Chapter 9 - THE MAN BEHIND THE SHADOWThe explosion did not destroy the mansion.
It destroyed the power.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Smoke moved through the hallway.
Victor shouted for Lily.
She called back.
“I’m here!”
Thomas appeared.
“Get outside.”
“What about Victor?”
“He’s looking for Serena.”
Margaret grabbed Lily.
“No.”
Lily looked at her.
“What?”
Margaret’s face was terrified.
“Victor can’t find Serena.”
“Why?”
“Because she wants him to.”
Lily stared.
Then Margaret whispered.
“She isn’t the real danger.”
The words chilled Lily.
“Adrian.”
Margaret nodded.
“I saw him.”
Lily stopped.
“When?”
“Before Serena took me.”
Margaret’s hands shook.
“He was inside the mansion.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Serena know?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Yes.”
Lily felt sick.
“She was working with him.”
“No.”
Margaret looked at her.
“She was afraid of him.”
Everything Lily believed shifted.
Serena had hurt Ethan.
Serena had threatened Lily.
But Serena herself might have been trapped.
Margaret continued.
“Adrian told her the plan had changed.”
“What plan?”
“He wanted Ethan.”
Lily’s heart stopped.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas shouted.
“Move!”
They ran outside.
Victor emerged moments later.
Alone.
“Serena?”
Thomas asked.
Victor shook his head.
“Gone.”
Lily looked at Margaret.
Margaret looked away.
Victor turned toward Lily.
“Get in the car.”
“Victor.”
“Now.”
They left the mansion.
No one knew where Serena had gone.
But everyone knew something worse.
Adrian Varga had entered Blackwood territory.
And nobody knew how.
Victor drove personally.
Lily sat beside him.
Margaret sat in the back.
Thomas followed in another vehicle.
“Where are we going?”
Lily asked.
Victor did not answer.
“To Ethan?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
Lily felt relief.
Then Margaret whispered.
“Victor.”
He looked in the mirror.
“What?”
“I need to tell you something.”
Victor slowed.
“What?”
Margaret took a breath.
“Your father met Adrian the night Adrian disappeared.”
Victor’s hands tightened.
“We know.”
“No.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I was there.”
Lily turned.
“You were?”
Margaret nodded.
“I worked for your father.”
Victor stared ahead.
“What happened?”
Margaret began crying.
“Your father gave Adrian an envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“And?”
“Adrian became angry.”
Victor waited.
“Then your father told him…”
Margaret stopped.
“Told him what?”
Margaret whispered.
“That the child would belong to Blackwood.”
Victor’s face went white.
Lily felt cold.
“What child?”
Margaret looked directly at Victor.
“Your child.”
Victor slammed the brakes.
The car stopped.
Everyone stared.
Victor turned toward Margaret.
“That was impossible.”
Margaret cried harder.
“I didn’t understand.”
“What are you saying?”
“Years ago…”
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“Your father arranged something.”
Victor stared.
Lily felt sick.
Margaret whispered.
“Ethan’s mother knew.”
Victor looked as though the world had collapsed.
“No.”
“She was afraid.”
“No.”
“She knew someone wanted the baby.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Margaret continued.
“She told me once that Victor’s father had secrets about her pregnancy.”
Victor looked at Lily.
Then at Margaret.
“What does Ethan have to do with Adrian?”
Margaret whispered.
“I don’t know.”
But Lily did.
Or she thought she did.
“DNA.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“The blood tests.”
Thomas’s earlier words returned to her.
Serena had purchased medical equipment.
Paternity.
Proof.
Ethan was connected to Adrian somehow.
But how?
Then Victor’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man’s voice came through.
“Hello, Victor.”
Adrian.
Victor’s face hardened.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Victor looked around.
“Where is my son?”
Adrian laughed.
“Safe.”
Lily screamed.
Victor’s face changed.
“No.”
Adrian continued.
“You moved him.”
Victor stared.
“How do you know?”
The call ended.
Everyone became silent.
Then Lily whispered.
“There’s a traitor.”
Thomas looked at Victor.
“Someone knows where Ethan is.”
Victor immediately started the car.
But Lily knew something was wrong.
Adrian knew too much.
He knew Ethan had been moved.
He knew Victor’s plans.
He knew where Lily was.
And he had already entered the Blackwood mansion.
Then Victor received a message.
A photograph.
His hands froze.
Lily looked at the screen.
It showed Ethan.
Sleeping.
Alive.
But someone’s hand rested beside him.
A hand with a familiar tattoo.
Below the photograph were five words.
COME ALONE OR HE DIES.
Victor whispered.
“No.”
Lily looked at him.
“We have to call the police.”
Victor’s eyes became dark.
“No.”
“Victor.”
“He wants me.”
“Then let Thomas come.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Victor stared at the photograph.
“Because Adrian has been planning this for years.”
He looked at Lily.
“And now he wants the truth.”
Lily whispered.
“What truth?”
May you like
Victor answered.
“The truth my father buried.”
