Chapter 6 - The Night the Whitmore Estate Burned
We ran.
Not because we knew where to go.
Because staying meant dying.
The detective pushed Claire behind a stone column.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Where's the drive?”
I held it tightly.
“Here.”
“Don't let them take it.”
We heard footsteps.
Daniel appeared at the end of the hallway.
For a second, I couldn't tell him from Nathan.
Same height.
Same eyes.
Same voice.
But Daniel looked exhausted.
He lowered his weapon.
“I'm not here to hurt you.”
The detective raised his gun.
“Drop yours.”
Daniel did.
“I've been trying to expose them for twelve years.”
He looked at me.
“Your father saved my life.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He found out they were planning to kill me.”
Daniel told us the truth.
The boating accident had been staged.
His family wanted him gone.
He survived.
Then disappeared.
He had spent years building evidence against them.
But Nathan had discovered his identity.
That was when the surveillance began.
Nathan wanted the documents.
Daniel wanted to protect them.
Ethan had helped him.
And that was why Ethan had disappeared.
Then Nathan entered.
He stood at the end of the hallway.
“Enough.”
Claire stepped forward.
“You lied to me.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“I gave you a life.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“You gave me a prison.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“Emily has something that belongs to my family.”
I held up the drive.
“This?”
“Yes.”
“What happens if I don't give it to you?”
He smiled.
“Then people you love start disappearing.”
Claire stepped between us.
“You'll have to go through me.”
Nathan looked at her.
For the first time, something like regret crossed his face.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
A fire alarm suddenly screamed.
Smoke rolled beneath the doors.
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
“There's gas.”
The detective shouted.
“Everybody out!”
Nathan disappeared through a side corridor.
We ran.
The estate erupted behind us.
Flames swallowed the study.
The roof groaned.
Claire stumbled.
I grabbed her.
Ethan grabbed me.
We reached the lawn as flames burst through the windows.
Nathan was nowhere to be seen.
The drive was still in my hand.
But when I looked down, I realized something.
The drive was cracked.
Broken.
Destroyed.
Claire stared at me.
“What do we do now?”
I looked at the burning house.
“We find the original.”
Daniel nodded.
“There is one place Nathan never searched.”
“Where?”
May you like
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father's grave.”
