Chapter 30: Midnight at the Church
Claire arrived at the church carrying a black case.
Daniel, Lily, and federal investigators followed from a distance despite the instruction that she come alone.
The church doors opened before she touched them.
Inside, candles formed a path toward the altar.
Ethan sat in the first pew.
He appeared unharmed.
Claire ran toward him.
“Stop.”
The voice came from the shadows.
A man stepped into the candlelight.
His hair was gray.
A scar crossed his cheek.
But his eyes were the same eyes Claire saw in the mirror.
“Dad?”
Thomas Bennett looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire could not move.
“You’re alive.”
“I had to disappear.”
“For seventeen years?”
“To keep you alive.”
Ethan ran to Claire.
She held him tightly.
“Where is Victoria?” she asked.
Thomas’s face darkened.
“Closer than you think.”
He requested the archive.
Claire remembered his letter.
The greatest danger will come from the person who appears to help you defeat her.
“Why do you want it?”
“Because the federal investigation is compromised.”
“By Owen?”
“By Daniel.”
Claire’s heart stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
Thomas placed a folder on the altar.
Inside were photographs of Daniel meeting Caleb months before the wedding.
Bank transfers bore Daniel’s signature.
A recording appeared to capture Daniel promising Victoria access to Ethan’s trust.
Claire shook her head.
“These can be forged.”
“They can,” Thomas agreed. “Which is why you must decide whom to trust.”
The church doors slammed shut.
Daniel’s voice came from outside.
“Claire!”
Thomas looked toward the balcony.
A red laser point moved across his chest.
“Get down!” Claire screamed.
A shot shattered the stained-glass window.
Candles went out.
Ethan cried in the darkness.
Claire heard footsteps running toward the altar.
Then someone grabbed Ethan from her arms.
“Claire!” he screamed.
A hidden door slammed beneath the church floor.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Thomas had disappeared.
Ethan was gone.
Daniel broke through the side entrance, blood running down his face.
Claire turned toward him, holding the folder of evidence.
“Tell me the truth,” she whispered.
Daniel looked at the open passage beneath the altar.
Then he said the words she feared most.
“Your father isn’t trying to save Ethan.”
“Then what does he want?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“He believes Ethan is the only person who can open the final account.”
A phone began ringing beneath the altar.
Claire answered.
Victoria’s voice filled the church.
“You found Thomas.”
Claire tightened her grip on the phone.
“Where is Ethan?”
Victoria laughed softly.
“Ask your husband.”
Claire turned.
Daniel was no longer standing behind her.
Only a trail of blood led toward the secret passage.
Then Ethan’s plastic ring rolled out of the darkness.
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Carved into its surface were three new words:
DO NOT FOLLOW.
