Chapter 7
Daniel drove faster than he ever had in his life.
Sister Agnes sat beside him.
She had refused to remain behind.
“If Rose calls, she may know another entrance,” she said.
Daniel gripped the steering wheel.
“Margaret will kill them before Rose can help.”
“Margaret needs the medallion.”
“Once she has it, she won’t need them.”
“Then make sure she never gets what she needs.”
Daniel touched the false pendant in his pocket.
The real chip remained hidden beneath his belt.
He had one chance.
The mausoleum appeared beyond the trees.
A black sedan waited outside.
No other vehicles were visible.
That meant nothing.
Margaret’s people could be hidden anywhere.
Daniel stopped near the chapel.
Sister Agnes took the phone.
“I’ll wait here.”
“If I don’t come back—”
“You will.”
“If I don’t, call Reyes.”
“She is in surgery.”
“Call Marcus Hale. Call the state police. Call everyone.”
Daniel stepped out.
The cemetery was silent.
Snow had begun falling in thin, sharp flakes.
He walked between stone monuments toward the Whitmore mausoleum.
The iron door stood open.
Inside, candles burned along the walls.
Margaret waited at the center of the main chamber.
Lauren stood beside her.
Ross leaned against a pillar, pale from blood loss, his gun aimed at Daniel.
The twins were not visible.
“Where are they?” Daniel asked.
Margaret held out her hand.
“The medallion.”
“Girls first.”
“You are not negotiating.”
“Then you get nothing.”
Ross moved closer.
Daniel looked at the bandage around his side.
Reyes had hit him.
He was weaker than he appeared.
Margaret sighed.
“Lauren.”
Lauren opened the lower chamber door.
Ivy and Skye sat on the floor.
Their hands were bound.
A gasoline can stood nearby.
Daniel’s vision turned red.
Ivy saw him.
“Daddy!”
He took one step.
Ross pressed the gun to his chest.
“Stop.”
Daniel lifted both hands.
“I brought it.”
He removed the false medallion.
Margaret’s eyes fixed on it.
“Place it on the altar.”
Daniel walked slowly toward the stone altar.
Every step brought him closer to Lauren.
Closer to the twins.
But Ross followed.
Daniel placed the medallion down.
Margaret picked it up.
She examined the front.
The back.
Then pressed the hidden center.
The compartment opened.
She saw the trimmed memory card inside.
For one second, satisfaction softened her face.
“Finally.”
“Release them.”
Margaret handed the medallion to Lauren.
“Verify it.”
Lauren removed a tablet from her bag.
She inserted the false chip through an adapter.
The screen flashed.
Then went blank.
Lauren frowned.
“It’s not reading.”
Margaret looked at Daniel.
He kept his expression calm.
“It was hidden inside old bread. Maybe it’s damaged.”
“Try again,” Margaret ordered.
Lauren removed the chip and reinserted it.
Nothing.
Ross struck Daniel across the face with the gun.
He fell against the altar.
Ivy screamed.
Skye tried to reach her.
“Where is the real chip?” Margaret asked.
“That is the real chip.”
Ross grabbed Daniel’s coat and pulled him upright.
“Lie again.”
Daniel smiled through blood.
“You’re losing a lot of blood, Calvin.”
Ross hit him in the ribs.
Daniel nearly fell.
Margaret stepped closer.
“You were always stubborn when emotional.”
“You mean when protecting someone.”
“I mean when weak.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Claire was stronger than you.”
Margaret slapped him.
“She died afraid.”
“She died fighting you.”
“She died knowing she failed.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She knew the girls survived. She knew one day I would find them.”
Margaret’s composure cracked.
“She knew nothing.”
“She knew Rose was alive.”
Lauren looked up.
Ross shifted.
Margaret became perfectly still.
Daniel saw it.
Rose was the one name that frightened her.
“You spoke to Rose?” Margaret asked.
“Maybe.”
“She’s dead.”
“So was Claire. Yet she still defeated you.”
Margaret turned to Ross.
“Search him.”
Ross grabbed Daniel’s arms.
Daniel waited until Ross’s injured side was exposed.
Then drove his elbow into the wound.
Ross shouted.
Daniel twisted the gun away.
Lauren screamed.
A shot struck the ceiling.
Stone fragments fell.
Daniel shoved Ross down and aimed the gun at Margaret.
“Release them.”
Margaret did not move.
Lauren reached for the lighter.
Daniel pointed the gun at her.
“Drop it.”
Lauren’s hand trembled.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“Touch that lighter and find out.”
For the first time, Lauren looked uncertain.
Margaret remained calm.
“You cannot watch all of us.”
The outer door slammed shut.
Daniel turned instinctively.
It was enough.
Ross tackled him.
The gun slid across the floor.
Lauren grabbed the lighter.
Margaret pulled a small pistol from beneath her coat.
Daniel struck Ross.
Ross struck back.
Lauren ignited the lighter.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“Put it down.”
Everyone froze.
A woman stood near the entrance.
Dark hair streaked with gray.
A long scar crossed one side of her face.
She held a shotgun.
Sister Agnes stood behind her.
Daniel recognized the woman from Claire’s photograph.
Rose.
Margaret’s face finally showed fear.
“You.”
Rose stepped inside.
“Yes, Margaret. Me.”
Lauren lowered the lighter.
Rose aimed the shotgun at her.
“Kick it away.”
Lauren obeyed.
Daniel pushed Ross off and reached the twins.
He untied Ivy first.
Then Skye.
They threw themselves into his arms.
He held them so tightly they cried.
“I came,” he whispered.
Skye touched his bleeding face.
“Daddy hurt again.”
“I’m okay.”
Rose kept her weapon on Margaret.
“Where is Helen?” Daniel asked.
“Safe.”
The relief nearly broke him.
“Can I see her?”
“When this is over.”
Margaret looked from Rose to Daniel.
“You think this changes anything?”
Rose’s expression was cold.
“It changes everything.”
Sirens sounded beyond the cemetery.
Margaret glanced toward the door.
Sister Agnes smiled.
“I called more than one person.”
Reyes had taught Daniel one important lesson.
Never trust a single line of defense.
State police vehicles surrounded the cemetery.
Officers entered with weapons drawn.
Ross reached for the gun on the floor.
Rose fired.
The blast struck the stone beside his hand.
He screamed and rolled away.
“Next one won’t miss,” Rose said.
Police arrested Ross.
Lauren began crying.
She claimed Margaret forced her.
No one believed her.
Two officers approached Margaret.
She looked at Daniel.
“You are choosing strangers over blood.”
Daniel held Ivy and Skye.
“This is my blood.”
Margaret’s eyes moved to the twins.
There was no love in them.
Only calculation.
“You have no idea what raising them will cost you.”
“Everything I have is theirs.”
“You will lose your company.”
“Then I lose it.”
“Your name.”
“They can have that too.”
“Your freedom.”
Daniel stood.
“They are worth more than all of it.”
Something changed in Margaret’s face.
For the first time, she understood she had lost control of him.
Not temporarily.
Forever.
An officer placed handcuffs on her.
Margaret did not resist.
As she passed Rose, she whispered, “Where is your daughter?”
Rose’s expression changed.
Margaret smiled.
“You found Helen. You found the twins. But you still haven’t found your own child.”
Rose stepped toward her.
“What did you do?”
Police held her back.
Margaret laughed softly.
“The account isn’t the only thing I buried.”
They took her away.
Rose stood motionless.
Daniel saw the terror in her eyes.
“What does she mean?” he asked.
Rose lowered the shotgun.
“My daughter vanished the night of the fire.”
“I thought she escaped with you.”
“No.”
Rose’s voice broke.
“I woke outside. The house was burning. Calvin Ross told the police my child died inside.”
“But there was no child’s death certificate,” Daniel said.
Rose stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Gabriel told me she survived the birth. Marcus found your records.”
Rose’s eyes filled with tears.
“I searched for three years.”
Daniel looked toward the police car carrying Margaret.
“She kept your daughter alive as leverage.”
“Or sold her.”
“We’ll find her.”
Rose laughed bitterly.
“You don’t know how powerful Margaret is.”
“I know exactly how powerful she was.”
“Was?”
Daniel looked at his daughters.
“She has no family left to protect her.”
Rose’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then lowered the phone slowly.
“That was Helen’s doctor.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“She woke up.”
Rose looked at Ivy and Skye.
“She said the person who took my daughter was not Margaret.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who was it?”
May you like
Rose’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Claire.”
