Chapter 6 - The Old Theater and the Man Behind the Curtain
The old theater had been abandoned for twenty years.
Silas chose it because the family once owned it.
The stage was covered in dust.
Rows of empty seats stared into darkness.
Rory entered first.
“Silas!”
His voice echoed.
A spotlight turned on.
The twins were sitting in two chairs.
Alive.
Unhurt.
But terrified.
Beside them stood Marcus.
Rory's supposedly dead brother.
Marcus smiled.
“You came.”
Rory raised his gun.
“Let them go.”
“Give me the ledger.”
Rory held it up.
Marcus nodded.
“Put it on the stage.”
Rory did.
Marcus stepped forward.
Then Silas appeared behind him.
Rory froze.
“Uncle.”
Silas smiled.
“You always were sentimental.”
Marcus looked at him.
“What now?”
Silas pulled a gun.
He shot Marcus.
Marcus collapsed.
Rory stared.
“You killed your own man.”
Silas shook his head.
“Marcus was never family.”
The twins screamed.
I moved toward them.
Silas pointed his weapon at me.
“Stay.”
I stopped.
Rory's face became furious.
“You promised them.”
“I promised nothing.”
Silas picked up the ledger.
He flipped through it.
Then laughed.
“This isn't complete.”
Rory frowned.
“What?”
“The original ledger has one missing page.”
Silas looked at me.
“You have it.”
I didn't understand.
Then I remembered.
A note Vanessa had given me months earlier.
She had never physically met me.
But she had left a message inside a laundry cupboard.
A single piece of paper.
I had kept it because I didn't know what it meant.
Now I understood.
I pulled it from my pocket.
Silas smiled.
“Give it to me.”
Rory shook his head.
“No.”
Silas pointed at Lily.
“Then she dies.”
Rory stepped forward.
“You won't.”
Silas laughed.
“You really think I won't?”
The theater doors opened.
Police entered.
Silas froze.
Rory hadn't called them.
I had.
Before we left the archive, I had sent copies of the ledger to three separate addresses.
The evidence was already public.
Silas had nothing to gain.
But he had one final trick.
The lights went out.
Smoke filled the room.
Gunshots.
People screamed.
I grabbed Rose.
Rory grabbed Lily.
We ran backstage.
A hidden door opened.
A tunnel.
We descended.
The tunnel led beneath the theater.
At the end was a room.
Silas stood there.
He had beaten us.
Or thought he had.
But the tunnel was old.
The walls vibrated.
I stopped.
“What?”
Rory turned.
“Clara?”
“Listen.”
He did.
He heard nothing.
I pressed my hand to the wall.
“There is another room.”
We searched.
A hidden door opened.
Inside was a safe.
Silas rushed toward it.
The safe contained the missing page.
And something else.
A DNA report.
Rory stared.
Silas was not merely his uncle.
He was his biological father.
Rory's entire life collapsed.
Silas smiled.
“Yes.”
Rory stared.
“My father wasn't my father.”
“No.”
“He adopted me.”
“He needed a successor.”
“Then why Marcus?”
Silas laughed.
“Marcus was your father's son.”
Rory froze.
Two brothers.
One family.
One empire.
Silas had used both.
Marcus was his true nephew.
Rory was the outsider.
Silas had built them against each other.
Rory looked at Marcus.
He was still alive.
Barely.
“Why did you kill my mother?”
Silas looked at him.
“Because she knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That you were not supposed to inherit.”
Rory's face hardened.
“You destroyed everyone.”
“No.”
Silas smiled.
“You did.”
Rory raised his weapon.
But he did not fire.
Instead, he said:
“You're done.”
Silas laughed.
“No one can stop me.”
A voice answered from behind him.
“I can.”
Judge Crane stood there.
He had survived the church.
But now he held a gun aimed at Silas.
“You used me.”
Silas stared.
“You were useful.”
Crane lowered his weapon.
“You killed my daughter.”
Silence.
The judge had a personal reason for cooperating.
Silas had used his family.
Crane turned to Rory.
“Take the evidence.”
Rory did.
Police surrounded the tunnel.
Silas was arrested.
Marcus survived.
The twins were safe.
The nightmare was over.
Or so we thought.
On the way home, Rory said nothing.
He stared out the window.
I sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“You don't have to be.”
He looked at me.
“I spent my whole life thinking my father was someone else.”
“He still raised you.”
“Silas raised me too.”
“But one taught you fear.”
“And the other?”
“You chose who you became.”
He looked at me.
“You really believe that?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
At the mansion, the twins ran into his arms.
He held them tightly.
Then they ran to me.
Lily hugged my waist.
Rose whispered:
“Thank you.”
I crouched.
“You're safe now.”
Rory watched us.
He smiled.
But then Tommy approached.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found another document.”
Rory took it.
The final page.
A signature.
Vanessa's.
She had signed it one day before her death.
Underneath were six words.
TRUST THE WOMAN WITH THE RABBIT.
Rory looked at me.
I froze.
The rabbit.
May you like
The little keychain hanging from my old work bag.
Vanessa had known something about me too.
