Chapter 14 - THE ATTACK
We drove straight to the old mill. It stood on the edge of town, abandoned and rotting, its windows broken, its roof collapsing. Rain poured down, turning the ground into mud.
Adrian led the way inside. The building smelled of rot and mold. We found the basement stairs and descended into darkness. Adrian shone his flashlight beam across the walls.
“Elena said behind the brick wall,” he said. “Over there.”
We walked to the far wall. One section of bricks looked newer, less weathered than the rest. Adrian ran his hand across the mortar. It was loose.
He began pulling bricks free. One by one. Until there was an opening large enough to reach inside. He pulled out a metal box. Rusty. Locked. But intact.
“Is this it?” I asked.
Adrian turned the box over. “This is Rachel’s handwriting. Her initials on the bottom.”
He broke the lock with a screwdriver from his car. Lifted the lid.
Inside were stacks of documents. Photographs. Bank records. Handwritten notes. Everything Elena had said would be there. Proof of Marcus Vane’s identity. His crimes. The money he had stolen. Everything Rachel had spent months gathering.
Adrian reached for the top folder. And then—
A shadow moved at the top of the stairs.
Adrian looked up.
Before either of us could speak—something exploded against the wall beside us. Dust and brick fragments showered down. A gunshot rang out, deafening in the confined space.
“Get down!” Adrian shouted, pulling me behind a pile of rotting timber.
Footsteps descended the stairs. Slow. Deliberate.
“I see you found the box,” a voice said. Smooth. Calm. Familiar.
Marcus Vane. Julian. Whatever name he used. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding a gun.
“Rachel was always too clever for her own good,” Marcus said, stepping closer. “And now you two have decided to be clever too.”
“Marcus,” Adrian said, his voice steady. “It’s over. We have everything. The police are on their way.”
Marcus laughed. A low, cold sound. “I doubt that. I made sure your phones wouldn’t work down here. No one knows where you are. No one is coming to save you.”
He stepped into the beam of Adrian’s flashlight. Middle-aged. Charming. Ordinary-looking. The kind of man no one would notice.
“Elena told you, didn’t she?” Marcus said. “I should have silenced her weeks ago. But she was still useful. And… well. I suppose I still felt something for her. Foolish, isn’t it?”
“You manipulated her,” Adrian said. “You poisoned her mind against Rachel. You gave her the poison. You let her believe she was protecting you.”
“I gave her what she wanted,” Marcus said. “Freedom. A life without Rachel judging her. Without everyone looking down on her. Rachel stood in the way. So Rachel had to go. Simple as that.”
“And then you abandoned her,” I said. “Left her to take all the blame.”
Marcus shrugged. “She was always too emotional. Too weak. She would have cracked eventually. Better this way.”
He raised the gun. Leveled it at Adrian.
“Now,” Marcus said. “Push the box toward me. And then stand up. Slowly.”
Adrian didn’t move. He kept his hand near the box.
“Adrian,” Marcus warned. “Don’t make this difficult. I really don’t want to kill you. But I will. If I have to.”
“You won’t get away with it,” Adrian said.
“I already have,” Marcus said. “For twenty years, I’ve gotten away with everything. Why should this time be any different?”
He took a step forward. His finger tightened on the trigger.
May you like
And then—from the stairs above us—a voice rang out.
“Put the gun down, Marcus.”
