Chapter 15 - THE SHOT
Ryan felt the bullet tear past his shoulder.
Owen slammed into Harlan.
The gun fired again, deafening inside the passage.
Caroline kicked the panel she had indicated. It broke open into the pantry.
"Move!"
Ryan shoved the red phone into his pocket and dragged Owen through the opening.
Harlan grabbed Owen's ankle.
Ryan turned and drove his heel into the chief's wrist. The gun disappeared beneath burning debris.
Harlan screamed.
They escaped through the kitchen seconds before part of the ceiling collapsed.
Outside, paramedics rushed toward them.
Ruiz took the red phone.
"Please tell me it still works."
Caroline coughed. "It has a local encrypted archive. Victor never trusted cloud storage."
Harlan emerged from the house in handcuffs, escorted by two state troopers.
For the first time, Ryan believed they might survive this.
Then Ruiz unlocked the phone.
Most of the files were gone.
"He wiped it," she said.
Caroline shook her head. "No. There's a hidden folder."
She entered a code.
A video appeared.
Victor sat in Caroline's kitchen months earlier, drinking bourbon with Harlan.
Harlan's recorded voice said, "The old Mercer woman almost ruined us."
Victor replied, "She should've stayed away from the river. The crash solved the problem."
Ryan closed his eyes.
His mother had been murdered.
Then the video continued.
Victor leaned toward Harlan.
"This time there can't be a body-identification mistake. Both brothers die together."
Caroline covered her mouth.
Ruiz looked up sharply.
"This was recorded six weeks ago."
Owen stared at Caroline.
"Six weeks? You knew he planned to kill us?"
Before she could answer, Lily screamed from across the lawn.
Ryan turned.
May you like
Father Ben's car door stood open.
Lily and Emma were gone.
