Chapter 10 - The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead
The message included an address on the far edge of town and a second line: COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE ORIGINAL.
"It's a trap," Adrian said.
"Of course it is," Ortiz replied. "That doesn't mean the location isn't useful."
She sent officers to check the building. Adrian hated watching strangers leave to face something his family had made. But he stayed beside Tessa, just as he'd promised.
Willa had fallen asleep curled against Aunt Helen. Her little hands were empty now. Adrian brushed hair from her forehead and remembered her voice screaming that the bride wasn't real.
"How did she know?" Tessa asked.
"She told me she went looking for you because you promised to help with her shoes. She heard knocking behind the flowers."
"She saved my life." Tessa swallowed. "I hate that she had to be brave because we failed to protect her."
Alisa arrived carrying Willa's pink cardigan. "She's going home with Helen. And I'm going with them. My child needs a quiet place, not another family secret."
"Mom," Adrian said, "you don't have to leave."
"I have to stop standing still. There's a difference."
An hour later, Ortiz called. The address led to an abandoned office next to the mill. They found Silas's gray wig, a shredded copy of the silicone mask, and several burned photographs. Silas was gone.
They also found an old tape recorder locked in a desk drawer, with a label in Gideon's handwriting: ROWAN / 7:14 P.M.
The recorder still worked. Ortiz had the tape copied and listened with an evidence technician. When she called the Ashcrofts back into the library, her voice was careful.
"There are two men on it," she said. "One is asking to be let out of the mill."
Adrian held his breath.
May you like
The other voice answered, unmistakably Gideon's:
"Keep the north gate shut until the books are gone."
