Chapter 10: The Gunman in the Dark
The second gunshot struck the chapel door.
Laura dragged me behind the stone steps, pressing one hand over my mouth as shattered glass scattered across the pavement. My ears rang. My heart hammered so violently that I could barely hear the footsteps moving through the darkness.
"Stay down," she whispered.
I clutched her sleeve.
"Who is that?""
She shook her head, her face pale beneath the porch light.
"I don't know.""
But something in her expression told me she was lying.
A man's voice came from the other side of the building.
"Laura! Stop making this harder than it has to be!""
She squeezed her eyes shut.
I recognized the voice.
Not because I'd heard it often, but because I'd heard it only hours earlier, when he stood outside my car holding a photograph of my biological mother.
Daniel.
My husband.
My biological uncle.
The man who had spent eight years pretending our marriage was real.
I tried to stand, but Laura pulled me down.
"Don't," she whispered.
"He's trying to kill us!""
"I know.""
"Then why aren't we running?""
"Because he's waiting for us to run.""
A flashlight swept across the chapel steps.
Laura grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a narrow side entrance. The door opened into a tiny storage room filled with folding chairs, cardboard boxes, and the smell of damp wood.
She pushed me inside.
"There's a back exit.""
We hurried between stacked chairs. My fever made every step feel uncertain, but fear kept me moving.
Behind us, the front door slammed open.
"Emily!"" Daniel shouted.
"I know you're in there!""
Laura stopped beside the rear door.
I caught her arm.
"How did he find us?""
She looked at me.
"Someone told him.""
"Who?""
She didn't answer.
I pushed open the rear door, and we stumbled into a narrow alley bordered by a brick wall and an overgrown hedge.
A police siren wailed in the distance.
Detective Harris.
I'd seen him speaking into his radio before I'd approached the chapel. He must have heard the gunshots.
"Laura, we need to get to the road.""
She shook her head.
"Not the main road. Follow me.""
We moved through the hedge and emerged beside a small parking lot. A dark sedan sat near the far fence, its engine running.
Laura pulled a key from her pocket.
"Get in.""
I hesitated.
"Whose car is that?""
"Mine.""
I stared at her.
"You've been planning this.""
"I've been planning to survive.""
She unlocked the passenger door.
I climbed inside, and she pulled away before I'd fastened my seat belt.
We drove through the side streets without speaking. Every pair of headlights behind us made me turn around.
After five minutes, I finally asked the question burning inside me.
"Why did you tell me you didn't know what happened to Dad?""
Laura kept her eyes on the road.
"Because I didn't know whether he was alive.""
"But you said you saw Daniel holding a gun.""
"I did.""
"Who was on the floor?""
She gripped the steering wheel.
"A man named Victor Hale.""
The name meant nothing to me.
"Who was he?""
"He was your father's business partner. He controlled several of the accounts connected to the construction company.""
I thought of the estate agreement, the forged signatures, and the transactions under my name.
"Was he stealing from Dad?""
"Yes. Richard discovered it and threatened to expose him.""
"And Daniel?""
"Daniel worked for Victor before he started working for your father.""
I stared at her.
"So Daniel was investigating his own employer?""
Laura nodded.
"Richard believed he could turn Daniel against Victor by offering him money and a chance to protect you. But Daniel had his own plans.""
The car turned onto a quiet residential street.
"Did Daniel shoot Victor?""
"I heard the gunshot. I didn't see who fired.""
"Then why did you think Dad was alive?""
"Because I saw him leave through a side door. He was injured, but he was walking.""
I closed my eyes.
Six years of grief.
Six years of believing my father had died while Daniel knew he might still be alive.
"Why didn't Dad come back to me?""
Laura's voice broke.
"I think he was afraid.""
"Of Daniel?""
"Of everyone involved.""
I stared out the window.
"Then why did he call me today?""
"I don't know.""
We reached a small house on a quiet street. Laura parked behind it, checked the road, and led me inside.
The living room was sparsely furnished. A lamp illuminated a stack of newspapers, a laptop, and several photographs spread across a coffee table.
One photograph showed my father standing outside a hospital.
Another showed Daniel beside Victor Hale.
The third showed Patricia handing a thick envelope to a man whose face had been scratched out.
I picked it up.
"When was this taken?""
"Three months before Richard disappeared.""
"What was in the envelope?""
"Money. I believe Patricia was paying someone to alter the company records.""
I turned toward her.
"My mother was involved in the theft?""
"She was involved in the cover-up. I never learned whether she knew about the original fraud.""
I sat down heavily.
Every person I'd loved seemed to have a secret.
Laura placed a glass of water in front of me.
"Emily, there's something else.""
I looked up.
"What now?""
She opened a drawer and removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of a newborn baby wearing a yellow blanket.
The same photograph I'd found at the chapel.
But this time, I noticed something in the corner.
A hospital bracelet.
The name printed on it wasn't Emily Thompson.
It was *Emily Bennett*.
My hands began shaking.
"Why was my name Bennett?""
Laura sat beside me.
"Because that's the name I gave you when you were born.""
I stared at the bracelet.
"Then who changed it?""
"Richard.""
She reached into the envelope and removed a folded birth certificate.
My biological mother's name was listed correctly.
My father's name was blank.
But beneath the official information, someone had written a note in blue ink.
Replacement certificate issued at the request of Richard Thompson. Original record sealed.
I looked at Laura.
"Why would he do that?""
She swallowed.
"Because Richard wasn't your biological father.""
I couldn't speak.
She continued, her voice trembling.
"Your biological father was Victor Hale.""
The room seemed to tilt.
Victor—the man Daniel had supposedly been standing over with a gun.
The man connected to the stolen money.
The man whose body might have been found beneath the concrete floor.
I gripped the birth certificate.
"Did Daniel know?""
Laura nodded.
"From the beginning.""
A sudden knock sounded at the front door.
Laura jumped to her feet.
I stared at the entrance.
Then a voice came from the other side.
"Emily, it's Detective Harris. Open the door.""
I moved toward it.
Laura grabbed my arm.
"Wait.""
"He's the police!""
"Look through the window first.""
I approached the curtain and peered outside.
Detective Harris stood on the porch, holding his badge against the glass.
Behind him was another officer.
And beside them stood my mother, Patricia.
She was crying.
But she wasn't looking at me.
She was staring at Laura's house as though she knew exactly what we'd discovered.
Then she lifted her phone and spoke to someone.
Even through the glass, I could read her lips.
"She's here.""
May you like
A second later, a message appeared on Laura's laptop.
*UNKNOWN SENDER: THE BODY UNDER THE CONCRETE IS NOT VICTOR HALE. IT'S DANIEL'S FIRST VICTIM.*
