Chapter 4 - The Sheriff Who Promised to Protect Us Was Found Tied Inside His Own JailWe left the medical room through the underground tunnel.
Emma carried Lily.
I carried Grace.
The doctor carried Sophie.
The tunnel connected the ranch to an old storm shelter.
When we emerged, smoke filled the horizon.
The sheriff's station was burning.
I called again.
No answer.
Then a deputy finally picked up.
His voice trembled.
“Don't come here.”
“Why?”
“Because they know.”
“Who?”
“The men inside.”
“What men?”
He whispered:
“Victor.”
The line went dead.
We drove toward town anyway.
The sheriff was found tied inside his own jail.
Three deputies were unconscious.
Every security file concerning my family had been stolen.
Victor had erased more than ranch footage.
He had accessed county records.
Birth certificates.
Medical records.
Financial records.
Everything.
Then I found something buried inside the sheriff's computer.
A file labeled:
PROJECT WILLOW.
It contained Claire's name.
My name.
The girls' names.
And one word:
HEIRS.
I stared at the screen.
“What does this mean?”
Emma looked over my shoulder.
“I don't know.”
Then I saw Ethan's photograph.
Underneath it:
ETHAN CARTER — presumed deceased.
Carter.
Emma's last name was Carter.
I turned slowly.
“Emma.”
She looked confused.
“What?”
“What's your father's name?”
She swallowed.
“Thomas Carter.”
“Your mother's?”
“Sarah.”
I showed her Ethan's photograph.
She stared.
Then she began shaking.
“That's my father.”
The room went silent.
I couldn't speak.
Emma had unknowingly brought us into a conspiracy that connected both our families.
Her father was Claire's brother.
The waitress who had saved my daughters was Ethan's daughter.
Claire's niece.
Family.
I sat down.
Emma covered her mouth.
“My father isn't dead.”
“No.”
“He abandoned us.”
“Maybe he didn't.”
She looked at me.
“What do you mean?”
I pointed at the files.
“Maybe someone made you believe he did.”
Then another document appeared.
A medical report.
Dated three days after Ethan's supposed death.
He had survived.
He had been taken into custody.
Then released under a secret agreement.
The signature authorizing his release belonged to Victor Hale.
I felt rage rise through me.
Victor had been involved from the beginning.
But why?
The answer was in the final document.
CLAIRE'S TRUST FUND TRANSFERRED TO VICTOR HALE.
I stared at it.
Claire had left money for the girls.
Millions.
Victor had controlled it.
And someone had been trying to kill the heirs.
My daughters.
May you like
Emma.
All of them.
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