CHAPTER 6 — The Woman Behind the Gun
The first gunshot echoed through the mansion.
The second shattered every light upstairs.
Daniel didn't hesitate.
He shoved the hospital envelope inside his jacket and sprinted toward the staircase.
"Stay here!" he shouted to Mr. Graves.
The old butler grabbed his arm.
"No."
Daniel stopped.
"If you go upstairs carrying that file," Mr. Graves warned, "you're exactly where they want you."
"They?"
Mr. Graves looked toward the ceiling.
"They've been waiting for this moment for nearly thirty years."
Another scream.
"Eleanor!"
Daniel tore free and raced up the stone steps.
By the time he burst into the foyer, the marble floor was deserted.
The mop lay abandoned.
The bucket had been kicked over.
Soap and blood mixed together in thin streams across the white floor.
One maid was crouched behind a marble column, sobbing uncontrollably.
Daniel knelt beside her.
"What happened?"
She struggled to breathe.
"They... they took her..."
"Who?"
"The old lady..."
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"My mother?"
The maid nodded frantically.
"They came through the kitchen entrance... dressed like police officers."
Daniel's expression darkened.
"They weren't police."
The frightened maid shook her head.
"No..."
"They knew exactly where every security camera was."
Daniel looked toward the front doors.
Still locked.
No signs of forced entry.
Whoever had entered the mansion already knew its security system.
That meant only one thing.
Someone on the inside had helped them.
Slowly...
Daniel turned around.
Veronica was standing at the foot of the staircase.
Her cheek was still bright red from the slap.
Mascara streaked her face.
She looked terrified.
"I swear I don't know who they were," she cried.
Daniel walked toward her.
Each step echoed through the silent mansion.
"Where's my mother?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I didn't help them!"
"You've lied to me all day."
Veronica burst into tears.
"Because I was afraid!"
"Afraid of what?"
She hesitated.
For several long seconds, she couldn't speak.
Finally...
She whispered,
"My sister."
Daniel frowned.
"You told me you were an only child."
"I lied."
The words hung in the air.
"I have an older sister."
"Where is she?"
Veronica slowly shook her head.
"I don't know."
"I haven't seen her in twenty-five years."
Daniel stared at her.
"Then why are you afraid of her?"
Veronica's entire body began to shake.
"Because..."
"...she's the woman in the photograph."
Daniel froze.
The old black-and-white image flashed through his mind.
The blonde woman standing beside his father.
The woman who looked almost identical to Veronica.
"It wasn't me," Veronica whispered.
"It was my sister."
"My mother made us promise never to speak her name again."
Before Daniel could ask another question—
Mr. Graves emerged from the hidden staircase.
The moment he saw Veronica...
His face turned white.
"No..."
He whispered.
"It can't be."
Veronica looked at him.
Recognition flooded her eyes.
"You..."
Mr. Graves staggered backward.
"I buried you."
Veronica's breathing stopped.
"What did you say?"
"I stood beside your grave."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Daniel looked from one to the other.
Nothing either of them was saying made sense.
Finally, Mr. Graves pointed a trembling finger at Veronica.
"If you're standing here..."
"...then who was the little girl we buried twenty-five years ago?"
Before anyone answered—
A phone rang.
Not Daniel's.
Not Veronica's.
The sound came from inside Daniel's jacket.
The hospital envelope.
He pulled it out.
There had been no phone inside before.
Now, lying on top of the confidential file...
was a small black cell phone.
Its screen displayed only one message.
DON'T OPEN THE FILE.
The phone rang again.
Daniel answered.
A calm female voice spoke only one sentence.
"If you want your mother alive..."
"...meet me where your life really began."
The call disconnected.
Daniel looked at the hospital envelope.
Then at Veronica.
Then at Mr. Graves.
Three people.
Three different versions of the past.
Only one of them could be telling the truth.
Or perhaps...
May you like
None of them were.
To Be Continued...
