Chapter 13 - Hangar Six
Leo wanted to go.
Everyone told him no.
That made him want it more.
“She died trying to protect me. If there’s something she left—”
“It is bait,” Julian said.
“Everything is bait now.”
Maya stepped between them. “Then we stop acting like prey.”
Marcus built the plan.
Leo would arrive at Hangar 6 wearing a concealed transmitter. Police would surround the airfield. Julian would remain in the command vehicle.
Julian hated every part of it.
Leo said, “You don’t get to lock me in a room because you’re scared now.”
The words hurt because they were true.
At sunset, Leo walked into the hangar alone.
“Miles?”
No answer.
A single work light burned over a metal table.
On it sat an old leather journal.
Anna’s initials were pressed into the cover.
Leo reached for it.
A gun clicked behind him.
“Don’t.”
Eleanor stepped out from behind a storage cabinet.
Leo froze.
“You’re in jail.”
“I was detained,” she said. “Then released while they argued over charges. Your father’s money buys fast lawyers for everyone, even me.”
Her face looked different without makeup. Harder. Older.
“Where is Miles?” Leo asked.
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“That is your weakness. You keep thinking people matter.”
Leo’s transmitter was live.
Julian heard every word.
Eleanor pushed the journal toward Leo with the gun.
“Open it.”
Inside were Anna’s handwritten notes about the trust, Adrian, Charles, Miles—and Eleanor.
On the last page, one sentence was underlined twice.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, JULIAN MUST KNOW ELEANOR IS PREGNANT.
Leo looked up.
Eleanor smiled.
“I wondered when someone would find that.”
May you like
Then she put one hand over her stomach, even though the pregnancy had happened nine years ago.
Leo whispered, “What happened to the baby?”
