CHAPTER 6: THE LAST WITNESS LEFT HIM A MESSAGE... THEN VANISHED FOREVER
Ethan and Detective Laura Hayes arrived at the abandoned lakeside cabin just before midnight.
The front door was hanging open.
Rain dripped through the broken roof.
The place looked as though someone had left in a hurry.
Or had been taken.
Laura drew her weapon.
"Stay behind me."
The cabin was empty.
No furniture.
No lights.
Only a thick layer of dust... except for one trail of fresh footprints leading to the basement.
Ethan's pulse raced.
At the bottom of the stairs sat an old wooden desk.
On top of it was a tape recorder.
A single red light blinked.
Laura pressed PLAY.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's trembling voice echoed through the darkness.
"If you're hearing this, Ethan... I'm probably already dead."
He froze.
It was the same woman from his mother's funeral.
"My real name is Sarah Whitmore. Twenty-three years ago, I worked as an accountant for Pastor Daniel Carter."
Ethan's breathing grew shallow.
"I discovered he wasn't stealing from churches... he was murdering wealthy families and forging inheritance records."
The recording crackled.
"Your father found the evidence before I did."
Tears filled Ethan's eyes.
"He wanted to expose everyone."
"But Daniel wasn't the real leader."
Laura and Ethan exchanged stunned glances.
"The man giving the orders was someone no one would ever suspect."
The tape suddenly stopped.
Silence.
Then...
A loud CLICK echoed from upstairs.
Someone was inside the cabin.
Laura rushed toward the stairs.
The front door slammed shut.
Outside, a black SUV sped away into the storm.
On the passenger seat...
Ethan caught a glimpse of Sarah.
She was alive.
She looked directly at him through the window.
She pressed one bloody hand against the glass...
And mouthed three chilling words.
"Trust no one."
Before Ethan could chase the vehicle, it disappeared into the darkness.
Back inside the cabin, Laura searched the desk again.
Hidden beneath the recorder was a sealed envelope addressed to Ethan.
Inside was a photograph of twelve smiling people standing together at a charity gala twenty-five years earlier.
On the back, someone had written in red ink:
"Only three are still alive."
Ethan quickly counted the faces.
Pastor Daniel.
Margaret.
Sarah.
His father.
His mother.
Several wealthy business owners.
Then his heart nearly stopped.
Standing in the center of the photograph...
With one arm around Pastor Daniel...
Was Detective Laura Hayes' own father—the retired police chief who had personally investigated Michael Brooks' "accident" decades ago.
Laura stared at the picture in disbelief.
"My father told me he had never met Daniel..."
Ethan slowly lowered the photograph.
For the first time since this nightmare began...
He didn't know who he could trust anymore.
Because the conspiracy hadn't infiltrated a hospital...
Or a church...
It had reached all the way into the police department.
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And the next name on the killers' list...
Was Ethan Brooks.
