Chapter 13 - Daniel ReevesDaniel locked the chapel door behind him.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Megan looked terrified.
I stepped forward.
“You disappeared.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted me dead.”
I stared at him.
“What happened the night Grandfather died?”
Daniel looked at the metal box.
“He knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Thomas planned to destroy the company.”
“And Eleanor?”
Daniel nodded.
“She was involved.”
“How?”
“She had access to the research.”
“Did she help Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Did they kill my grandfather?”
Daniel looked down.
“I didn't see the actual moment.”
“But you saw what happened before.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Richard met Eleanor.”
“Why?”
“He thought she was loyal.”
“And?”
“She wasn't.”
Daniel looked at me.
“She told him Thomas had been moving company money.”
“Did Richard confront Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“We saw the video.”
Daniel nodded.
“After that, Richard told me to prepare a car.”
“For what?”
“To leave the city.”
I frowned.
“He was planning to disappear?”
“He wanted to protect you.”
“From my father.”
“Yes.”
“What happened then?”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Eleanor arrived.”
“With Thomas?”
“No.”
“Alone.”
“She entered the office.”
“Then?”
“She left twenty minutes later.”
“What did she have?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A folder.”
“What folder?”
“The patient records.”
I felt cold.
“My medical records?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she have them?”
Daniel stared at me.
“Because your treatment wasn't random.”
I swallowed.
“What do you mean?”
“Your grandfather arranged for you to be included in the trial.”
“As patient twelve.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the treatment could save you.”
I stared at the table.
“So he wasn't trying to hurt me.”
“No.”
“He was trying to save me.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Daniel looked at Megan.
“Your father discovered the trial.”
“And changed the records.”
“Yes.”
“But if the treatment worked…”
“Then your grandfather would prove the technology belonged to him.”
“And Thomas wanted to sell it.”
“Yes.”
“To the competitor.”
“Yes.”
I suddenly understood the true battle.
The inheritance was a distraction.
The company was the weapon.
The trial was the prize.
And I was the evidence.
“What happened after Eleanor left?”
Daniel's voice lowered.
“Richard called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to take you somewhere safe if anything happened.”
“Then?”
“There was a crash.”
“Whose?”
Richard's car.
“But he wasn't driving.”
My heart stopped.
“Who was?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Eleanor.”
I felt dizzy.
“She drove his car?”
“Yes.”
“She staged the accident?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Richard was alive after the crash.”
That sentence shattered everything.
“He survived?”
“For a few minutes.”
“What happened?”
“I found him.”
“Where?”
“On the side of the road.”
“Was Thomas there?”
“No.”
“Eleanor?”
“No.”
“Then who killed him?”
Daniel's eyes filled with fear.
“I don't know.”
I stepped closer.
“You know.”
He whispered:
“Your mother.”
I froze.
Megan covered her mouth.
“What?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Karen arrived before the ambulance.”
“No.”
“She was crying.”
“No.”
“She held Richard's hand.”
“No.”
“And he said something to her.”
“What?”
“He told her to protect you.”
I stared at him.
“Then what?”
“Karen told me to leave.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she do?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“She stayed alone with him.”
“And?”
“When I returned with the ambulance, Richard was dead.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother killed my grandfather?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you say her name?”
“Because I saw her holding something.”
“What?”
“A syringe.”
Silence.
Megan began crying.
“That can't be true.”
Daniel continued:
“I didn't know what was in it.”
I looked at the box.
Then at the medical records.
Then at my childhood.
Maybe my mother hadn't been protecting me.
Maybe she had been part of the conspiracy.
My phone rang.
It was Karen.
I answered.
She didn't say hello.
Instead she said:
“Daniel is lying.”
I looked at him.
Karen's voice trembled.
“Your grandfather was already dead when I arrived.”
“Then why did Daniel see you with a syringe?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
She finally whispered:
“Because I tried to save him.”
“How?”
“Your grandfather had been poisoned.”
The room went silent.
“By whom?”
May you like
Karen's voice broke.
“Thomas.”
