“Thomas.”
The lawyer closed his eyes.
Everything inside me went quiet.
He really was my father.
The
man who had manipulated my job.
The man who had placed me in Russell’s path.
The man now holding a gun in a basement full of lies.
“Why?” I asked.
Hayes looked at me.
“Because Russell took everything from me.”
M
argaret’s expression sharpened.
“No. **You destroyed yourself.**”
He spun toward her.
“Don’t.”
“You sold client files.”
“I was protecting us.”
“You were selling blackmail material to criminal groups.”
“I was building leverage!”
“You were building a graveyard.”
Russell spoke weakly.
“Margaret found out.”
She nodded.
“Eleanor found out too.”
Claire’s mother.
Claire stared at her.
“You knew my mom?”
“She helped me escape.”
The room fell silent.
“That night in 2009,” Margaret continued, “Eleanor and I were driving here to retrieve evidence I had hidden beneath the farmhouse.”
Claire’s face tightened.
“She crashed the car.”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“On purpose?”
“Not the way your father’s recording suggested.”
Claire swallowed.
“Then why?”
“Because Thomas was following us.”
Every face turned toward Hayes.
He didn’t deny it.
Margaret continued.
“His car forced us toward the bridge. Eleanor realized he intended to stop us before we reached this house.”
Hayes shouted, “I wasn’t going to kill anyone!”
Margaret turned on him.
“You fired at the car.”
Daniel’s face drained of color.
Claire’s gun rose.
“You shot at my mother?”
“It was a warning.”
“Eleanor panicked,” Margaret said. “She turned sharply. We went through the barrier.”
Claire stared at Hayes.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“You killed her!”
“I didn’t know she’d turn!”
“YOU KILLED HER!”
Claire fired.
The gunshot exploded.
Hayes cried out as the bullet struck his shoulder.
He fell.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Claire dropped the gun.
Her face crumpled.
“Oh God.”
Margaret approached slowly.
“Claire.”
“I killed him.”
“No.”
Hayes groaned.
“Unfortunately, I’m still here.”
Claire
sank against the wall.
Daniel crouched beside her.
Russell began laughing weakly.
I looked at him.
“What’s funny?”
He winced.
“After thirty years… that’s the first honest family conversation we’ve ever had.”
Despite everything, a broken laugh escaped me.
Then the sound of sirens appeared in the distance.
Margaret turned toward the hidden corridor.
“We have minutes.”
“For what?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“To find out who poisoned Russell.”
