Chapter 15 - The Shot in the Dark
Glass exploded across the archive room.
Emily instinctively ducked.
Raymond threw himself in front of her.
Detective Harris shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Everyone down!"
Another rifle shot echoed through the cemetery.
The second bullet slammed into a metal filing cabinet.
Sparks flew across the room.
Police officers rushed toward the windows.
"We've got a shooter!"
"North tree line!"
The groundskeeper dropped to the floor, covering his head with both hands.
Emily's heart pounded so hard she could hear it.
Raymond kept one arm around her shoulders.
"Stay behind me."
Emily shook her head.
"I'm fine."
"No."
"You're carrying my great-nephew."
"I'm not taking any chances."
Outside, officers took cover behind patrol vehicles.
Detective Harris grabbed his radio.
"All units."
"Active sniper."
"Perimeter north side."
"No one advances without cover."
The response came immediately.
"SWAT is ten minutes out."
"We don't have ten minutes," Harris muttered.
Another shot rang out.
This time, a police cruiser windshield shattered.
An officer fired back toward the dark woods.
The shooter disappeared behind the trees.
Inside the archive room, Raymond carefully examined the map Thomas Bennett had left behind.
His eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong.
He held the paper closer to the light.
"There."
Emily looked.
"What?"
Raymond pointed toward the edge of the map.
"These aren't ordinary pencil marks."
Detective Harris stepped over.
Hidden beneath the hand-drawn roads were tiny numbers.
Almost invisible.
"What are they?"
Raymond smiled for the first time all day.
"Coordinates."
The detective quickly photographed the map.
His phone converted the numbers.
A location appeared.
Emily frowned.
"That's not the Saint Claire estate."
"No."
Raymond's smile disappeared.
"It's underneath it."
The room became silent.
"There are underground tunnels beneath the estate."
Detective Harris looked surprised.
"I've never seen those on any city plans."
"You wouldn't."
"My grandfather had them built during the Cold War."
Emily blinked.
"There are tunnels under your family home?"
Raymond nodded.
"They've been sealed for decades."
"So everyone believed."
Outside...
The gunfire suddenly stopped.
The silence felt even more dangerous.
One officer cautiously peeked around a patrol car.
"I don't see movement."
Detective Harris didn't relax.
"He wants us to think he's gone."
A K-9 unit arrived moments later.
The handler released the dog.
"Track!"
The German Shepherd sprinted toward the woods.
Within seconds, loud barking echoed through the trees.
Then...
Another gunshot.
The barking stopped.
The handler froze.
"No..."
Officers rushed toward the sound.
Several minutes later, they returned.
The handler's face was pale.
"The dog is alive."
"But the shooter escaped."
Detective Harris clenched his jaw.
"He knew exactly where we were."
Raymond looked toward the burning police cruiser.
"That wasn't random."
"He wanted the map."
Emily looked down at the two brass keys in Raymond's hand.
"But he didn't get them."
Raymond nodded.
"Which means he'll try again."
A black SUV suddenly sped toward the cemetery entrance.
Police officers immediately raised their weapons.
"Stop!"
The vehicle screeched to a halt.
The driver climbed out with his hands raised.
It was the Director of Security from the hospital.
"Don't shoot!"
Detective Harris lowered his weapon.
"What are you doing here?"
"I've been trying to reach you."
He handed Raymond a sealed evidence envelope.
"It came from the hospital."
Raymond frowned.
"What is it?"
"The forensic lab finished processing Margaret Ellis's office."
Raymond opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Taken nearly twenty years earlier.
Emily leaned closer.
She recognized several people immediately.
Jonathan Whitmore.
Thomas Bennett.
A much younger Raymond Saint Claire.
Then she noticed someone standing in the back row.
Daniel Mercer.
Beside him stood another man.
One Emily had never seen before.
The back of the photograph contained a handwritten caption.
Founding Oversight Committee
Below the names, one had been crossed out with thick black ink.
Arthur Caldwell.
But another name had been circled instead.
Samuel Bennett
Emily frowned.
"My uncle Samuel?"
Raymond slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Your father never had a brother."
Emily stared at him.
"What?"
Raymond pointed to the photograph.
"Samuel Bennett wasn't your uncle."
"He was your grandfather."
Emily felt the room spin.
"My grandfather died before I was born."
Raymond nodded.
"Officially."
The single word hung in the air.
Emily slowly stepped backward.
"What do you mean... officially?"
Before Raymond could answer, Detective Harris's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
"Go ahead."
The dispatcher sounded breathless.
"Detective..."
"We've identified the sniper."
Harris looked up.
"Who is it?"
There was a long pause.
Then the dispatcher spoke.
"We ran facial recognition using nearby traffic cameras."
"And?"
"The sniper isn't working alone."
Detective Harris frowned.
"Who did we identify?"
The dispatcher answered quietly.
"The shooter is a former military contractor."
"He has no direct connection to Daniel Mercer."
"But..."
Harris's grip tightened around the phone.
"But what?"
"He received payment yesterday."
"From an offshore account."
"Whose account?"
The dispatcher took a slow breath.
"The account holder's name is..."
Another pause.
"...Emily Whitmore."
Emily's face went completely pale.
"That's impossible."
Raymond stared at her.
"I know."
Detective Harris slowly lowered the phone.
Someone had used Emily's identity to hire a professional killer.
Which meant only one thing.
The conspiracy had never been about hiding the past.
It had been carefully designed to make Emily appear responsible when the truth finally surfaced.
As the realization settled over everyone, Raymond slipped the two brass keys into his pocket.
He looked toward the dark horizon where the old Saint Claire estate stood hidden beyond the trees.
His voice was calm.
"But whoever planned this..."
He glanced at Emily.
"...just made one fatal mistake."
Emily looked at him.
"What mistake?"
Raymond's eyes hardened with determination.
"They underestimated how much your father prepared for this day."
Far away, beneath the abandoned Saint Claire estate, a hidden vault remained sealed.
May you like
Inside, untouched for seven years, waited the evidence that could destroy an empire.
And someone else had just arrived there first.
