Chapter 14 - The Missing Frame
The mansion entered lockdown.
Daniel sealed the external doors.
Vincent had vanished during the blackout.
Luis was still somewhere on the property.
Adrian refused to chase either man blindly.
He returned to the archive room.
The tape mattered more.
Thomas stood near the player.
“That recording was edited.”
Adrian looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because Vincent never told me to kill anyone.”
Marcus spoke.
“He told you plenty of other things.”
Thomas turned.
“I spent twenty years cleaning up your family’s disasters.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“And collecting a salary.”
Claire interrupted.
“Stop.”
She looked toward Adrian.
“Can the tape be restored?”
Daniel examined the device.
“It’s analog.”
“If someone physically cut it, we may see the splice.”
Adrian removed the cassette.
Daniel held it beneath the light.
“There.”
A thin seam crossed the tape.
Thomas exhaled.
“Edited.”
Adrian looked toward Vincent’s empty chair.
“He wanted us to see that version.”
Claire frowned.
“Why?”
“To turn everyone against Thomas and Marcus.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“He doesn’t need much help.”
Adrian searched the archive shelves.
Each box had dates and initials.
One was marked E.B.
Another R.C.
Another V.B.
He found a box marked L.R.
Luis Reyes.
Daniel stood beside him.
“Open it.”
Inside were financial records.
Travel documents.
Photographs.
One photograph showed Luis meeting Rachel Carter after Eleanor’s death.
Daniel stared.
“My father found Rachel.”
Marcus looked over.
“I told you I helped Rachel escape.”
“Luis followed us.”
Thomas took another photograph.
In it, Luis appeared to hand Rachel a passport.
Claire frowned.
“He helped her.”
Daniel looked stunned.
Adrian found a letter.
Rachel’s handwriting.
Luis,
If Vincent discovers what you did, neither of us will survive.
Thank you for choosing your son over your employer.
Daniel read it twice.
“My father saved Rachel.”
Adrian nodded.
“Then why did he rejoin Vincent?”
Nobody knew.
Claire searched another box.
“Adrian.”
She handed him a photograph.
Eleanor standing beside Rachel.
Both women were smiling.
On the back was a message.
WE AGREED.
IF ONE OF US FALLS, THE OTHER FINISHES IT.
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Our mothers were working together.”
Adrian nodded.
“At least near the end.”
Thomas moved toward the shelves.
“Then the story about Eleanor stealing the archive was wrong.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“That’s what Vincent told me.”
Adrian stared at him.
“And you believed him?”
“I had no reason not to.”
“You helped Rachel escape because of Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“But you never knew they were partners.”
“No.”
Claire opened Rachel’s box.
Inside were journals.
She picked up the last one.
The final entry was dated one day after Eleanor’s death.
Claire read aloud.
Eleanor is gone.
Vincent thinks I have the archive.
He is wrong.
Eleanor moved the master copy before the crash.
She told me only one person could find it.
Her son.
Adrian looked toward the room around him.
“I found it.”
Claire continued.
Luis reached me before Vincent’s men.
He says Thomas is not involved.
He says Vincent used Thomas’s name to frighten us.
Thomas closed his eyes.
Relief and grief crossed his face.
Claire read on.
But there is another problem.
Marcus believes Vincent’s version.
Until Marcus learns the truth, he cannot be trusted.
Marcus looked away.
Adrian remembered Eleanor’s letter.
Never trust Marcus at all.
Not because he was evil.
Because he was misled.
Claire turned the page.
A final sentence had been underlined.
The person who ordered Eleanor’s death was not Vincent.
Everyone froze.
Adrian took the journal.
Below the sentence was another line.
It was Luis Reyes.
Daniel went pale.
“No.”
Adrian continued reading.
Luis claims he did it to save Daniel.
Nothing made sense.
Daniel stepped backward.
“My father ordered the crash?”
Thomas shook his head.
“There has to be context.”
A sound came from the doorway.
Luis stood there.
He had lowered his weapon.
Daniel faced him.
“Tell me it’s wrong.”
Luis looked at his son.
“It isn’t.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with rage.
“You killed Eleanor?”
Luis nodded once.
Adrian moved toward him.
“Why?”
Luis looked at Adrian.
“Because Vincent was going to kill Daniel.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Luis lowered himself slowly into a chair.
“Vincent discovered I had helped Rachel.”
“He gave me a choice.”
“Eleanor or my son.”
Adrian felt sick.
“You chose my mother.”
“I did.”
Daniel shouted.
“I never asked you to do that.”
“I know.”
Luis looked shattered.
“I have lived with it every day.”
Adrian’s hands tightened.
“How?”
“I ordered a man to force her car off the road.”
“Who?”
Luis looked toward Marcus.
“Marcus’s driver.”
Marcus froze.
“My driver died in the boating accident.”
Luis nodded.
“The fake accident.”
Marcus stared.
“You used my disappearance to hide him.”
“Yes.”
Adrian could barely process it.
“Did Vincent know?”
Luis shook his head.
“He believed I failed.”
“Eleanor died anyway.”
“He never learned I ordered it.”
Adrian looked toward the tape.
Vincent’s confession had been edited to hide that truth.
Claire asked quietly.
“Why is Vincent destroying the archive if it clears him of murder?”
Luis looked at her.
“Because murder is not the worst thing inside those files.”
Adrian frowned.
“What is?”
Luis looked toward the deepest shelf.
“The Blackwood Children Project.”
Nobody moved.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“What project?”
May you like
Luis answered.
“The reason Sophie was being watched.”
