CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE KILLER
Rain continued to pound the cemetery as police sirens echoed in the distance.
Richard stood frozen beside the dead gunman.
His eyes weren't on the body.
They were locked on Victoria.
Only minutes ago, Sarah had accused his wife of trying to murder Emily.
Now, Victoria had just shot a masked assassin to save Richard's life.
Nothing made sense anymore.
"Drop the gun!" a bodyguard shouted.
Victoria slowly placed the pistol on the muddy ground and raised both hands.
"I wasn't aiming at Richard," she said quietly. "I was aiming at the man behind him."
Sarah didn't lower her guard.
"Where did you get that gun?"
Victoria hesitated.
"I've carried it ever since Emily started receiving threats."
Richard frowned.
"What threats?"
Victoria looked at him in disbelief.
"You really never saw the emails?"
Richard's expression answered the question.
"No."
Victoria slowly reached into her purse and handed him a waterproof envelope.
"I tried to show you months ago."
Inside were printed emails.
No sender.
No signature.
Only one repeated message.
Your daughter knows too much.
She will be buried before she speaks.
Richard felt his stomach tighten.
The earliest email had been sent six months ago.
Long before Emily entered the hospital.
"You never told me," he whispered.
"I tried," Victoria replied. "But every time I brought up Emily, you said she was just being paranoid."
Sarah watched the exchange carefully.
Either Victoria was the greatest actress she'd ever met...
Or someone had carefully manipulated both husband and wife.
Just then, another bodyguard approached.
"Sir."
He held up the dead attacker's wallet.
"There isn't one."
"No ID."
"No fingerprints."
Richard frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"They're gone."
Everyone stared.
The attacker's fingertips had been surgically burned smooth.
Professional.
Deliberate.
This wasn't the work of ordinary criminals.
Sarah crouched beside the body and searched his jacket.
Nothing.
No wallet.
No phone.
Except...
A tiny metal pin sewn inside the collar.
She pulled it free.
It was shaped like a black raven.
Its eyes were tiny red stones.
Richard's face turned pale.
"I've seen that before."
Sarah looked up.
"Where?"
Richard swallowed hard.
"My daughter."
"Emily wore the same symbol on a necklace."
Sarah froze.
"What?"
Richard nodded slowly.
"She said it belonged to a secret research group she was investigating."
"She refused to tell me more."
"I thought it was another one of her conspiracy theories."
Sarah suddenly remembered something.
The words Emily had whispered while slipping back into unconsciousness.
"Basement..."
She looked at Richard.
"Does your house have a basement?"
Richard nodded.
"A wine cellar."
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't think that's what she meant."
...
Meanwhile...
Nearly two miles away from the cemetery...
A black luxury sedan sat beneath an abandoned highway overpass.
Inside, a man in an expensive charcoal suit calmly watched live drone footage of the cemetery on a tablet.
His face remained hidden in shadow.
Across from him sat another masked operative.
"The funeral failed."
The man simply nodded.
"And Emily survived."
Again...
No emotion.
Finally he spoke.
"Expected."
The operative blinked.
"You... expected this?"
The man smiled faintly.
"The funeral was never the objective."
"The objective..."
"...was to expose Sarah Bennett."
He tapped the tablet.
The screen zoomed in on Sarah standing beside Richard.
"There she is."
"Our missing witness."
The operative frowned.
"So we kill her now?"
"No."
The man closed the tablet.
"Not yet."
"If Sarah dies now..."
"Richard will know we're afraid."
Instead...
He opened another file.
Across the top was a single photograph.
Emily Carter.
Below it...
Another photograph.
A young woman who looked almost identical.
Same blue eyes.
Same smile.
Same face.
Only her hair was black instead of blonde.
The operative looked confused.
"Who is she?"
The man answered without hesitation.
"Emily's sister."
The operative laughed.
"Impossible."
"Richard only has one child."
The mysterious man smiled.
"That's what Richard believes."
He slid the file back into his briefcase.
"It's time to remind him of the daughter he buried long before today's funeral."
...
Back at the cemetery, ambulances finally arrived.
Paramedics rushed toward Emily.
Sarah stepped in front of them.
"No one touches her."
One of the doctors frowned.
"We're here to help."
Sarah stared directly into his eyes.
"Which hospital sent you?"
"St. Matthew."
Sarah's face turned cold.
"Absolutely not."
The doctor reached for Emily anyway.
Richard grabbed his wrist.
Hard.
"Did you not hear her?"
The doctor pulled free.
"You'll kill your daughter if you delay treatment."
Richard leaned closer.
"My daughter almost died under your hospital's care."
"I'm done trusting strangers."
The doctor slowly stepped back.
But before leaving, he quietly slipped a folded piece of paper into Richard's coat pocket.
No one noticed.
Not even Sarah.
An hour later, after Richard's convoy disappeared into the storm, he finally unfolded the note.
Only six words were written in black ink.
Don't let Sarah enter your basement.
Richard looked up sharply.
Sarah was driving the vehicle carrying Emily.
She had no idea what the note said.
But for the first time...
May you like
Richard wasn't sure who he should fear anymore.
END OF CHAPTER 3
