Chapter 10
I was not allowed to leave the hospital.
I was not medically cleared.
I was not able to stand.
I went anyway.
Sarah argued.
Thomas shouted.
The doctor threatened forms.
I looked at all of them and said, “My father died for what is under that lake house.”
No one argued after that.
They transferred me into a medical transport van with Hazel staying behind under armed guard and Sarah’s watch.
Thomas rode beside me.
At the lake property, the burned house still smoked.
Behind it, near the collapsed dock, agents had uncovered a steel hatch.
The bunker below smelled like mold, antiseptic, and secrets.
I went down in a rescue chair.
Humiliating.
Necessary.
I chose not to care.
Julian was tied to a pipe in the first chamber.
Bruised.
Dehydrated.
Alive.
When he saw me, he sobbed.
“Gen.”
I looked past him.
Shelves lined the walls.
Hard drives.
Files.
Medication logs.
Adoption records.
Financial ledgers.
My father had not buried evidence beneath the lake.
He had discovered Eleanor and Vale were using the bunker as a hidden archive.
Then Julian whispered, “She took Victoria.”
“Eleanor?”
He nodded.
“Victoria is pregnant.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
Julian’s face crumpled.
“I found out last week.”
Thomas cursed.
Julian continued.
“Mother wanted the baby.”
Of course she did.
Eleanor collected people like assets.
Wives.
Companies.
Children.
Detective Collins found fresh tire tracks behind the bunker.
Security footage from a hidden camera showed Eleanor dragging Victoria into a black SUV.
Victoria was crying.
She was not smug now.
She was terrified.
The woman who had mocked me in my hospital room had become the next signature Eleanor wanted to force.
I closed my eyes.
May you like
Then I said the words I did not want to say.
“We have to save her.”
