Chapter 17 - The Night Emma DiedCallum's gun lowered.
“No.”
Sadie could barely breathe.
“I remember.”
Michael laughed.
“Tell him.”
Sadie's mind replayed the night.
Emma stood in the warehouse.
Callum arrived.
Michael came behind him.
Elena watched through a window.
Emma had the ledger.
She tried to run.
Callum caught her.
She pleaded.
“Please.”
Then the shot.
Sadie shook.
“You shot her.”
Callum stared.
“I didn't.”
“You were holding the gun.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't fire.”
“No.”
Sadie closed her eyes.
The memory shifted.
A second gun.
Hidden beneath the table.
Michael had fired.
Then he placed the first weapon into Callum's hand.
Callum looked at Sadie.
“He framed me.”
“Yes.”
Michael smiled.
“You finally remember.”
Sadie turned toward him.
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she chose you.”
His voice was almost gentle.
“She chose you over the organization.”
Callum stared.
“And you let me take the blame.”
“Of course.”
Michael laughed.
“You were useful.”
Hale stepped forward.
“And now you are disposable.”
Marcus raised his gun.
Callum reacted first.
He fired.
Marcus dropped.
Hale fired back.
The basement erupted.
Elena screamed.
Michael disappeared behind a wall.
Sadie ran.
Callum grabbed her.
“Stay behind me.”
They moved through the archive.
Bullets shredded shelves.
Pages flew through the air.
The ledger fell.
Sadie reached for it.
A gunshot.
Callum staggered.
“Callum!”
He collapsed.
Blood spread across his chest.
Sadie dropped beside him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Run.”
“I'm not leaving.”
“Sadie.”
She pressed her hands against the wound.
“Stay awake.”
He smiled faintly.
“You always disobey.”
“Yes.”
Hale approached.
Gun raised.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Sadie looked up.
“You killed my family.”
Hale shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Callum.
“Your father did.”
Sadie glanced at Michael.
He stood in the doorway.
Blood on his hands.
The truth finally became clear.
Hale was not the mastermind.
Michael was.
Michael smiled.
“You remember now.”
Sadie stood.
“You used everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Emma.”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“Callum.”
“Yes.”
She stepped closer.
“And me?”
Michael's smile disappeared.
“You were supposed to inherit everything.”
Sadie shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at the ledger.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
She picked up the ledger.
“I was the one who was supposed to destroy it.”
Michael's face changed.
She tore out the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Fire erupted from the hidden oil beneath the archive.
Michael stared.
“What did you do?”
May you like
Sadie smiled through tears.
“Emma taught me.”
