Chapter 12 - The Second Death
Ethan moved before anyone could stop him.
He crossed the room and slammed Victoria against the wall.
“Did you kill my brother?”
“Ethan!” Claire shouted.
Ortiz and another officer pulled him back.
Victoria’s face was pale but defiant. “I never touched his brakes.”
Charles covered his face.
“Then who did?” Ortiz asked.
Victoria looked at Thomas.
Thomas stared back. “Don’t even try it.”
“You had access to every family vehicle.”
“I was already gone.”
Charles said, “I hired someone.”
Silence.
Ethan stopped struggling.
Claire felt as if the floor shifted under her.
Charles sank into a chair.
“I told myself I only wanted Michael delayed. Frightened. I told the man to disable the car so it wouldn’t start.”
Ortiz’s expression hardened. “Who was the man?”
Charles whispered a name.
Mason Reed.
The head of security from the gala.
Claire remembered Mason standing beside them during the blackout, acting shocked that all three camera backups had failed.
Ortiz immediately radioed the ballroom detail.
No answer.
A second call.
Nothing.
Then an officer responded: Mason was gone.
His car remained outside. His radio lay in a restroom sink.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Mason was here all night,” she said. “He knew Lily had the memory card.”
Thomas stood as far as the cuffs allowed. “He’s the one who grabbed her. I recognized his route and intercepted the van.”
Ortiz looked at him. “How?”
“I put a tracker in Mason’s car two years ago.”
“You’ve been tracking him for two years?”
“I’ve been waiting for him to lead me to whatever Charles used to control him.”
Charles looked up. “I never controlled Mason.”
Thomas gave him a bitter smile. “Then you were the one being controlled.”
A phone buzzed on the desk.
It was the estate landline display.
Front gate sensor: OPEN.
Ortiz pulled her weapon.
“Who has access?”
Charles swallowed. “Mason.”
A second alert appeared.
WEST SERVICE DOOR: OPEN.
Ethan grabbed Lily and moved her behind him.
The mansion lights went out.
May you like
Claire heard Victoria laugh softly in the darkness.
Then came a gunshot.
