Chapter 20: The Warehouse in the Dark

The photograph of Emma stayed on my screen.

Her frightened eyes followed me wherever I looked.

Jack enlarged the image on his laptop.

"There's something behind her."

I leaned closer.

A faded red symbol was painted on the wall behind Emma.

My grandmother immediately recognized it.

"That's the old West shipping mark."

Jack's expression changed.

"My family's abandoned warehouse."

I looked at him.

"Where is it?"

"About twenty miles outside the city."

Corbin arrived less than fifteen minutes later.

His face was pale when he saw the photograph.

"We can't wait for the police."

"We aren't," I said.

I placed the recorder and documents into a metal case.

"But we're not handing them over either."

Corbin looked at me for a long moment.

"You're planning to go there."

"Yes."

"It's dangerous."

I gave him a cold smile.

"So was dying the first time."

Jack drove.

Corbin followed in a separate car.

The warehouse stood beside an abandoned railway line, surrounded by weeds and rusted fencing.

Most of the windows were broken.

Only one light burned inside.

Jack turned off the engine.

"Stay behind me."

I shook my head.

"No. If they're expecting me, hiding won't help."

We entered through a side door.

The smell of dust and oil filled the air.

Somewhere deeper inside, water dripped steadily from a pipe.

Then we heard a muffled sound.

A woman's voice.

"Help!"

Emma.

We followed the sound into the main storage room.

Emma was tied to a metal chair in the center.

Her face was bruised, but she was conscious.

"Esme!"

I stopped several feet away.

"Who did this?"

Emma shook her head.

"I don't know."

A slow clap echoed from the darkness.

A man stepped into the light.

My father's former attorney.

The same lawyer who had handled the rewritten will in my previous life.

My stomach tightened.

"You."

He smiled.

"You were always more difficult than your parents expected."

Jack moved in front of me.

"Untie her."

"Of course."

The lawyer gestured toward Emma.

"Once you give me the evidence."

I held up the metal case.

"First, let her go."

"You haven't changed."

His smile disappeared.

"Still trusting people who don't deserve it."

He nodded toward Emma.

"Ask your sister what she did three days before she died."

Emma's face turned white.

I looked at her.

"What is he talking about?"

Emma lowered her head.

"Esme, I was the one who changed the original medical report."

My chest tightened.

"What?"

"The first report said you were healthy."

Her voice trembled.

"I paid the doctor to change it."

I stared at her.

The lawyer laughed softly.

"And that's not all."

He pulled out another file.

"Emma wasn't simply planning to marry Corbin."

He opened the file.

Inside was a marriage agreement signed months earlier.

Emma had secretly agreed to marry Corbin after my disappearance.

The contract included a clause transferring a significant portion of the Sinclair estate to her.

Corbin stepped forward, his face filled with disbelief.

"I never signed this."

"You didn't need to."

The lawyer smiled.

"Your family intended to force the marriage after Esme was declared mentally incompetent."

Emma began crying.

"I didn't know about that part."

I looked at her.

"But you knew enough."

She couldn't answer.

Suddenly, the warehouse lights went out.

A gunshot exploded through the darkness.

Jack grabbed me and pulled me behind a concrete pillar.

Another shot struck the metal shelves above us.

Corbin shouted.

Then came the sound of footsteps running toward the rear exit.

Jack moved quickly through the darkness.

I crawled toward Emma.

The chair had fallen sideways.

I cut through the rope with a small blade Jack had given me earlier.

"Can you stand?"

Emma nodded weakly.

Then she grabbed my wrist.

"Esme, don't let him take the case."

I looked toward the exit.

The lawyer was gone.

So was the evidence.

My stomach dropped.

I checked my hands.

The metal case was still there.

Then I realized what had happened.

The lawyer hadn't stolen the evidence.

He had never wanted the real case.

He wanted us to believe he had.

My grandmother's original documents were still safe.

But the recorder was missing.

I looked at Emma.

"Who else knew about the recording?"

Emma's lips trembled.

"Only one person."

I waited.

She whispered the name.

"Corbin's mother."

Before I could respond, Corbin appeared from the darkness.

His face was grim.

"Then we need to get back to the Sinclair estate."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

He looked at Emma.

"Because my mother isn't waiting for us there."

His voice dropped.

"She's already gone to your grandmother's house."