Chapter 13 - The Bullet in the Dark
Elena felt Daniel throw himself over her.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
A second gunshot struck metal.
Then the emergency lights turned red.
Daniel pulled Elena behind an old machine.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked her arms, face and stomach.
“I’m fine.”
Across the factory, officers shouted commands.
Richard crawled toward them.
“Lucas is missing.”
Daniel looked toward the place where his brother had been standing.
Only his phone remained on the floor.
Margaret called from the darkness.
“Daniel!”
He did not answer.
Another voice shouted.
“Adrian escaped.”
The main doors stood open.
Tire tracks cut through the dust outside.
When full power returned, one police officer was injured in the shoulder.
Margaret was unharmed.
Charles’s master key was gone.
Daniel approached her.
“Where is Lucas?”
“How would I know?”
“He disappeared when the lights failed.”
“He has always been unreliable.”
Daniel saw blood on Margaret’s sleeve.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It is not mine.”
She tried to wipe it away.
Daniel caught her wrist.
The blood formed several fresh fingerprints.
Richard took a photograph before she could remove them.
Margaret glared at him.
“You are still my attorney.”
“No,” Richard said. “I resigned this afternoon.”
Police searched the building.
They found a hidden tunnel beneath the old loading platform.
It led to the river.
Adrian had planned an escape.
Whether Lucas went willingly remained unclear.
Elena sat inside an ambulance while Dr. Warren examined her again.
“You need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m not leaving until we find Lucas.”
Daniel touched her shoulder.
“The baby comes first.”
“So does your brother.”
Daniel looked at the phone Lucas had left behind.
A draft message remained unsent.
Daniel opened it.
The message was addressed to him.
I found Father’s missing video. Mother did not cut the last seven minutes. Richard did.
Daniel slowly looked toward Richard.
The former attorney was speaking to a detective.
Daniel walked over and handed him the phone.
Richard read the message.
His face revealed nothing.
“Is it true?” Daniel asked.
Richard handed the phone back.
“Yes.”
Elena approached.
“Why?”
“Because Charles confessed to more than financial crimes.”
“What did he confess?”
Richard looked toward Margaret.
She stood beside a police vehicle.
“The night Nathan disappeared, Charles followed him to the old river bridge.”
Daniel waited.
Richard continued.
“They argued. Nathan threatened to expose Margaret. Charles struck him.”
“Did he kill him?”
“He believed he did.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“Believed?”
“Nathan fell into the river. Charles searched, but never found the body.”
Daniel understood.
“Nathan survived.”
“Yes.”
“Why cut the video?”
“Charles asked me to protect you from the truth.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“Everyone keeps destroying evidence to protect me.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“The final minutes also contained an accusation against Margaret. One I could not prove.”
“What accusation?”
Richard looked at the blood on Margaret’s sleeve.
“Charles said she had someone waiting beneath the bridge.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“To make sure Nathan did not survive?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
Margaret looked back without emotion.
A detective approached carrying a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was Charles’s stolen silver watch.
“We found this in the tunnel.”
Daniel took it.
The back had been forced open.
A second memory card remained inside.
Margaret’s confidence disappeared.
Daniel inserted the card into a police laptop.
One file appeared.
Before he could play it, the screen displayed an incoming live video.
Lucas appeared tied to a chair.
Behind him stood a man whose face remained in shadow.
The man spoke.
“Bring Margaret Morrison to the river bridge before dawn.”
Elena stared at the screen.
“Nathan?”
May you like
The shadowed man moved closer.
His eyes were identical to hers.
