Chapter 5 - The Traitor at the TableThe shooter disappeared into the woods.
One guard was wounded.
No one else was hit.
Evan treated that as failure.
By sunrise, every employee at the lake house had been separated and questioned.
Phones were confiscated.
Vehicles searched.
Security footage reviewed.
Claire cleaned the graze on Evan’s arm in the medical room.
“You need stitches.”
“No.”
“You need three.”
“No.”
“Do you negotiate with bullets too?”
He looked at her.
“Usually.”
Claire opened a sterile kit.
“Sit.”
He sat.
That obedience surprised both of them.
She cleaned the wound.
He flinched once.
“You can cry if you need to.”
“I’m considering firing you.”
“You’d still need stitches.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Claire worked carefully.
His skin was warm beneath her fingers.
The scar across his shoulder told her this was not his first bullet.
“How many times?”
“What?”
“Have you been shot.”
“Four.”
She paused.
“Four?”
“Five if you count this.”
“I don’t.”
“Then four.”
“And stabbed?”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“I’m developing a theory that you’re very bad at avoiding dangerous situations.”
“Says the woman who stepped onto a dock during an assassination attempt.”
“I didn’t know it was an assassination attempt.”
“Neither did I.”
She tied the final stitch.
“That is somehow worse.”
He watched her dispose of the supplies.
“Thank you.”
Claire stopped.
The words sounded unnatural from him.
“You’re welcome.”
A knock interrupted them.
Caleb entered.
“We found the shooter’s exit route.”
Evan stood.
“Who?”
“Professional. No identification.”
“Inside help?”
“Almost certainly.”
Caleb glanced at Claire.
“The woman should leave.”
Claire’s head turned.
Evan’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“She has already brought instability into the house.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“My brother was kidnapped because of your war.”
Caleb’s eyes chilled.
“Your brother’s addiction made him vulnerable.”
“Enough,” Evan said.
Caleb ignored him.
“Since she arrived, Nora’s movements have become easier to predict.”
Claire stared.
“I’ve worked for her eleven months.”
“Exactly.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying she is an outsider.”
Evan stepped between them.
“And I said enough.”
Caleb looked at him.
“You’re protecting her.”
“I’m stopping you from wasting time.”
“I raised you.”
“You keep reminding me.”
Caleb’s face hardened.
“You’ve changed.”
“No.”
Evan glanced at Claire.
“Maybe I’m finally noticing things.”
Caleb left.
Claire folded her arms.
“He hates me.”
“He hates uncertainty.”
“So you have something in common.”
Evan looked at her.
“You think he’s the leak.”
“I think he knew too much about my brother.”
“That’s not evidence.”
“No.”
“What else?”
Claire remembered the map.
“The way he lies.”
Evan said nothing.
She continued.
“You lie by getting colder. Nora lies by getting still.”
His eyebrow moved.
“And Caleb?”
“He becomes kinder.”
Evan stared at her.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe.”
He looked toward the door Caleb had closed.
“But you believe it.”
“Yes.”
That afternoon, Nora asked Claire to take her outside.
Evan refused.
Nora threatened to walk outside alone.
Evan lost.
They sat beneath the covered terrace.
Rain had stopped.
The lake looked gray.
Nora held a cup of tea.
“Caleb is dangerous.”
Claire looked at her.
“You know?”
“I know Caleb.”
“Does Evan?”
“He knows the version of Caleb that held him after his father died.”
Claire understood the problem immediately.
“He loves him.”
“Like a father.”
“Do you think Caleb betrayed you?”
Nora was silent.
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t accuse people without proof.”
“Neither do I.”
Nora looked at her.
“You’re accusing him in your head.”
“Yes.”
A small smile.
“I like you.”
“So you’ve mentioned.”
Nora’s smile faded.
“Thomas trusted Caleb with everything.”
“What changed?”
“Nothing.”
Claire waited.
“That’s the frightening part,” Nora said.
Before Claire could ask more, an SUV approached the gate.
Security surrounded it.
Evan emerged from the house.
The vehicle stopped.
A man stepped out with both hands raised.
Owen.
Claire stood.
“Owen?”
She rushed toward him.
Evan grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
“That’s my brother.”
“He shouldn’t know this location.”
Claire froze.
Owen stood near the gate, soaked from rain.
“I need Claire!”
Evan’s guards surrounded him.
Claire whispered, “How did he get here?”
Evan’s face became stone.
“Exactly.”
Owen was searched.
No weapon.
No phone.
He had been dropped two miles away by someone he claimed never saw.
Inside, Claire wrapped him in a blanket.
“You were supposed to be at the clinic.”
“I woke up in a van.”
“What?”
“They took me last night.”
Evan stood across the room.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were under guard.”
“I fell asleep.”
“You were sedated?”
Owen shook his head.
Then he stopped.
“Maybe.”
Claire looked at Evan.
“Someone got into your secure facility.”
“Or someone there helped.”
Owen began trembling.
“They gave me a message.”
Evan’s expression sharpened.
“What?”
Owen reached into his shoe.
Every guard immediately drew a weapon.
Claire jumped.
“It’s paper!”
Owen removed a folded note.
Evan took it.
Three words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
On the back was a photograph of Thomas Mercer’s body.
Evan’s face changed.
Nora whispered, “No.”
Claire looked at her.
She was staring at the photograph.
“What?”
Nora’s hands shook.
“That picture was never public.”
Evan looked up.
“How do you know?”
“Because I took it.”
Silence.
Evan stared at her.
“You were there.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“The night Dad died.”
“Yes.”
“You told me you were at home.”
“I lied.”
His voice dropped.
“Why?”
“Because I saw who killed him.”
Evan’s breathing stopped.
Claire could feel the entire room tightening around them.
“Crowe?”
Nora looked at Caleb.
He had entered unnoticed.
Nora’s eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
Evan followed her gaze.
Caleb stopped.
Nobody moved.
Nora whispered, “Caleb was there.”
Evan’s face emptied.
Caleb smiled sadly.
“Nora.”
“Don’t.”
“You’re confused.”
“I have heart disease, not dementia.”
Evan looked between them.
“What is she saying?”
Caleb’s voice remained calm.
“Your mother has carried guilt for years.”
Nora stood.
“I watched you meet Thomas beneath the Halsted bridge.”
Evan stared at Caleb.
“You told me Crowe arranged it.”
“He did.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“To protect you.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“Always the same words.”
Caleb’s eyes hardened.
Nora continued.
“Thomas had decided to turn the recording over to the federal government.”
Evan looked at her.
“What?”
“He was going to cooperate.”
Caleb said, “He was going to destroy us all.”
Nora whispered, “So you stopped him.”
Evan’s voice became terrifyingly quiet.
“Did you kill my father?”
Caleb looked at the man he had helped raise.
For the first time, the smile disappeared.
“No.”
Nora reached beneath her blouse.
Claire saw a thin chain.
Nora pulled out a tiny brass key.
Everyone stared.
“You want proof?” she said.
Caleb went pale.
Nora looked at Evan.
“This opens the only thing your father trusted me to hide.”
Caleb drew his gun.
Everything happened at once.
Evan moved toward Nora.
Guards raised weapons.
Claire grabbed Owen and pulled him down.
Caleb pointed the gun directly at Nora.
May you like
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Then the lights went out.
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