CHAPTER 12: SOMEONE HAD BEEN WATCHING
Ava dropped the photograph.
Bianca picked it up.
The image had been taken through Ava’s bedroom window.
On the back, someone had written:
THE MERCER BLOODLINE ENDS AT MIDNIGHT.
Bianca immediately brought the photograph to Ethan.
Detective Harris tried to stop her, but the ballroom guests were now watching every movement.
“You cannot hide this,” Bianca said loudly.
Ethan examined the photograph.
The curtains in Ava’s room had been open.
He remembered the night.
Two weeks earlier, Ava had said she heard footsteps in the garden.
Ethan had searched outside and found nothing.
Now he understood.
Someone had been watching them long before the auction.
Eleanor tried to take the photograph.
Ethan pulled it away.
“Who wants my daughter dead?”
“Many people blame Samuel for what happened,” Eleanor replied.
“What happened to the children?”
She remained silent.
Conrad approached from the corridor, no longer pretending to need his wheelchair.
“The children were part of Project Northstar.”
Eleanor’s face went white.
Conrad continued.
“Vale Sports funded a medical program under Dr. Evelyn Hart. Publicly, it treated injured young athletes. Privately, it studied hereditary traits, pain tolerance, and physical recovery.”
Bianca looked sick.
“You experimented on children?”
“I shut it down.”
“You paid for it,” Eleanor snapped.
“And you continued it after I ordered it closed.”
All eyes turned toward her.
Eleanor’s controlled expression finally broke.
“Those children were dying before we helped them.”
Conrad laughed bitterly.
“You did not help them. You erased them.”
Ethan looked at the photograph hidden inside the burned map.
Dr. Evelyn Hart holding a baby.
Him.
“What does Project Northstar have to do with me?”
Conrad pointed toward the brass key held by Dane.
“Everything you want to know is inside locker 927.”
Eleanor suddenly drew a small remote control from her purse.
“If that locker is opened,” she said, “Halcyon Field will be destroyed.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You planted explosives?”
“I protected my family.”
A hotel window shattered.
A bullet struck the wall beside Eleanor.
Guests screamed and dropped to the floor.
Across the street, a dark figure lowered a rifle and disappeared from the rooftop.
Ethan looked at the bullet hole.
The shooter had not missed.
May you like
The bullet was a warning.
Someone else wanted them to reach the stadium.
