Chapter 6 - The Grave That Had Been Empty for Twenty-Two Years
The cemetery gates were locked.
Adrian's men opened them anyway.
At 4:38 a.m., three SUVs moved silently between rows of headstones beneath a sky beginning to pale at the horizon.
Nora sat beside Caleb.
Adrian sat opposite them.
“You stay in the vehicle,” he said.
“No.”
“Nora.”
“They asked for me.”
“Which is why you stay here.”
“Hector is there because of me.”
“Hector is there because somebody kidnapped him.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes. And guilt makes people stupid.”
She stared at him.
“Was that supposed to help?”
“No.”
Caleb interrupted.
“Could both of you postpone the divorce until after nobody's trying to murder us?”
Nora glared.
Adrian looked almost amused.
“We aren't married.”
“I know.”
“Caleb.”
“I'm stressed.”
The SUV stopped.
Thomas Blair's grave stood fifty yards ahead.
No one was visible.
Marcus's team spread through the cemetery.
Adrian exited.
Nora followed before anyone could stop her.
“Nora.”
“Waste time arguing if you want.”
She walked toward the grave.
Adrian cursed quietly and followed.
The stone was modest.
THOMAS J. BLAIR
BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER
Nora had visited it hundreds of times.
Tonight, the earth in front of it had been disturbed.
Fresh dirt.
Adrian crouched.
“Someone dug here.”
Nora's stomach turned.
Marcus approached with a metal detector.
The device screamed near the headstone.
They found a small steel lock embedded beneath a decorative plate at the base.
Nora inserted the brass key.
It turned.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a weatherproof envelope.
No archive.
Only a photograph.
Nora removed it.
It showed Michael Bellamy and Thomas Blair standing together outside a diner.
Behind them stood Victor Sloane.
And beside Victor—
Nora's mother.
On the back, Claire had written:
THE MAN WHO KILLED THOMAS WAS NOT VICTOR.
Adrian read it twice.
“Then who?”
A scream came from the darkness.
“Hector!”
Nora ran.
Adrian caught her.
“Wait.”
Marcus's men swept forward.
They found Hector tied to a tree twenty yards away.
Alive.
A phone had been taped to his chest.
Its screen lit.
Incoming video call.
Adrian answered.
Evelyn appeared.
Her hair was loose now.
There was blood along one side of her face.
Nora stared.
“You're hurt.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“Very observant.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere your father should have burned twenty-two years ago.”
“Who has you?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“You still think I'm the enemy.”
“You left me in a burning house.”
“I left because someone told me you were already dead.”
Nora frowned.
“You saw me.”
“Yes.”
“You told me nobody was inside.”
“Because I believed nobody was.”
“What about the barred door?”
“I didn't put it there.”
“Then who did?”
Evelyn looked directly at Adrian.
“Marcus.”
Everyone turned.
Marcus slowly raised his hands.
Adrian's guards aimed weapons at him.
Marcus didn't move.
“That is a lie.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Is it?”
Adrian said, “Explain.”
“I saw Marcus in the service corridor before the fire.”
Marcus replied, “I was searching for you.”
“You were carrying the iron bar.”
“I moved it out of the emergency exit.”
“Then how did it end up across the basement door?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Convenient.”
Nora watched Marcus.
He looked angry.
But not frightened.
Then Hector made a muffled sound.
Nora crouched beside him.
Tape covered his mouth.
She pulled it away.
“Hector?”
His eyes were wild.
“Nora.”
“Who took you?”
He looked toward Marcus.
Everyone tensed.
Hector whispered:
“Not him.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Who?”
Hector turned toward Adrian.
“Daniel.”
Adrian froze.
“Daniel is dead.”
“No.”
Hector shook his head violently.
“I saw him.”
Marcus crouched.
“When?”
“After the fire started.”
“That isn't possible.”
“He grabbed me near the loading dock. Put me in a van.”
Nora remembered.
The body found near the security room had been identified as Daniel.
Or had it?
“Did anyone identify the body visually?” she asked.
Marcus went pale.
“The burns were severe.”
“Dental records?”
“Daniel's.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Who provided them?”
Marcus understood.
“His dentist.”
“And who owns the clinic?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Victor Sloane.”
The video call suddenly shifted.
Evelyn looked offscreen.
Fear entered her face.
Real fear.
“No.”
A man's voice spoke behind her.
“Enough.”
Adrian stepped toward the phone.
“Daniel.”
A figure appeared.
Daniel Price.
Alive.
His face was bruised, but unmistakable.
The supposedly loyal security chief smiled.
“Good morning, Adrian.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“You murdered someone and put him in your clothes.”
“Luis was useful right until he wasn't.”
Nora felt sick.
The dead man in the mansion had not been Daniel.
It had been Luis.
Daniel continued.
“You always trusted records more than people. Your father had the same weakness.”
“You killed him?”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“But I know who did.”
“Tell me.”
“Bring Nora.”
“No.”
Daniel laughed.
“That protective streak is new.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with it.”
Nora stepped toward the phone.
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“I don't have it.”
“You have the key.”
“We used it.”
“Not that key.”
Nora frowned.
Daniel's smile widened.
“Claire Blair gave you two.”
Nora's heart stopped.
“No.”
“One in the locket.”
Daniel leaned closer to the camera.
“And one she hid somewhere much more permanent.”
“Where?”
“Ask yourself why your mother never allowed doctors to remove that tiny piece of metal from your shoulder after your childhood accident.”
Nora instinctively touched the scar beneath her collarbone.
She had been seven.
A car crash.
Broken glass.
Surgery.
Her mother had always said a fragment remained because removing it was more dangerous than leaving it.
Daniel whispered:
“Your mother didn't hide the second key in your belongings, Nora.”
May you like
His smile disappeared.
“She hid it inside you.”
