Chapter 15 - THE CHURCH BELOW THE CITY
The church had been abandoned for decades.
We entered through the side door.
No lights.
No guards.
No sound.
Then we heard Nathaniel.
"Dad!"
I ran.
Clara followed.
He was sitting beside a woman.
Evelyn.
She looked almost exactly like my father.
Same eyes.
Same expression.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
She stood.
"I knew you'd come."
I pulled Nathaniel into my arms.
Clara grabbed him and cried.
"Are you hurt?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Who is she?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Your sister."
I stared at her.
"Why did you take my son?"
"I didn't."
"Then who did?"
She looked toward the darkness.
"They did."
A gunshot cracked.
The window exploded.
Evelyn shoved Nathaniel down.
Marcus's security team returned fire from outside.
Chaos erupted.
Someone grabbed Clara.
I turned.
A masked man was pulling her toward the basement.
I chased him.
He disappeared through a steel door.
I kicked it open.
A tunnel stretched beneath the church.
At the end stood a man.
He removed his mask.
I recognized him.
Richard Cole.
My father's former assistant.
The man we'd believed was merely an accomplice.
"You."
He smiled.
"Your father trusted me."
"You kidnapped my son."
"No."
He pointed behind me.
"Ethan did."
I turned.
Ethan Vance stood there.
My cousin.
He looked terrified.
"I didn't hurt him."
"Then why?"
Ethan looked at Evelyn.
"Because she asked me to."
I stared at Evelyn.
She finally spoke.
"I needed you here."
"Why?"
"Because there's someone else hunting all of us."
"Who?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with fear.
"The man who killed our father."
Silence.
Richard lowered his voice.
"Your father wasn't killed by Eleanor."
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
"Then who?"
Richard looked at me.
"The person who inherited everything after his death."
I whispered:
"Who?"
May you like
Richard answered.
"Your grandfather."
