Chapter 14 - THE FINAL BETRAYAL

Inside the study, the shouting grew louder.

Edward slammed his hand against the desk. “You set us all up! Every single one of us!”

Calloway’s voice remained eerily calm.

“I protected myself. That is what clever men do. You and Arthur were useful tools. Nothing more.”

Arthur stepped forward. I heard the sound of a weapon being drawn.

“Put it away, Arthur,” Calloway said. “Before you do something foolish.”

“Foolish?” Arthur snarled. “I have stood by you for twenty years! I have done your dirty work! And you planned to kill me?”

“I planned to ensure no witnesses remained,” Calloway corrected. “Surely you expected that?”

Edward moved toward the door. “I’m leaving. I’m going to the police. I’ll tell them everything!”

“You will not reach the gate,” Calloway said. “Because Arthur will stop you. Won’t you, Arthur?”

Arthur hesitated. The silence stretched thin and dangerous.

“Choose,” Calloway said. “Kill Edward… and I will let you live. At least for a while.”

Arthur let out a shaky breath. Then I heard footsteps — heavy, determined — moving toward Edward.

“Run, Edward!” Arthur shouted.

Edward wrenched the door open and bolted out. Arthur chased after him. Calloway remained in the study. I heard him walk to the fireplace. I heard the strike of a match.

“Burn it all,” Calloway whispered. “Let it all turn to ash. And then… I start over.”

Margaret touched my arm. “We must move. Now.”

We slipped through the darkness toward the house. Inside, chaos reigned. Arthur and Edward were shouting somewhere on the second floor. Smoke began curling from beneath the study door. Calloway was destroying evidence.

Margaret signaled for us to stay back. She peered through the window.

Calloway stood by the fire, feeding papers into the flames. He had a small suitcase packed and ready on the desk. He intended to vanish. To leave us all dead — and walk away with the fortune.

“He is leaving,” Margaret said. “Through the garden door. He has a car waiting.”

I looked at her. “We stop him.”

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Margaret looked at the smoke rising from the study. At the shouting upstairs. At everything that had been revealed tonight.

“No,” she said. “We let him go. But we follow him. And we listen to where he leads us.”