Chapter 4 - The Traitor in the Stable
Nathan never reached the driveway.
Gabriel tackled him beside the fountain.
Roman’s guards surrounded them within seconds.
Nathan rolled onto his back, gasping.
“I wasn’t running from you.”
Roman walked toward him.
“Interesting direction for proving that.”
“Someone is inside the estate.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“What?”
Nathan pointed toward the stable.
“Look.”
Smoke rose from the roof.
Clara turned.
“No.”
Then flames erupted from a side window.
For an instant, she was seventeen again.
Heat.
Screaming horses.
Her mother disappearing through smoke.
Clara began running.
Roman grabbed her.
“Absolutely not.”
“Onyx!”
“My men will handle it.”
“You don’t understand!”
She ripped free.
Roman cursed and followed.
Stable workers were already opening stalls.
Horses poured into the paddock.
Smoke thickened.
Clara wrapped part of her sweater over her face.
“ONYX!”
No answer.
His stall was empty.
Then she saw hoofprints leading toward the old indoor arena.
The same arena where she had first calmed him.
She ran inside.
Onyx stood at the far end.
But he wasn't alone.
Eliza stood beside him.
“ELIZA!”
Roman’s voice shook the building.
Clara’s heart stopped.
“How did she get down here?”
A man stepped from behind Onyx.
He wore a black jacket.
Silver ring.
Horse and flames.
He pressed a gun against Eliza’s shoulder.
Roman raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
The man smiled.
“You Bellamys always say that like the universe listens.”
Clara recognized him.
Not his face.
His eyes.
Vescari eyes.
“You’re Damian.”
He smiled wider.
“Elias’s little girl.”
Roman stepped forward.
“Remove the gun from my daughter.”
Damian looked amused.
“Or what? You’ll shoot through her?”
Roman’s finger tightened against the trigger.
Clara noticed something else.
Damian was afraid of Onyx.
He stayed outside striking distance.
“Eliza,” Clara said softly.
Damian’s gaze snapped to her.
“Quiet.”
Clara ignored him.
“Remember how we approached Onyx?”
Eliza nodded faintly.
“Don’t look at him directly.”
Roman realized what Clara was doing.
Damian did too.
“Stop talking.”
Clara continued.
“Breathe slowly.”
Damian pressed the weapon harder.
“Clara.”
Onyx pinned his ears.
Clara watched him.
“Good boy.”
Damian fired at the ceiling.
Everyone flinched.
Onyx exploded.
The stallion spun and kicked.
Damian jumped backward.
Eliza dropped.
Roman fired.
The bullet struck Damian’s shoulder.
Clara raced forward and grabbed Eliza.
Damian disappeared through smoke behind the arena gates.
Gabriel pursued.
Roman pulled Eliza into his arms.
“You were supposed to be upstairs!”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“The lady told me Clara needed help.”
“What lady?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman went still.
A woman inside his house.
A second infiltrator.
The stable roof cracked.
“We’re leaving.”
Roman carried Eliza out.
Clara turned toward Onyx.
“Come on!”
The stallion refused.
Smoke poured across the rafters.
“Clara!”
Roman shouted.
She grabbed Onyx’s mane.
“Please.”
Something about her voice changed him.
He followed.
They escaped seconds before part of the roof collapsed.
Outside, Roman handed Eliza to a guard.
Then he grabbed Clara by both shoulders.
“Do you have a death wish?”
“I wasn't leaving him.”
“He’s a horse!”
Clara slapped him.
Everyone froze.
Roman looked at her.
Clara looked shocked by her own action.
Then anger returned.
“He saved your daughter twice.”
Roman’s cheek reddened.
Gabriel cleared his throat.
“Probably not the best time.”
Roman ignored him.
Clara stepped backward.
“I’m sorry.”
Roman touched his cheek.
“Are you?”
“No.”
Eliza giggled.
It was small.
Unexpected.
Everyone turned.
The little girl covered her mouth.
Roman stared at her.
He had almost forgotten what her laugh sounded like.
For one strange second, the burning stable disappeared.
Then Gabriel approached.
“Damian got away.”
Roman’s softness vanished.
“How?”
“Vehicle waiting beyond the west trees.”
“Inside help.”
“Definitely.”
Roman looked toward Nathan, now guarded nearby.
“What about him?”
Nathan stared at the flames.
“He knew.”
Roman approached.
Nathan shook his head.
“I knew Damian might come. I didn't know when.”
“You brought danger onto my property.”
“I came to warn you.”
“You could have called.”
“He would have killed me.”
Roman smiled without humor.
“You seem confused about your current situation.”
Nathan looked toward Clara.
“Your father is alive.”
Clara had been expecting the words.
They still hurt.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because Elias never trusted me again.”
“Good.”
Nathan winced.
“Three weeks ago he contacted me.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“He told me you had accepted a job here.”
“You knew before arriving.”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“He told me to convince Roman to send you away.”
Roman frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Damian believes Clara can unlock the ledger.”
Clara held up the key.
“Unlock what?”
Nathan looked toward Onyx.
“The truth.”
The fire department extinguished the remaining flames two hours later.
One section of the stable was destroyed.
No horses died.
Inside Nathan’s room, Gabriel found a burner phone.
Messages connected him to someone listed only as D.
Roman read them.
SHE’S HERE.
ON THE ESTATE?
YES.
DOES SHE REMEMBER?
NO.
Another message appeared.
Sent the morning Clara calmed Onyx.
THE HORSE RECOGNIZED HER. WE ARE OUT OF TIME.
Clara’s stomach turned.
“You told Damian about me.”
Nathan shook his head violently.
“That isn’t Damian.”
Roman looked at him.
“Then who is D?”
Nathan stared at the floor.
“Daniel Mercer.”
Clara blinked.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel Mercer was the worker who supposedly died in the fire.
Nathan looked at her.
“No body was ever properly identified.”
Clara remembered the closed coffin.
Her mother refusing to attend the funeral.
Roman saw realization cross her face.
“Who was Daniel?”
“My father’s closest friend.”
Nathan whispered:
“And the man who actually started the fire.”
Silence.
Clara stared at him.
Nathan continued.
“Daniel was working for Angelo Bellamy.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“Careful.”
“He was ordered to destroy one building containing Vescari records before Vittorio’s men arrived.”
Clara stepped closer.
“You’re saying Roman’s father ordered it.”
“No.”
Nathan’s eyes were full of regret.
“He ordered a controlled fire in an empty storage barn.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel changed the plan.”
“Why?”
“Because Vittorio paid him.”
Clara felt sick.
“He set the entire stable on fire?”
Nathan nodded.
“And framed both families.”
Roman understood immediately.
“A double agent.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he now?”
Nathan looked toward the burned stable.
“Closer than you think.”
Gabriel’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Roman turned.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“The body from the sedan.”
“What about it?”
“Fingerprints came back.”
Clara already knew.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Daniel Mercer.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Roman frowned.
“If Daniel died last night, who has been texting Nathan?”
Nobody answered.
Then Clara’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Taken from inside the Bellamy mansion.
Roman standing beside her.
The message beneath it read:
DANIEL WAS ONLY THE FIRST GHOST.
May you like
A second message followed.
ASK CLARA WHY HER MOTHER REALLY DIED.
