Chapter 4 - The Second Funeral
Emergency lights glowed red along the clinic hallway.
Adrian immediately lifted Lily.
“Back exit.”
Lena grabbed a flashlight.
Grace took Emma’s hand.
They moved through the dark corridor while Adrian called the two guards outside.
Neither answered.
Then glass shattered near the reception area.
Grace gasped.
Adrian pushed everyone into a supply room.
“Stay here.”
He disappeared into the hall.
A shadow moved near the stairs.
Adrian caught the man by the coat and slammed him against the wall.
The intruder dropped a radio.
He wore no visible insignia.
But Adrian recognized the communication code flashing across the screen.
Vale Security Channel Seven.
Marcus’s division.
The man broke free and escaped through a side exit before Adrian could stop him.
When Adrian reached the street, both guards were alive.
Their vehicle tires had been cut.
They had been drawn two blocks away by a false emergency call.
Marcus was moving faster than Adrian expected.
By sunrise, Lily, Emma, and Grace were inside an old lakefront safehouse that Marcus had never known existed.
Adrian returned to the mansion alone.
Marcus was waiting in the library.
He poured two glasses of bourbon as though nothing had changed.
“You disappeared from Evelyn’s memorial.”
“You sent men after me.”
Marcus’s hand paused.
Then he smiled.
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“I didn’t say where.”
“You didn’t have to.”
For one fraction of a second, Marcus’s eyes changed.
Adrian saw it.
Marcus placed the bottle down.
“Who is the girl?”
“What girl?”
“The housekeeper’s child.”
“She has two.”
“Grace Miller has one registered daughter.”
Marcus leaned against the desk.
“So I’ll ask again.”
“Who is the baby?”
Adrian picked up the bourbon.
He smelled it.
Then poured it into a plant.
Marcus laughed.
“You think I poisoned it?”
“No.”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“I just don’t drink with people I’m investigating.”
The smile disappeared.
Marcus stepped closer.
“You’re grieving.”
“So were you.”
“Evelyn mattered to me.”
“She trusted you.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
Adrian continued.
“That’s what makes this interesting.”
He walked toward the door.
“Oh, Marcus.”
Marcus turned.
Adrian gave him one carefully prepared lie.
“They’re exhuming Lily’s grave tomorrow.”
Marcus went perfectly still.
Only for a second.
But Adrian saw it.
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That night, a security camera captured Marcus leaving the mansion at 2:13 a.m.
He drove directly toward the cemetery.
