Chapter 12 - THE ROAD
Emiliano did not take his eyes off Celeste.
“What did you know?”
“This is not the time,” she whispered.
Adrian laughed. “It’s the perfect time.”
Ava was shaking.
Emiliano forced himself to focus on her. “Let the girl go.”
“After the truth.” Adrian looked almost pleased. “Celeste knew Isabella planned to expose us. Malcolm wanted the problem contained. I told Celeste we were going to scare her.”
Celeste’s voice cracked. “You said you’d slash a tire. Leave a note.”
“You knew Marcus had her car.”
“I didn’t know what he was going to do.”
Emiliano’s stomach turned.
Adrian shrugged. “Marcus weakened a brake line. Isabella drove faster than expected. Rain did the rest.”
Celeste covered her face.
“You knew afterward,” Emiliano said.
She lowered her hands.
“Yes.”
“And you still came into my house.”
“I thought if I stayed close, I could keep Adrian and Malcolm from hurting you or Grace.”
“You built a case to have Grace locked away.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t get to hide behind fear.”
Adrian yanked Ava backward. “Enough therapy. The folder.”
Emiliano tossed the case halfway across the floor.
Adrian shoved Ava toward Celeste and reached for it.
That was the opening Mateo had been waiting for.
The boathouse lights died.
Ava screamed.
Gunfire cracked once, deafening in the enclosed space.
Emiliano dropped to the floor and crawled toward the sound of Ava crying.
“Dad!” Ava shouted, then corrected herself through panic. “Emiliano!”
He found her hand and pulled her behind an overturned workbench.
Celeste was beside them.
“Are you hit?” Emiliano asked.
Ava shook her head.
Another shot punched into the wall.
Mateo’s team moved outside.
Then Adrian’s voice came from the darkness.
“You want the truth about Isabella?”
A red emergency light flickered on.
Adrian was gone.
The case was gone too.
On the floor where he had stood was a phone playing a live video feed.
The camera showed Grace asleep in the estate library.
A man’s gloved hand entered the frame.
May you like
Malcolm Reese was not at the airport.
He was inside Emiliano’s house.
