Chapter 8 - THE SECOND BETRAYAL Lydia and Grace vanished from protective custody.
Two guards were found unconscious.
Security footage showed a government vehicle entering the facility.
The driver's credentials belonged to District Attorney Monica Shaw.
Detective Reyes was immediately suspended.
The official explanation was “procedural irregularities.”
Nobody believed it.
We searched for Rebecca Sloan.
Her storage unit contained photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Lydia.
My father.
Adrian.
Eleanor.
Monica.
Me.
The photographs had dates going back years.
Someone had been watching the entire Caldwell family from inside their world.
Rebecca was not merely an accountant.
She had been investigating them for a decade.
Then we found the second drive.
It was moving north.
We traced it to an abandoned Caldwell bottling plant.
Inside, Grace was tied to a chair.
Lydia sat beside her.
Monica Shaw stood behind them.
And Eleanor held a gun.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Come inside, Claire.”
I stepped forward.
Reyes grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
Eleanor lifted the gun toward Grace.
“Bring me the deed.”
I knew the deed was useless.
She didn't need the property.
She needed control.
My signature.
My professional reputation.
My silence.
I walked through the doorway.
May you like
Alone.
Or so Eleanor believed.
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