Chapter 7 - BloodThe church seemed to shrink around them.
Callum did not speak.
Sadie stared at him.
Her mother stepped backward.
“Tell her.”
Callum’s jaw tightened.
“Not here.”
“Where, then?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Her mother shook her head.
“There is nowhere safe anymore.”
Sadie turned toward Callum.
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
The word broke something inside her.
Vincent Hale.
The man who had murdered her sister.
The man who had destroyed her family.
Callum’s father.
She took a step backward.
“So you’re his son.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“I learned when I was twenty-four.”
“And you still worked with him.”
“Briefly.”
“How briefly?”
“Six months.”
“You knew what he was.”
“I knew what he wanted.”
“And you became part of it.”
“I became the reason it ended.”
Her mother spoke.
“Callum stole the ledger from Hale.”
Sadie looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Hale was preparing to eliminate everyone listed inside.”
“The people paying him?”
“The people who knew his secrets.”
Callum added quietly:
“And your father was one of those people.”
Sadie looked at her mother.
“What did Dad discover?”
Her mother swallowed.
“The ledger was incomplete.”
“How?”
“One section had been removed.”
Callum’s expression hardened.
“Who removed it?”
Her mother looked at him.
“Your father.”
“Hale?”
“Yes.”
“What was in that section?”
She whispered:
“Proof that Hale did not create the organization.”
Sadie frowned.
“Then who did?”
Her mother looked toward the church doors.
“We never found out.”
A gunshot shattered the stained-glass window.
Callum moved instantly.
He pushed Sadie to the floor.
Her mother screamed.
More bullets struck the walls.
Callum pulled his weapon.
“Back door.”
They ran.
The church became chaos.
Glass exploded.
Candles toppled.
Callum shoved the women through a side passage.
They burst into the alley.
A black SUV raced toward them.
Callum raised his gun.
The SUV stopped.
The rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
Vincent Hale.
Older now.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Calm smile.
Sadie froze.
“Hale.”
He looked at Callum.
“My son.”
Callum pointed the gun at him.
“You are not my father.”
Hale smiled.
“Biology disagrees.”
He looked at Sadie.
“I expected you sooner.”
Sadie stepped forward.
“You killed my sister.”
“No.”
Callum’s eyes narrowed.
Hale continued:
“I gave her the chance to live.”
“She died.”
“Because she trusted the wrong person.”
Sadie looked at Callum.
Hale noticed.
“You see?”
He smiled.
“Still using her to redeem himself.”
Callum raised his weapon.
Hale opened his coat.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Emma.
Sadie.
Their father.
Their mother.
Callum.
Everyone.
“You want the truth?” Hale asked.
“Yes.”
“Then come with me.”
Callum laughed.
“You think I will follow you?”
“No.”
Hale looked at Sadie.
“I think she will.”
Sadie stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I have your mother.”
Her mother gasped.
“What?”
Hale smiled.
“The woman standing beside you is not your mother.”
Sadie went cold.
“What?”
Hale pointed.
“The real Evelyn Miller died six years ago.”
The woman beside Sadie began to shake.
Callum raised his weapon.
Hale whispered:
“I brought you a replacement.”
The woman tore away her wig.
Underneath was another face.
A stranger.
Sadie stumbled backward.
Callum grabbed her.
Hale smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Then the SUV doors slammed shut.
The vehicle vanished into the rain.
Sadie looked at Callum.
“Who was that woman?”
He stared after Hale.
“I don’t know.”
Then he looked down.
A small envelope lay on the wet pavement.
Inside was a key.
Engraved on it:
ROOM 317. CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
May you like
And beneath it:
EMMA LEFT THIS FOR CALLUM.
