Chapter 11 - THE COPY
Victoria believed she had won.
For almost five minutes, Elena believed it too.
Then Julian noticed Elena wasn’t panicking.
“You copied it.”
She looked at him.
“Every page.”
“Where?”
Elena tapped her phone.
“Cloud storage.”
Julian smiled for the first time that night.
“That might be the most attractive thing anyone has done in this house.”
Despite everything, Elena laughed.
Richard did not.
He was staring at the empty driveway where Victoria had escaped for the second time.
“She knew the agent.”
Elena nodded.
“Or Thomas did.”
The legitimate investigators immediately began reviewing credentials.
Within twenty minutes, they confirmed the truth.
The man in the blue tie was not a federal agent.
He had entered using forged credentials.
The real agents were furious.
So was Richard.
But Julian remained focused.
“Who sent you the warning?”
Elena showed him the number.
No name.
No return calls.
Richard asked security to trace it.
The result came from inside the estate.
Specifically, from the old gardener’s cottage.
They surrounded the cottage.
Julian entered first.
Elena followed despite everyone telling her not to.
A lamp burned near the window.
A cup of coffee sat on the table.
Someone had been there minutes earlier.
On the wall hung dozens of photographs.
Victoria.
Richard.
Julian.
Elena.
Even Isabel.
Elena approached one photograph.
It showed her mother standing outside a grocery store six months before her death.
“She was being watched.”
Julian looked around.
“By who?”
Richard opened a drawer.
Inside were passports.
All carried the same photograph.
Different names.
Marcus Vale.
Michael Vance.
Arthur Cole.
The dead detective had lived here.
Elena searched the desk.
She found an old cell phone.
One message remained open.
SHE HAS THE SECOND KEY.
Another message sat beneath it.
BRING HER TO T.
Julian read over her shoulder.
“T.”
“Thomas,” Elena whispered.
Richard suddenly called from the next room.
They found a map spread across a small table.
One location had been circled repeatedly.
An abandoned Harrington textile mill two hours north of the city.
Elena recognized the address.
“My mother worked there before I was born.”
Richard stared at the map.
“So did Thomas.”
A sound came from outside.
Julian turned.
The gardener’s cottage window exploded inward.
Everyone ducked.
A rock landed on the floor.
Something had been wrapped around it.
Elena picked it up.
A photograph.
It showed Victoria tied to a chair.
Her mouth was covered.
Her eyes were terrified.
On the back, someone had written a message.
BRING THE SECOND KEY TO THE MILL BY MIDNIGHT.
COME ALONE, ELENA.
OR VICTORIA DIES WITH THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY’S SECRETS.
Julian looked at Elena.
“You are not going alone.”
Elena stared at Victoria’s photograph.
For four years, Victoria had lied to her.
Humiliated her.
Framed her.
Possibly helped hide the truth about her grandfather.
May you like
But whoever had Victoria now knew something even more dangerous.
And Elena intended to find out what it was.
