Chapter 6
Hayes killed every light in the house.
“Back room,” he whispered.
Victor carried Ethan.
Lily pulled Margaret with her.
Rosa followed.
They moved toward the kitchen.
The man outside knocked again.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
Hayes remained beside the front door.
“I know you’re in there.”
Victor stopped.
How?
Only a handful of people knew where they were.
Hayes had insisted on secrecy.
Even Blackwood security had not been told.
The stranger laughed softly.
“You can hide, Victor.”
Then came another voice.
A woman.
Victor recognized it instantly.
Serena.
“You can’t hide forever.”
Lily’s face went white.
Victor handed Ethan to her.
“Take him upstairs.”
“No.”
“Lily.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
She stared at him.
Victor lowered his voice.
“Please.”
Something in his expression changed her mind.
She took Ethan.
Rosa and Margaret followed her upstairs.
Victor returned toward the foyer.
Hayes glared at him.
“I told you to stay back.”
“My house or not, my family is inside.”
“This isn’t your house.”
“You know what I mean.”
Hayes glanced through the window.
“Two people.”
“Serena and Rourke?”
“Probably.”
“Call backup.”
“Already did.”
Victor looked toward the door.
“Why are they here?”
“To scare you.”
“They could’ve done that by phone.”
Hayes nodded.
“Exactly.”
A loud crack shattered a front window.
Victor ducked.
Glass covered the floor.
Something rolled into the room.
Hayes shouted.
“Down!”
Victor dropped.
But it wasn’t an explosive.
It was a small metal cylinder.
Smoke began pouring from it.
“Move!”
Victor and Hayes retreated.
Smoke filled the foyer.
A second window shattered near the kitchen.
Another canister entered.
“They’re trying to force us out,” Hayes said.
The smoke was thick but not toxic enough to incapacitate instantly.
Hayes covered his mouth.
“Back door.”
Victor ran upstairs.
Lily was already moving.
“What’s happening?”
“We’re leaving.”
Margaret grabbed a coat.
Rosa carried a bag.
Victor took Ethan.
Downstairs, Hayes opened the back door.
“Go to the field.”
They ran.
Cold night air hit Victor’s face.
Behind them, smoke poured through broken windows.
A third person suddenly emerged from beside the barn.
“Stop!”
Victor turned.
The stranger rushed toward him.
Hayes fired a warning shout.
“Police! Don’t move!”
The man ignored him.
He came straight for Victor.
More precisely, for Ethan.
Victor shifted his son behind him.
The attacker swung.
Victor blocked badly.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
But he stayed standing.
He handed Ethan toward Lily.
“Take him!”
She grabbed the child.
The attacker lunged again.
Victor hit him.
Once.
Hard.
The man stumbled.
Hayes tackled him.
Within seconds, he was on the ground in handcuffs.
“Where’s Serena?” Hayes demanded.
The man laughed.
Hayes pulled him upright.
“Where?”
The man spit blood onto the grass.
“You’re already too late.”
Victor turned toward the road.
A black sedan sped away.
“Serena!”
Hayes grabbed Victor before he could chase it.
“Don’t.”
“She’s escaping.”
“We have one of her men.”
Victor looked at the arrested attacker.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“You don’t remember me.”
Victor studied him.
“No.”
“You should.”
Something about his face felt familiar.
The man continued.
“I worked for your wife.”
Victor froze.
“Claire?”
The man smiled wider.
“Now you remember.”
Victor did.
His name was Owen Pike.
He had been a temporary driver.
Only for a few months.
Claire had fired him shortly before she died.
“Why are you here?”
Owen laughed.
“Ask your dead wife.”
Victor lunged at him.
Hayes stopped him.
“Victor!”
Owen laughed harder.
“She knew.”
Victor stared.
“Knew what?”
“Everything.”
Hayes pushed Owen toward another officer who had arrived from the road.
Backup flooded the property minutes later.
Serena was gone.
Again.
But Owen was in custody.
The farmhouse was searched.
No fire had started.
The smoke devices were designed to frighten them outside.
That meant Serena had wanted something.
Or someone.
Ethan.
Victor stood in the kitchen while paramedics checked everyone.
Lily had a scratch on her hand.
Margaret was shaken.
Rosa was crying.
Ethan had somehow fallen asleep again.
Victor envied him.
Hayes returned.
“Owen’s talking.”
Victor looked up.
“That was fast.”
“He wants a deal.”
“For what?”
“He has outstanding warrants.”
Victor crossed his arms.
“What does he know?”
“Plenty.”
They went outside.
Hayes spoke quietly.
“Owen says Serena has been planning this for years.”
“How many?”
“At least three.”
Victor frowned.
“I barely knew her three years ago.”
“Claire did.”
Victor stared at him.
“Explain.”
“Serena and Claire met in college.”
“I know.”
“But they had a falling-out.”
Victor didn’t.
“Claire never told me.”
“Apparently Serena blamed Claire for something.”
“What?”
“Money.”
Victor shook his head.
“Claire didn’t take money from Serena.”
“Not directly.”
Hayes explained.
“Serena and Claire started a small investment company after college.”
Victor vaguely remembered Claire mentioning an old business venture.
“It failed.”
“For Serena.”
“What does that mean?”
“Claire pulled out when she discovered financial irregularities.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“Fraud?”
“According to Owen, yes.”
“Serena was stealing?”
“Using client money to cover losses.”
Victor felt a terrible sense of recognition.
“When Claire threatened to report it, Serena’s father paid the investors back.”
“So no charges.”
“Correct.”
“And Serena blamed Claire.”
Hayes nodded.
“She believed Claire ruined her future.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“So she decided to ruin hers.”
“It gets worse.”
Victor was tired of hearing that sentence.
“How?”
“Owen says Serena started following Claire years later.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered Claire had married you.”
Victor stared into the darkness.
Blackwood.
Money.
Status.
Everything Serena wanted.
“She came back into Claire’s life intentionally.”
“Yes.”
Victor thought of dinner parties.
Birthdays.
Weekend trips.
Serena smiling beside Claire.
Calling herself Ethan’s aunt.
“She was never Claire’s friend.”
“Not anymore.”
Victor’s hands tightened.
“What was Owen’s role?”
“He helped Serena watch the house.”
“And the pills?”
“He claims Rourke handled that.”
Victor looked at Hayes.
“Then Rourke knows everything.”
“We need to find him.”
A police officer approached.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“We got something from the suspect.”
Hayes followed him.
Victor came too.
Owen was sitting in the back of a police cruiser.
He leaned toward the open door.
“I remembered something.”
Hayes crossed his arms.
“Convenient.”
“Serena has another place.”
“Where?”
Owen smiled.
“What do I get?”
“Maybe the prosecutor doesn’t bury you.”
Owen considered that.
Then he gave them an address.
Victor recognized the area.
An old estate outside the city.
“Who owns it?”
Owen laughed.
“You do.”
Victor frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“One of your companies does.”
Victor looked at Daniel, who had just arrived with another security team.
“Check.”
Daniel searched on his tablet.
His expression changed.
“He’s right.”
Victor stared.
“The property belongs to a Blackwood subsidiary.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
Victor looked at Owen.
“How does Serena know about it?”
Owen shrugged.
“She knows a lot about you.”
The police organized immediately.
No one wanted Victor coming.
Victor refused to remain behind.
An hour later, a convoy reached the abandoned estate.
The building was dark.
Broken windows.
Overgrown grounds.
Police entered first.
Victor waited outside with Hayes until officers cleared the entrance.
Then they moved in.
The inside smelled of dust.
Rooms were mostly empty.
Until they reached the basement.
There, they found something that changed everything.
A wall covered in photographs.
Victor.
Claire.
Ethan.
The mansion.
Office buildings.
Lily.
Rosa.
Schedules.
Maps.
Notes.
Years of surveillance.
Victor stared in horror.
Then Hayes noticed a photograph pinned separately.
It showed Claire standing outside Dr. Warren’s medical office.
The date was one day before her death.
Victor stepped closer.
Written beneath it were four words.
She knows. Finish tomorrow.
Victor’s blood went cold.
Hayes looked at him.
“Claire knew.”
Victor remembered her journal.
Tomorrow I’m calling Dr. Warren privately.
Claire had gone.
She had discovered something.
Victor turned.
“We need to talk to Warren.”
Hayes nodded.
Then an officer called from the next room.
“Detective!”
They hurried in.
A laptop sat open on a desk.
The screen showed a live video feed.
Victor stared.
It was the farmhouse.
Lily was visible through an upstairs window.
Holding Ethan.
“They’re watching them.”
Victor grabbed his phone.
Before he could dial, the video feed suddenly went black.
Then words appeared on the screen.
HELLO, VICTOR.
Everyone froze.
A second line appeared.
YOU FOUND MY LITTLE ROOM.
Victor stared at the screen.
Then another message.
NOW LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN FIND YOUR SON.
Victor’s heart stopped.
His phone rang.
Lily.
He answered.
May you like
But Lily wasn’t speaking.
She was screaming.
