Chapter 13 - THE AUNT WHO NEVER DIED|
Jenna's aunt, Margaret Hart, had supposedly died in a house fire thirty years earlier.
Eleanor had told the story so many times that Jenna remembered the details by heart: the smoke, the collapsed roof, the family gathering around an empty grave because the body could never be recovered.
But the photograph from the ledger showed Margaret alive.
Older, certainly, with silver threaded through her dark hair. Yet unmistakably the woman Jenna remembered from the only photograph her father had kept on his desk.
"She was alive when this picture was taken," Jenna said.
The date on the back was less than a year old.
Marcus traced the image to a private clinic in northern Colorado. The clinic had closed six months earlier, but the property remained registered to a charitable foundation.
A foundation funded by a company connected to Victor Voss.
We drove north under heavy security.
Jenna barely spoke.
"If my aunt is alive, why did my family tell me she was dead?"
"Maybe to protect her," I said.
"Or to protect themselves."
I had no answer.
The clinic stood behind a row of pine trees. The windows were boarded, and the front door had been forced open long ago.
Inside, we found medical records, empty cabinets, and a wall covered with photographs.
Several showed Victor Voss meeting with officials. Others showed Richard Blackwood. One showed Ryan Callahan entering the building as a young man.
Then Jenna found a small notebook.
Every page contained names and dates.
The final entry read:
Eleanor has agreed to cooperate. The girl remains unaware. Keep the witness isolated until the transfer is complete.
Jenna's hands began to shake.
"The girl. That's me."
A floorboard creaked behind us.
A woman stood in the doorway, holding a flashlight.
"Jenna?"
The woman looked older than the photograph, but her eyes were the same.
Jenna took a step forward.
"Aunt Margaret?"
The woman lowered the flashlight.
For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.
Then Margaret began to cry.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Jenna rushed into her arms.
I remained near the doorway, watching Marcus secure the corridor. It was a reunion neither of us wanted to interrupt.
When they finally separated, Jenna held her aunt's hands.
"Why did everyone say you were dead?"
"Because Voss wanted me dead. Your father helped me disappear after I discovered what he was doing."
"Then why didn't you come back?"
Margaret looked at Eleanor's name in the notebook.
"Because your mother made a deal with him."
Jenna went still.
"What kind of deal?"
"She agreed to keep you away from the investigation. In exchange, Voss promised not to harm you or Matt."
"She told me you died."
"She thought that if you believed I was dead, you would never look for me."
Jenna's face crumpled.
Margaret embraced her again.
"I am so sorry."
Before we could ask more, Marcus's radio crackled.
"Boss, we've got movement outside. Three vehicles approaching."
I drew my weapon.
"How many men?"
"At least eight."
Margaret grabbed Jenna's wrist.
"There's another exit through the basement."
We hurried downstairs.
At the bottom, Margaret stopped beside a metal door.
"There's something you need to know before you leave."
"What?" Jenna asked.
Margaret looked at me.
"Victor Voss isn't the man who ordered Daniel Blackwood's murder."
I felt my pulse slow.
"Who did?"
May you like
Margaret swallowed.
"The person who gave the order is standing inside your organization."
