Chapter 5 - THE SHADOW OF THE PASTThe word echoed in my mind, over and over, deafening every other sound in the universe.
Half-sister.
My hand instinctively moved to my swollen belly. The baby kicked inside me, a gentle, innocent motion that now felt like a dagger twisting in my heart.
"No..." I sobbed, collapsing against the side of the mahogany desk. "No, no, no! It’s a lie! Ethan, tell me he’s lying!"
Ethan stood frozen above Victor. His face had gone completely drained of color, his eyes staring blankly at the floor. The gun in his hand sagged toward the rug. For the first time since this nightmare began, Ethan looked completely defeated.
Victor saw his moment. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, he slammed his heel into Ethan’s knee.
Ethan grunted, his leg buckling under him. Victor scrambled backward across the blood-stained rug, grabbing his discarded pistol from under a chair.
"Die, both of you!" Victor screamed, aiming the weapon straight at my chest.
BANG!
A single gunshot echoed through the library.
Victor’s eyes widened in shock. A small red hole appeared in the center of his forehead. He froze for a second, then collapsed sideways onto the floor, dead before he hit the ground.
Standing in the shattered doorway of the library, holding a smoking handgun, was Detective Marcus Thorne.
Behind him were six LAPD tactical officers with their weapons drawn, sweeping the room.
"Clear!" an officer yelled.
Thorne walked into the room, lowering his weapon, his face grim. He looked at Victor’s body, then at Ethan, and finally at me, huddled on the floor in tears.
"Are you two alright?" Thorne asked, stepping over the debris.
Ethan didn't answer. He slowly picked up the red ledger from where it had fallen near the fireplace. With trembling hands, he flipped through the worn yellow pages, his eyes frantically scanning the entries until he reached page forty-two.
I watched his face. I prayed with every fiber of my being to see relief wash over his features.
Instead, I watched Ethan’s heart break in real-time.
A tear rolled down his cheek. He closed the book slowly, looking up at me with an expression of profound, crushing sorrow.
"Ethan..." I whimpered, afraid to ask, yet terrified not to know. "Is it true?"
Before Ethan could answer, Detective Thorne stepped between us, taking the red ledger from Ethan’s weak grip.
"I’ll take that into evidence, Mr. Carter," Thorne said smoothly. "You and your wife need medical attention. My officers will escort you to Saint Vincent’s Private Hospital under police protection."
"Don't touch her!" Ethan suddenly snapped, grabbing Thorne by the wrist with terrifying speed. "No one touches my wife!"
Thorne didn't flinch. He looked down at Ethan’s grip, then back into Ethan’s eyes with a strange, pitying look.
"Ethan, look at me," Thorne said quietly. "You’ve been through severe physical trauma. You spent four days in a sea cave after surviving a high-speed vehicle crash. You are suffering from severe shock and blood loss."
"I am fine!" Ethan roared, though his knees trembled and his body swayed violently. "Sarah... we need to leave. We need to run."
"Run where, Ethan?" Thorne asked softly. "Apex has fallen. Evelyn and Madison are in federal custody. Victor is dead. The ledger is in police hands. The war is over."
"It’s not over..." Ethan mumbled, his vision blurring. He took a step toward me, reaching out his hand. "Sarah... don't believe... don't believe what Victor said..."
Before he could reach my hand, Ethan’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed heavily onto the marble floor, unconscious.
"Ethan!" I shrieked, crawling toward him.
"Paramedics! Get in here now!" Thorne yelled over his shoulder.
Medical personnel rushed into the library with a gurney. They strapped Ethan down, attaching an oxygen mask to his face, and wheeled him rapidly out into the pouring rain.
I tried to follow, but a female officer gently held my shoulders. "Mrs. Carter, sit down. You're bleeding."
I looked down at my dress. A faint dark stain was blooming across the beige fabric near my thigh.
A sharp, unbearable contraction hit me, taking my breath away completely. I clutched my stomach, screaming in agony as my vision began to darken around the edges.
"She’s going into early labor!" the female officer yelled. "We need an ambulance NOW!"
As I was lifted onto a second gurney, the world spinning in wild, chaotic colors, I looked across the room one last time.
Detective Thorne was standing near the fireplace. He wasn't helping the paramedics. He was casually flipping through the pages of the red ledger.
May you like
He stopped at page forty-two, pulled out a silver lighter, and held the flame directly beneath the bottom edge of the page.
I tried to scream, to tell the officers, but the oxygen mask was placed over my face, and darkness swallowed me whole.
