Chapter 17 - The Betrayal
Every person in the room turned toward Uncle Samuel.
He did not move.
Federal agents immediately separated him from us.
I felt dizzy.
Uncle Samuel had just delivered evidence that could destroy Evelyn.
Why would Dad warn us about him?
Harper searched the metal case again.
Nothing obvious.
Then Daniel walked toward it.
He touched the inside lining.
“Different.”
A technician examined the case.
A tracking device had been sewn beneath the fabric.
Uncle Samuel went pale.
“I didn’t put that there.”
“Who had access to the case?” Harper asked.
He hesitated.
“My attorney.”
“What attorney?”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“Gregory Shaw.”
The same attorney connected to Northbridge.
The room erupted.
Agents grabbed Samuel.
He shouted that he had no idea Shaw was involved.
But the damage was done.
The protected location had been compromised.
Evelyn knew where we were.
Harper ordered immediate evacuation.
We had less than ten minutes.
Daniel packed only three things.
His tablet.
Dad’s letter.
His headphones.
As agents moved us toward armored vehicles, the power failed.
Emergency lights came on.
Harper cursed.
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Not random.
Controlled.
Professional.
Windows shattered.
Agents pushed us into an interior hallway.
Daniel crouched beside me.
His breathing accelerated.
I held his face gently.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“You are not back in that kitchen.”
Another shot.
“You are not in the basement.”
He closed his eyes.
“You are with me.”
The shooting stopped almost as suddenly as it began.
Then smoke appeared beneath the stairwell door.
Someone was trying to force evacuation into the parking area.
Harper realized it immediately.
“They want the tablet.”
Daniel looked down at it.
Then he did something none of us expected.
He opened a cloud storage application.
He selected every recording.
Every photograph.
Every document.
Then he pressed SEND.
“To who?” I asked.
Daniel typed.
EVERYONE.
Dad had configured an emergency distribution list.
Federal prosecutors.
Three newspapers.
Two television networks.
Uncle Samuel.
A civil-rights attorney.
And me.
Daniel pressed confirm.
The upload bar moved slowly.
Ten percent.
Twenty-seven.
Forty-three.
Outside, someone slammed against the hallway door.
Sixty-one.
Harper aimed her weapon.
Eighty-eight.
The lock began breaking.
Ninety-six.
The door flew inward.
A masked man entered.
Harper fired.
Daniel’s tablet chimed.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
May you like
The evidence was no longer something Evelyn could steal.
It was everywhere.
