Chapter 4 - The Sister Behind the Mirror
Elena Hale had been declared dead six years earlier.
But she was alive.
Daniel and Reed tracked her to an abandoned apartment on the south side.
They found photographs covering the walls.
Victoria.
Daniel.
Daniel's father.
Emma.
Lily.
And hundreds of others.
Elena had been watching them for years.
“She was investigating the Whitmores,” Reed said.
Daniel stared at the photographs.
“Why?”
A recording answered him.
Elena's voice.
“My sister didn't know the truth.”
Daniel pressed play.
“Victoria believed she was helping Daniel. She believed the poison would only make him sick long enough for someone to control him.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
“She was lied to.”
The recording continued.
“Your father has been laundering money through the Whitmore foundation for fifteen years.”
Daniel sat down.
The foundation.
His family's pride.
Their charitable empire.
Hospitals.
Schools.
Children's programs.
All of it had been used to move stolen money.
But Elena had discovered something worse.
Daniel's father had been selling confidential medical information.
Patient records.
Genetic profiles.
Cancer data.
Everything.
And Lily's father had discovered it.
That's why he died.
Emma broke down when she heard it.
“My husband knew.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father threatened Lily.”
Daniel's fists clenched.
Elena had one final recording.
“The evidence is inside the wedding ring.”
Daniel looked at his hand.
His ring.
He pulled it off.
There was a tiny seam.
Reed examined it.
Inside was a microchip.
Daniel stared.
“My father gave me this ring.”
Reed looked at him.
“Then he may have known you would eventually find out.”
The chip contained thousands of files.
Bank transfers.
Emails.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Names.
Dates.
And one video.
Daniel pressed play.
His father appeared on screen.
He was speaking to Samuel Voss.
“If Daniel discovers the truth, eliminate him.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
His father had ordered his death.
The man who raised him.
The man who had walked him down the aisle.
The man who had smiled in every family photograph.
He had ordered his own son's murder.
Then another voice entered the recording.
Victoria's.
“I won't do it.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
She had tried to poison him.
But she had also tried to save him.
The recording continued.
Samuel grabbed Victoria.
“Then your brother dies.”
Daniel looked at Reed.
“We have enough.”
Reed nodded.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“We have more than enough.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Reed drew his weapon.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded.
Reed fell.
Daniel grabbed Lily and pushed her behind a wall.
Emma screamed.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
Then a voice whispered through the darkness.
“You should have taken the poison.”
May you like
Daniel recognized it.
His father's voice.
