Chapter 8 - THE WAREHOUSE
The abandoned warehouse stood near the Los Angeles river.
Edward parked two blocks away.
No lights.
No traffic.
No witnesses.
Daniel stayed behind with the police.
Edward and Chloe walked toward the building.
“You should stay here,” Edward whispered.
“No.”
“Chloe.”
“You've spent two years telling everyone what to do.”
He almost smiled.
“Fair.”
They entered.
The silence was suffocating.
Then they heard crying.
“Daddy!”
Sophia.
Edward ran toward the sound.
Chloe grabbed him.
“Wait.”
A light came on.
Sophia and Isabella were sitting in chairs.
Their hands weren't tied.
But a man stood behind them.
Edward's security chief.
Marcus.
Edward's expression became murderous.
“You.”
Marcus smiled.
“You finally understand.”
Edward stepped forward.
“Let them go.”
“Give me the pendant.”
Chloe held it up.
“First the girls.”
Marcus laughed.
“You still think you're negotiating.”
He pointed at Isabella.
“She knows where the files are.”
Edward froze.
“What?”
Marcus smiled.
“Your daughter has been listening.”
Isabella began crying.
“I'm sorry, Daddy.”
Edward's face softened.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Marcus said, “Your wife hid the original records.”
Edward stared.
“Where?”
Marcus looked at Chloe.
“Her father knew.”
Chloe's stomach tightened.
“You killed my father.”
Marcus shrugged.
“I didn't.”
“Who did?”
“Richard.”
Edward stepped forward.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Edward's face collapsed.
Marcus continued.
“Your father ordered the accountant's disappearance.”
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
“And Laura?”
“Laura found out.”
Edward whispered:
“You killed her.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Marcus smiled.
“Someone you see every day.”
Edward's eyes moved toward Chloe.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus laughed.
“Not her.”
A gunshot exploded.
Marcus dropped.
Edward pulled the girls down.
Daniel rushed into the warehouse with police.
Marcus was alive.
Barely.
The shooter had escaped through a side entrance.
Edward looked around.
Then he noticed someone standing in the shadows.
Mrs. Whitmore.
She was holding something.
A gun.
Edward stared.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
She dropped it.
“I didn't shoot him.”
Daniel approached her.
“Then why are you here?”
She began crying.
“Because I know who did.”
“Who?”
She looked at Edward.
“Your father.”
Edward's face went blank.
“My father is dead.”
“He's alive.”
Silence.
Chloe whispered:
“What?”
Mrs. Whitmore nodded.
“Richard Montgomery never died.”
Edward shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
“He staged his death years ago.”
Daniel stared.
“I knew it.”
Mrs. Whitmore looked at Chloe.
“Your father discovered the truth.”
Chloe's breathing became shallow.
“Where is Richard?”
She whispered:
“Back at the Montgomery estate.”
Edward immediately understood.
“Someone left the house unprotected.”
He grabbed his phone.
The security cameras showed a man entering the mansion.
An older man.
Walking calmly through the front door.
Edward stared at the screen.
His father's face appeared.
And beside him stood a woman Edward hadn't seen in years.
May you like
Laura.
Alive.
