Chapter 10 - The Man at the Gate)
They escaped through the rear entrance.
A black SUV waited outside.
Daniel refused to come.
Elena shouted for him.
He simply stood in the doorway.
"I've done enough."
Julian pulled Elena away.
They drove through the hills while another vehicle followed.
Elena looked back.
"Who is that?"
Julian's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Thomas."
"How do you know?"
"Because only one person knew where we were."
"Who?"
Julian looked at her.
"Daniel."
Elena's stomach dropped.
They reached a safe house.
Inside, Julian finally told her everything.
Thomas had been manipulating the family for years.
Daniel had helped him.
But Daniel had eventually turned against him.
The problem was that Thomas still possessed something crucial.
The original evidence proving Elena's father's death was not accidental.
Elena stared at Julian.
"Was my father murdered?"
Julian nodded.
"I believe so."
"By Thomas?"
"I don't know."
"Then who?"
Julian hesitated.
"There was another person in the car that night."
Elena's breathing stopped.
"Who?"
Julian reached into his coat.
He removed an old photograph.
Elena looked at it.
The photograph showed her father.
Thomas.
Daniel.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
Elena recognized her immediately.
Her mother.
But Elena's mother had died before her father.
According to every record Elena had ever seen.
May you like
Julian looked at her.
"Your mother didn't die when you were told."
