Chapter 2 - The Family Behind the Gates|
The emergency lights came on in the entrance hall, bathing the marble floor in a dull red glow.
Anna crouched behind the staircase before she realized she had moved. A second shot cracked through the night, followed by the sharp crash of breaking glass.
Men shouted from the front entrance.
Edward pulled a pistol from beneath his jacket.
Anna stared at it.
“You keep a gun in your house?”
“Most people keep umbrellas near the door,” Edward replied. “We have different weather.”
It was an absurd answer, and the fact that he delivered it without irony almost made her laugh.
Almost.
Daniel seized her arm.
“Come with me.”
She pulled free.
“Don't touch me.”
“Anna, this isn't the time.”
“You've been telling me that for three years.”
A guard rushed into the hall, blood darkening one sleeve.
“Mr. Calloway, they breached the east gate. Two vehicles. We lost the outer cameras.”
Edward's expression became frighteningly still.
“How many?”
“Unknown.”
“Lock the lower entrances. Nobody goes near the windows. Get everyone to the interior rooms.”
Daniel turned to Anna.
“Move.”
This time, she followed him—not because she trusted him, but because the bullets outside made the argument temporarily irrelevant.
He led her down a narrow corridor into a room hidden behind the library. The space was windowless, furnished with a couch, a steel cabinet, and a communications console.
Anna had never seen it before.
“How many secret rooms does this house have?”
“Enough.”
“That's not reassuring.”
Daniel locked the door and crossed to the console. His fingers moved over the controls while voices crackled through the speakers.
“West entrance secure.”
“Two men down near the gate.”
“Unknown vehicle leaving the south road.”
Daniel pressed a button.
“Do not pursue beyond the property line. I want identification before anyone makes a decision.”
Anna watched him.
He sounded different now. The charming man from the gala had disappeared. In his place stood someone who issued commands with the confidence of a person accustomed to being obeyed.
“You've done this before,” she said.
He didn't look at her.
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Anna.”
“How many?”
He finally turned.
“Enough that I know what happens when people panic. Sit down.”
She remained standing.
“I spent three years believing you were a distant husband with an unpleasant family. I defended you when my friends asked why you never came to dinner. I made excuses when you missed birthdays and anniversaries. I thought you were ashamed of something ordinary.”
Her voice shook, but she refused to stop.
“I never imagined I was sharing a bed with a man who commands armed guards.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“You were safer not knowing.”
“That is what every liar says when the truth becomes inconvenient.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Daniel's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen and went pale.
“What is it?” Anna asked.
“Nothing.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
He answered the call.
“Talk.”
A man's voice came through loudly enough for Anna to hear fragments.
“...found the driver... dead before we reached him... message left on the windshield...”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
“What message?”
A pause.
Then the voice continued.
“Bring the wife to the river. Alone. Before sunrise.”
Anna felt the room tilt.
Daniel ended the call.
“Who wants me?”
“I don't know yet.”
“Don't lie to me.”
He walked toward the steel cabinet and opened it. Inside were files, a medical kit, several phones, and a photograph of a young woman standing beside a man who looked remarkably like Edward.
Daniel removed the photograph and stared at it.
“Your father-in-law has enemies,” he said. “So do I. Tonight, someone decided you were the easiest way to reach us.”
“Why would anyone think I matter?”
He looked at her then, and she saw something unfamiliar in his eyes.
Guilt.
“Because you matter to me.”
The words arrived too late to comfort her.
“You had a funny way of showing it.”
Before he could answer, the door opened. Edward entered with Marcus behind him.
“The attackers have withdrawn,” Edward said. “We found a device attached to the gate. It was designed to destroy the security system, not the house.”
“Whoever planned this knew our layout,” Daniel replied.
Edward's eyes moved toward Anna.
“And they knew she would be here.”
Anna folded her arms.
“Stop discussing me as if I'm an envelope you misplaced.”
Edward gave a short nod.
“You're right.”
The unexpected acknowledgment unsettled her.
He continued.
“Someone has been asking questions about your family. Your father, specifically.”
Anna's anger faltered.
“My father died when I was nineteen.”
“We know.”
“No, you don't. He was a mechanic in Indiana. He had no connection to your world.”
Edward looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked away.
Anna felt the first real crack appear in the story of her life.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Edward took the photograph from Daniel and placed it on the console.
The young woman in the picture was not Anna's mother, but the resemblance was undeniable: the same dark eyes, the same narrow chin, the same small scar near the left eyebrow.
Anna touched the photograph with trembling fingers.
“Who is she?”
“Her name was Elena,” Edward said. “She was my daughter.”
Anna stared at him.
“You told me Daniel had no sisters.”
“She died before you met him.”
“And what does she have to do with my father?”
Edward's voice dropped.
“Twenty-five years ago, Elena disappeared after stealing a ledger from the organization. Your father was the last person known to have helped her.”
The room seemed suddenly too small.
“My father repaired cars.”
“He also hid people,” Edward said. “Including someone who had reasons to fear this family.”
Anna looked at Daniel.
“Did you know?”
He didn't answer quickly enough.
She stepped backward.
“Three years,” she whispered. “You let me believe you married me because you loved me, and all this time you were investigating my father?”
Daniel's silence was worse than a confession.
Anna turned toward the door.
Marcus moved aside to let her pass.
Behind her, Edward spoke one final sentence.
“Anna, the people who attacked this house aren't trying to kill you.”
She stopped.
“Then what do they want?”
May you like
Edward's face was grim.
“They want you to find what your father hid.”
