Chapter 9 - THE CEMETERY The cemetery lay behind the manor.
Rain had returned.
Julian stood before his father's grave.
His mother gave him an old key.
"Your father left this for you."
Julian pressed it against the gravestone.
A hidden mechanism clicked.
The stone shifted.
A staircase appeared.
Reed stared.
"Your family has more secrets than the government."
Julian gave a bitter smile.
"You have no idea."
They descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Beyond it came a woman's scream.
"Emily!"
Julian charged forward.
Reed grabbed him.
"Wait."
The door opened.
Inside stood Richard Hale.
Emily was tied to a chair.
Victoria stood beside him.
But Victoria looked terrified.
"Hale," she whispered.
"You promised me protection."
Hale smiled.
"I promised you survival."
Victoria realized too late.
She had been disposable from the beginning.
Julian stepped forward.
"Let her go."
Hale raised a gun.
"You have something I want."
"The ledger?"
"No."
Hale smiled.
"Nora."
Julian froze.
Hale wanted both daughters.
Because the girls were not merely witnesses.
They were heirs to the original Eclipse archive.
Their mother had hidden access codes inside their birth records.
Julian understood.
Lilly had unknowingly carried one key.
Nora carried the other.
Together, they could unlock the entire archive.
Hale pointed the gun at Nora.
"Choose."
Julian looked at Emily.
Then his daughters.
He realized there was only one possible answer.
May you like
"No."
Hale fired.
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