Chapter Eight — The Secret Beneath the Altar
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Adrian's brother stood in the doorway with Emily beside him.
Alive.
The man everyone had told me was dead.
My mother stood behind them.
And Veronica was gripping my arm so tightly that her fingers trembled against my skin.
"That's him," she whispered.
I stared at the man.
"You died."
He smiled.
"That's what everyone was supposed to believe."
Adrian looked at his brother.
"You weren't supposed to come."
His brother laughed.
"Neither were you."
Something about the exchange made my stomach tighten.
They weren't working together.
At least, not anymore.
My mother stepped forward.
"Stanley, listen to me."
I looked at her.
"You brought Emily here."
"I had to."
"You gave her to them."
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"I was trying to save her."
I pointed at Emily.
"Then get her away from him."
The man tightened his hand around Emily's shoulder.
She looked frightened.
"Mommy."
Veronica moved forward.
"Emily!"
The man smiled.
"One more step and she gets hurt."
Veronica stopped immediately.
I stepped in front of her.
"Don't touch her."
He looked amused.
"You sound just like your father."
My father.
I suddenly remembered he was outside.
My phone was in my pocket.
I reached for it.
No signal.
Adrian noticed.
"He can't hear you."
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing."
He looked toward the doors.
"Yet."
My blood ran cold.
"You brought us here to trap my father."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He looked at his brother.
"He did."
His brother smiled.
"Your father has something I want."
"What?"
"The truth."
I glanced at the metal box beneath the altar.
"What's inside?"
He laughed.
"You already know."
Veronica shook her head.
"No."
He looked at her.
"You remembered."
"I remember my mother hiding something."
"Yes."
"She told me never to speak about it."
"Because she knew what would happen."
I looked at my mother.
"What did you hide?"
She stared at the floor.
"I didn't hide anything."
Her voice was barely audible.
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
"Everyone says that."
My mother looked at me.
"This time it's true."
Adrian's brother stepped closer.
"You want answers?"
I nodded.
"Then listen carefully."
He pointed toward the metal box.
"Twenty-three years ago, your father discovered that my family had been using his company to conceal illegal transactions."
I already knew that part.
"He confronted us."
"Yes."
"He threatened to expose you."
"Yes."
"But then your father disappeared."
"He didn't disappear."
The man smiled.
"He was captured."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"Your father spent years imprisoned."
I looked toward the church doors.
"By whom?"
"My father."
Adrian's brother continued.
"He was kept alive because he refused to reveal where he'd hidden the evidence."
I looked at the box.
"The vault."
He nodded.
"Not the vault."
"Then what?"
"The real evidence was never in the vault."
I felt dizzy.
"Where is it?"
He smiled.
"Your wife knows."
Veronica shook her head.
"I don't."
"You do."
"No."
"You were five."
"I don't remember."
"You remember enough."
He stepped closer.
"Your mother taught you the location."
Veronica's eyes widened.
"She didn't."
"She did."
He pointed toward her necklace.
"That's why she gave you the key."
I looked at Veronica.
She touched the pendant.
"She told me it was a keepsake."
"It was."
He smiled.
"A keepsake containing a memory."
Adrian interrupted.
"Enough."
His brother turned.
"You've already failed."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Give me the girl."
"No."
"She's mine."
"She's leverage."
Veronica's eyes widened.
"She's my daughter."
His brother looked at her.
"For now."
I stepped toward him.
"Let her go."
He laughed.
"You're in no position to make demands."
"Maybe not."
I reached into my pocket.
His expression changed when he saw what I was holding.
The two keys.
He stared.
"You brought them."
I nodded.
"You want them?"
"Yes."
"Then release Emily."
He shook his head.
"You don't understand how this works."
"I understand perfectly."
I held the keys up.
"You want these."
His eyes stayed fixed on them.
"So give me my wife's daughter."
Adrian stepped between us.
"Don't."
His brother turned toward him.
"You're becoming sentimental."
"She has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this."
He looked at Veronica.
"She is the last person who can identify the hiding place."
My mother suddenly spoke.
"That's not true."
Everyone turned.
She walked toward Veronica.
"I know where it is."
My father suddenly appeared at the church entrance.
My heart jumped.
"Dad."
He looked battered but standing.
Two men were behind him.
They were unconscious.
My father stepped into the church.
"Nobody touches my son."
Adrian raised a gun.
I froze.
My father stopped.
Veronica moved closer to me.
"Don't."
Adrian's brother looked at him.
"You brought people."
"Security."
"You shouldn't have."
My father stared at him.
"Let the girl go."
"No."
"Then this ends tonight."
Adrian laughed.
"You've been saying that for twenty-three years."
My father looked at him.
"And you still haven't won."
Silence.
Then Emily suddenly screamed.
"Mommy!"
Veronica rushed toward her.
Adrian's brother grabbed Emily.
I moved.
Adrian raised the gun.
"Stop."
I stopped.
My father did too.
The man holding Emily smiled.
"That's better."
Then my mother did something none of us expected.
She stepped toward him.
"You want the evidence?"
He looked at her.
"Yes."
"I'll give it to you."
My father shouted:
"No!"
She ignored him.
"You've spent years looking for it."
She pointed toward Veronica.
"You've been searching the wrong person."
The man's expression changed.
"Where is it?"
My mother smiled sadly.
"Inside me."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
She touched her chest.
"I've carried the location for twenty-three years."
My father stared at her.
"You memorized it."
She nodded.
"I did."
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because if they knew I had it, they would kill you."
My father stepped closer.
"Then why reveal it now?"
She looked at me.
"Because I can't protect you anymore."
Tears filled her eyes.
"You're grown."
She smiled sadly.
"And you've found the woman you were always meant to find."
I looked at Veronica.
My wife's eyes were filled with tears.
My mother continued.
"Veronica's mother didn't hide the evidence."
She looked at me.
"She hid the person who could lead you to it."
I frowned.
"Who?"
My mother pointed toward the back of the church.
"There."
I turned.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a small door.
I walked toward it.
My father followed.
"Stanley, wait."
I opened the door.
Inside was a narrow chamber.
On the wall was a photograph.
My father and Veronica's mother.
Standing together.
Holding a baby.
I stared.
My heart stopped.
The baby looked familiar.
I stepped closer.
There was writing beneath the photograph.
Our children.
I turned around.
"What's this?"
My father looked devastated.
Veronica stepped beside me.
"Stanley..."
I pointed at the photograph.
"Why are you holding a baby?"
My father didn't answer.
I looked at my mother.
"Who is that child?"
She started crying.
"Your sister."
I stared at her.
"I don't have a sister."
"You did."
"What happened to her?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"She disappeared the night of the fire."
I looked at Veronica.
Her expression had changed.
She was staring at the photograph.
"I know that baby."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She touched the photograph.
"My mother showed me this."
"When?"
"When I was little."
"Who did she say the baby was?"
Veronica looked at me.
"She said..."
Her voice broke.
"...that she was my sister."
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
I looked at my father.
"Then why is she in your photograph?"
He looked at Veronica.
Then at me.
"Because your sister and Veronica's sister were the same child."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Veronica whispered:
"That's impossible."
My father shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward my mother.
"Tell them."
My mother cried.
"Veronica's mother and I made a deal."
"What deal?"
"We hid the baby."
"Why?"
"Because Adrian's family wanted her."
"Why?"
My mother looked at me.
"Because she was the only heir to everything."
I couldn't process it.
Then Adrian's brother laughed.
"You finally understand."
He stepped forward.
"The girl you've been looking for isn't Emily."
He looked at Veronica.
"It's you."
Veronica's face went white.
I turned toward her.
"What?"
He smiled.
"Veronica isn't just the daughter of a woman who helped your father."
He pointed at her.
"She's the missing heir."
Adrian stared at his brother.
"You weren't supposed to tell him."
His brother smiled.
"He's going to find out anyway."
Then Emily slipped free from his grip.
She ran.
"Mommy!"
Veronica caught her.
I rushed toward them.
But before I could reach them, a gunshot exploded through the church.
Veronica screamed.
My father collapsed.
I turned.
He was clutching his chest.
And standing behind him was my mother.
Holding the gun.
She looked at me through tears.
"Stanley..."
Her voice broke.
"I'm sorry."
Then she fired again.
This time...
at me.
