Chapter 16 - Laura's Last Secret
Vanessa grabbed Emily by the collar.
“Where is it?”
Emily did not answer.
Michael looked nervous.
“Police will be down here soon.”
Vanessa snapped at him.
“Then get the car ready.”
Michael hesitated.
“I’m not leaving without proof.”
Vanessa turned slowly.
“You work for me.”
“No.”
Michael’s voice hardened.
“I worked for the money.”
The alliance cracked exactly as Emily hoped.
Vanessa raised the pistol slightly.
Michael reached inside his jacket.
Emily moved.
She shoved a wine rack.
Bottles crashed across the stone floor.
Michael jumped backward.
Vanessa turned.
Emily ran through the side passage.
A shot exploded behind her.
She heard Vanessa scream.
Emily did not look back.
The tunnel ended near the old family chapel.
She ran inside.
A memory suddenly hit her.
Somewhere your father would have hated.
She had invented the sentence to manipulate Vanessa.
But now she remembered Laura’s letter.
Do not trust the story they told about me.
Beneath those words, Laura had drawn a tiny cross.
Emily had thought it was meaningless.
Now she looked toward the chapel altar.
Richard Hawthorne had built the chapel.
Victor Hale had reportedly despised it and refused to attend family services.
Emily approached the altar.
One floor tile was slightly raised.
She pulled it up.
Beneath it was a small waterproof envelope.
Emily stared.
Her mother had hidden something here too.
Inside was a second cassette.
A photograph.
And a notarized statement.
Emily barely had time to read the first paragraph.
If anything happens to me, Victor Hale and Richard Hawthorne are responsible for forcing me to leave.
Footsteps entered the chapel.
Emily turned.
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
Blood stained her sleeve.
She had been grazed by Michael’s shot.
Her pistol remained in her hand.
She saw the envelope.
Her expression transformed.
“You found it.”
Emily backed toward the altar.
Vanessa began laughing softly.
“All these years.”
“My father searched this entire estate.”
“He never found that.”
Emily held the statement.
“My mother beat him.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“Your mother destroyed my family.”
Emily’s anger finally broke.
“No.”
“Your father destroyed both of ours.”
Vanessa lifted the gun.
“My father gave me everything.”
Emily stared at her.
“He gave you his crimes.”
Sirens suddenly filled the grounds.
Vanessa looked toward the windows.
May you like
Emily took one step closer.
“And you chose to keep them.”
