Mara ran toward the scream.
Nina caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“That's my mother.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know her voice.”
“You haven't heard it since you were ten.”
Mara pulled free.
“I know it.”
She crossed the hallway.
Rivera moved ahead with his weapon drawn.
Jonas stayed near the stairs.
Elias disappeared into the study.
A second scream came from upstairs.
“Mara!”
This time there was no doubt.
It was her mother's voice.
Mara climbed.
Rivera followed.
The hallway above was dark.
A door at the end stood open.
Mara pushed it wider.
The room was empty.
A chair had been overturned.
The window was open.
Curtains moved in the rain.
On the floor lay a photograph.
Mara picked it up.
Her mother was standing beside her father.
Both were smiling.
On the back, someone had written:
You were never abandoned.
Mara turned.
A shadow moved behind the curtains.
She stepped toward it.
Rivera raised his weapon.
“Stay back.”
The curtain shifted again.
A woman emerged.
Older.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
But the eyes were the same.
Mara couldn't breathe.
Her mother whispered:
“Don't come any closer.”
Mara stared.
“Mom?”
The woman covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
Mara took one step.
Her mother stepped back.
“Please.”
“Why?”
“Because they are watching.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Rivera moved toward the window.
“There are vehicles outside.”
Mara looked at her mother.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Her mother flinched.
Mara's voice hardened.
“Dad knew.”
“Yes.”
“Nina knew.”
“Yes.”
“Elias knew.”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Her mother looked at the doorway.
“Your father's killer.”
Mara froze.
“Who?”
Her mother shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Tell me.”
“You have the notebook?”
Mara touched her coat.
“Yes.”
“Then they know.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Rivera looked at Mara.
“We have to move.”
Her mother stepped toward them.
“Where is Elias?”
“Downstairs.”
Her mother's face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“He can't be here.”
“Why?”
“He was the one who told them where I was.”
Mara stared.
Elias.
The man who had seemed to know everything.
The man who had carried her father's secrets for twenty-two years.
“He betrayed you?”
Her mother shook her head.
“He thinks he did.”
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Before her mother could answer, the lights came on.
Shaw stood in the doorway.
Two armed men stood behind him.
Elias was beside them.
Mara stared at him.
“You told them.”
Elias looked devastated.
“I had to.”
Her mother stepped in front of Mara.
Shaw smiled.
“Finally.”
Mara felt something inside her settle.
She was no longer confused.
She knew exactly what this was.
“You wanted the notebook.”
Shaw nodded.
“And the watch.”
“Why?”
“Because your father left evidence that can destroy people who cannot afford to be exposed.”
“You mean yourself.”
Shaw laughed.
“You still think this is about me.”
Mara looked at him.
“Then tell me who is above you.”
Shaw's smile disappeared.
Her mother whispered:
“Don't ask that.”
Mara turned.
“Why?”
“Because once you know, there is no going back.”
Mara looked at the notebook.
“I already crossed that line.”
Shaw held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
One of the armed men stepped forward.
Rivera raised his weapon.
“Back away.”
Shaw shook his head.
“You're surrounded.”
Rivera looked toward the window.
“Then why are you still talking?”
Shaw's eyes narrowed.
Mara noticed the hesitation.
He wasn't confident.
He was waiting.
For someone.
Her mother noticed it too.
She whispered, “The second team.”
Mara looked at her.
“What second team?”
“The people who clean up after Shaw.”
The house shook with a distant explosion.
Everyone flinched.
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Rivera grabbed Mara.
“Down!”
Her mother dropped beside them.
Jonas shouted from below.
“Move to the west stairwell!”
Elias yelled something Mara couldn't hear.
She crawled toward the hallway.
In the darkness, someone grabbed her wrist.
Mara fought back.
The hand released her.
A voice whispered:
“It's me.”
Jonas.
He pulled her toward the stairs.
“Where's your mother?”
Mara looked back.
She was gone.
“Mom!”
No answer.
Mara tried to return.
Jonas held her.
“She told me to get you out.”
“No.”
“She said you were the priority.”
“No!”
Mara struck his arm.
He didn't release her.
“Listen to me.”
“She just found me.”
“I know.”
“She waited twenty-two years.”
“I know.”
“And you expect me to leave?”
Jonas's expression broke.
“She made me promise.”
Mara stopped.
A woman's voice came through the darkness.
“Mara.”
Her mother.
“Go.”
Mara looked toward the sound.
“I won't leave you.”
“You have to.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was right.”
A gunshot sounded.
Mara screamed.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Her mother stood at the far end of the corridor.
Shaw was behind her.
His arm was around her neck.
A gun rested against her head.
“Mara,” Shaw said.
“Give me the notebook.”
Mara froze.
Her mother looked at her.
Then at the notebook.
She mouthed two words.
Don't.
Mara understood.
Her mother wasn't afraid of dying.
She was afraid Mara would give him what he wanted.
Shaw tightened his grip.
“You have five seconds.”
Mara looked at the notebook.
Then at the watch.
Then at Rivera.
He understood before anyone else.
He whispered:
“Whatever you're thinking, don't.”
Mara smiled faintly.
She reached into her coat.
Shaw's eyes followed her hand.
She pulled out the notebook.
“Fine.”
She held it up.
Shaw relaxed slightly.
“Good.”
Mara opened the cover.
“I'll give you the evidence.”
Shaw nodded.
“But first,” Mara said, “you should know something.”
“What?”
“The watch wasn't the only thing my father left behind.”
Shaw's expression changed.
Mara pressed a button on her phone.
A recording began playing through the speaker.
Her father's voice filled the hallway.
“If you're hearing this, then they finally found my daughter.”
Shaw went completely still.
The recording continued.
“Everything they told you about my death is false.”
Mara watched Shaw's face.
Her mother closed her eyes.
And her father spoke the sentence that made Shaw lower his weapon for the first time.
“The person you trust most is the one who signed your death order.”
Mara looked at the people around her.
Rivera.
Jonas.
Elias.
Her mother.
Shaw.
Then the recording continued.
“And Mara, if you have reached this point, don't trust the person standing beside you.”
Mara's blood ran cold.
Someone was standing beside her.
She slowly turned.
Jonas was gone.
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: Jonas Vanished Without a Sound, Leaving Mara With Her Father’s Warning and a Choice That Could Destroy the Only People She Trusted
The Arrest Was Supposed to End in Minutes, Until the Woman Asked One Question That Changed Everything
Part 8 of 20
