Chapter 12 - THE SECOND FIRE
Danner pointed a gun at Emily.
Thomas struck a match.
Samuel shouted, “Thomas!”
Thomas looked down.
“You should’ve died years ago, Sam.”
“You first.”
Samuel grabbed a metal cart and shoved it into Danner.
The gun fired.
Ruiz tackled Emily.
The bullet hit the wall.
Margaret ran toward Jenna.
Claire went for the emergency release.
Thomas dropped the match.
Fire ran across the balcony.
Alarms screamed.
Smoke poured into the hall.
Danner hit Samuel with the pistol.
Samuel collapsed.
Emily jumped on Danner’s back.
He threw her into a bassinet.
Pain shot through her ribs.
“Emily!” Margaret screamed.
Danner raised the gun.
Claire slammed a fire extinguisher into his skull.
Once.
Twice.
He dropped.
Claire stared at him.
“For once in my life, I hit the right brother.”
Emily coughed.
“He’s not your brother.”
“I’m emotional.”
Margaret freed Jenna.
Ruiz kicked Danner’s weapon away and cuffed him.
“Where’s Thomas?”
Emily looked up.
Gone.
Samuel dragged himself upright.
“The archive.”
They ran deeper into the hospital.
Fire closed behind them.
Thomas had left the secure archive door open.
Inside were boxes, corporate records, and one ancient vault.
Thomas stood before it.
He had both locket inserts.
Margaret stopped.
“You planned all of this.”
Thomas turned.
“I planned for survival.”
“You killed people.”
“People die.”
Emily stepped beside Margaret.
Thomas looked at her.
“Do you really think she deserves you?”
Emily stared.
“She spent one day with you and suddenly she’s Mother of the Year?”
Margaret said, “Don’t.”
Thomas ignored her.
“Ask her how quickly she stopped searching.”
Emily’s jaw tightened.
Thomas smiled.
“That hurt, didn’t it?”
Margaret whispered, “Emily…”
He continued.
“She went back to galas. Board meetings. Vacations.”
“She was grieving.”
“She was rich.”
Emily looked him in the eye.
“And you think that means she didn’t hurt?”
Thomas’s smile faded.
“I gave her medication. Doctors. A stable home.”
“You gaslit her.”
“I protected her.”
“You made her doubt her own memory.”
“She needed to.”
Margaret stared at him.
“Why?”
Thomas finally exploded.
“Because you were going to leave me!”
The words echoed.
Everyone went still.
He pointed at Margaret.
“You were going to take the company. The house. The child. Everything.”
Margaret whispered, “So you stole our baby.”
“Our baby?”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“You never saw me as her father. You saw me as a problem to manage.”
Emily stared.
“You destroyed a child’s life because your wife wanted a divorce?”
Thomas looked at her.
“I gave you a better life than you would’ve had in this family.”
Emily laughed in disbelief.
“I grew up counting quarters for laundry.”
“You grew up free.”
“And my mother grew up believing I was dead.”
Thomas picked up a metal can.
Gasoline.
Ruiz raised her gun.
“Put it down.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You still don’t understand.”
He looked at Emily.
“At midnight, you become the legal owner of evidence that can put me away for life.”
The clock on the wall read 11:58.
Thomas backed toward the shelves.
“So I’m going to erase the evidence.”
He splashed gasoline across the files.
Then he looked at Emily.
“And the heir.”
The lights went out.
A gunshot thundered.
May you like
Margaret screamed her daughter’s name.
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