt.
"I would never hide something like this from you."
I believed him.
Then the basement door shook.
Victor shouted:
"Give me the drive!"
My mother yelled back:
"You'll never have it."
A gunshot hit the door.
Wood splintered.
Officer Harris motioned toward a second exit.
A narrow service tunnel led to the backyard.
We ran.
My father stayed behind.
I turned.
"Dad!"
He looked at me.
"Go!"
Another gunshot.
Then his body fell against the wall.
I screamed.
Daniel pulled me into the tunnel.
We emerged behind the house.
Snow covered everything.
Police cars were arriving.
Victor's men were running.
One fled through the trees.
Officer Harris chased him.
I ran toward my father.
He was alive.
Barely.
My mother dropped beside him.
Blood spread across his coat.
He looked at me.
"I am sorry."
"For what?"
"For choosing the lie."
I knelt.
"Tell me."
He touched my hand.
"The records aren't about money."
I froze.
"What?"
"They're about people."
"What people?"
He gasped.
"Children."
My mother looked terrified.
"Robert."
He continued.
"Victor wasn't just moving money."
He looked at Daniel.
"He was moving children."
The world went silent.
Daniel's face changed.
"What kind?"
My father couldn't answer.
But my mother could.
She whispered:
"Adoptions."
My stomach twisted.
"Illegal adoptions?"
My mother nodded.
"And Elena?"
My father looked at me.
"You were one of them."
I couldn't breathe.
"No."
"You were born under a different name."
"Whose?"
He closed his eyes.
"My first wife's."
I stared.
"You were never my biological daughter."
He smiled weakly.
"But I was always your father."
Then his eyes closed.
The ambulance arrived.
May you like
And before they took him away, he whispered one final sentence.
"Ask Victor why he chose your daughters."
