Chapter 6 - The Shot That Changed EverythingRichard collapsed beside the helicopter.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Everyone froze.
Charlotte stared at the weapon in his hand.
Then she looked toward the rooftop entrance.
Nobody was there.
"Who fired?" Victoria whispered.
Mara immediately moved toward Richard.
"He was shot from behind."
Daniel looked around.
"We're not alone."
Charlotte felt cold despite the rain.
Someone had wanted Richard dead.
But why?
Richard struggled to breathe.
Charlotte knelt beside him.
"Who shot you?"
Richard laughed weakly.
"You still think I was the worst of them."
"What does that mean?"
He looked at her.
"The board."
Charlotte's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Richard coughed.
"Ask..."
His eyes shifted toward the hotel.
"...your mother."
Charlotte froze.
"What?"
Richard's hand grabbed her wrist.
"The person who betrayed Eleanor..."
He stopped breathing.
Victoria screamed.
Security rushed onto the roof.
Mara stood.
"Everyone back."
Charlotte stared at Richard's body.
A million questions crashed through her mind.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
Another appeared.
YOUR MOTHER DID NOT DIE BY ACCIDENT.
Charlotte stared at the screen.
Then a final message.
SHE LEFT YOU ONE MORE SECRET.
A location appeared.
A private apartment downtown.
Charlotte knew the address.
Her mother's old apartment.
The place Charlotte hadn't visited since the funeral.
She stood.
"We're going there."
Mara shook her head.
"Too dangerous."
"That's exactly why we're going."
Victoria stepped beside her.
"I'm coming."
Charlotte looked at her.
"You don't have to."
Victoria swallowed.
"I owe you."
"No."
Charlotte looked at Richard.
"You owe yourself the truth."
Daniel approached.
"We should call the police."
Charlotte shook her head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because someone inside Solmere controls them."
Mara looked impressed.
"Your mother trained you well."
Charlotte stared at her.
"She barely had time."
Mara's expression softened.
"She had more time than you think."
Charlotte looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Mara didn't answer.
The rain fell harder.
Thirty minutes later, Charlotte stood outside Eleanor Vale's abandoned apartment.
The building had been closed for months.
Charlotte inserted the key.
The door opened.
Dust covered the furniture.
Photographs still hung on the walls.
Charlotte walked through the living room.
Memories attacked her.
Her mother's perfume.
Her father's old books.
A piano Charlotte had learned to play as a child.
Then she noticed something.
One key was raised.
She touched it.
Nothing.
Mara walked over.
"Look underneath."
Charlotte lifted the piano bench.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a small wooden box.
Charlotte removed it.
A lock covered the lid.
No key.
She looked at Mara.
"How do we open it?"
Mara pointed at Charlotte's necklace.
"The pendant."
Charlotte touched the necklace Eleanor had given her on her eighteenth birthday.
She pulled it free.
The pendant fit perfectly into the lock.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside was a photograph.
A wedding certificate.
And a letter.
Charlotte unfolded it.
Her mother's handwriting appeared.
Charlotte,
There is something I never told you.
Charlotte's hands shook.
Richard Ashford was not the architect of everything.
Her heart pounded.
He was only following orders.
Charlotte read the next sentence.
And suddenly the room seemed to tilt.
The person who ordered your father's death was someone you know.
At the bottom of the page was a single name.
Charlotte stared.
She knew that name.
Everyone in Solmere knew it.
Her mother's oldest friend.
The person who had attended her funeral.
The woman Charlotte had trusted since childhood.
Margaret Vale.
Her grandmother.
Charlotte whispered:
"No."
The apartment lights suddenly came on.
A voice came from the hallway.
"Yes."
Charlotte turned.
May you like
Margaret stood there.
Holding a gun.
