Chapter 10 - The False ConfessionJulian dropped the gun.
“I didn't do this.”
Stallone stepped between him and the children.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Julian lifted his hands.
“I was investigating Richard.”
“You were running the surveillance.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened Mara.”
“No.”
“You watched Noah.”
“Yes.”
Stallone stared.
Julian took a slow breath.
“I watched him because I knew someone else was watching him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why hide?”
“Because every person I trusted disappeared.”
He looked at Helen.
“Mother knows.”
Helen lowered her head.
“She didn't tell me.”
“Because she couldn't.”
Julian explained.
Months before the accident, the family trust began showing irregular transfers.
Stallone's wife discovered them.
Julian started investigating independently.
Then someone sent him a message.
A photograph of Adam.
The message read:
STOP.
OR NOAH DIES NEXT.
Julian had been terrified.
He installed cameras to identify the person entering the mansion.
But someone hacked his system.
He discovered that Mara had been receiving instructions from a masked number.
Gideon had been deleting footage.
Richard had been altering records.
And Helen had been hiding Adam.
But none of them admitted to being the mastermind.
Stallone looked at Gideon.
“Then who is left?”
Gideon was silent.
Suddenly Adam spoke.
“The man in the red tie.”
Julian shook his head.
“He wore one.”
“Another man?”
Adam nodded.
“He came to see me.”
“When?”
“Every Friday.”
Stallone stared.
“Who?”
Adam pointed at a photograph on the wall.
A family portrait.
Stallone.
Helen.
Julian.
Richard.
Gideon.
His wife.
And one other man.
Stallone stared at him.
“That's impossible.”
Julian looked at the portrait.
“No.”
He whispered:
“Daniel Cross.”
The former driver.
The missing man.
Adam continued.
“He told me he was my father's friend.”
Stallone's stomach turned.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
Adam thought.
“He said one day Daddy would understand.”
“Did he come before or after the fire?”
“Before.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
Stallone looked at Helen.
“You knew.”
“I knew Daniel was alive.”
“Where is he?”
No answer.
Then the basement lights shut off.
A voice came over the speaker.
“Enough.”
Richard.
Stallone looked around.
The voice continued.
“You've found Adam.”
“You wanted me to.”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because now you're ready.”
“Ready for what?”
The speaker crackled.
“For the final recording.”
A monitor turned on.
It showed Stallone's wife.
The footage was from the night she died.
She sat in the car.
Noah was beside her.
A figure entered.
Stallone stepped closer.
The face became visible.
It was Daniel Cross.
But Daniel wasn't alone.
A second figure sat in the passenger seat.
A woman.
Stallone stared.
He knew the face.
Helen.
His mother.
His blood ran cold.
The woman on the screen said:
“You promised no one would find out.”
Daniel replied:
“He won't remember.”
Helen leaned toward Noah.
“Make sure of it.”
Stallone turned toward his mother.
“You did it.”
Helen's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
“What?”
“I was trying to save him.”
The recording continued.
Helen reached toward Noah.
She wasn't hurting him.
She was removing a tiny object from his hand.
A key.
Then she looked toward the camera.
And said something that stunned everyone.
“The boy knows where the money is.”
Stallone stared.
“What money?”
Daniel looked toward the backseat.
Then another person stepped into the frame.
A person none of them had expected.
His wife's brother.
Alive.
Stallone whispered:
“Marcus.”
The screen went black.
Julian looked at him.
“That's not possible.”
Stallone shook his head.
“Marcus died with her.”
Helen whispered:
“No.”
She looked at the floor.
“He didn't.”
Then the mansion's master doors opened.
May you like
Someone walked inside.
And the footsteps were coming toward them.
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