The warehouse fell silent.
My uncle stood in the doorway.
For years, I had believed he was dead.
Yet there he was.
Alive.
And staring directly at Victor.
Victor's confidence disappeared.
"You."
My uncle stepped inside.
"You didn't expect me to come back."
My father moved toward him.
"How did you find us?"
My uncle gave him a bitter smile.
"After ten years, you still think you can hide everything from me?"
My mother rushed toward him.
"You survived."
He looked at her.
"Because someone saved me."
My eyes remained fixed on him.
"Why did you disappear?"
He looked at me.
"Because your father told the world I was dead."
My father lowered his head.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From me?"
"No."
"Then from whom?"
My uncle looked toward Victor.
"From him."
Victor raised his weapon.
My uncle didn't flinch.
"You've been manipulating everyone for ten years."
Victor laughed.
"You think you know everything?"
"I know enough."
Daniel stepped forward.
"You killed my father."
Victor's eyes moved toward him.
"Your father was going to expose us."
"Us?"
Daniel's voice shook.
"Who else?"
Victor looked at my father.
Then at my uncle.
Finally, he looked at me.
"Your family."
I felt sick.
"My family?"
"Your father knew about the trust. Your uncle wanted the money. Samuel wanted to expose them."
Victor paused.
"And I was paid to make sure Samuel never spoke."
Daniel's face hardened.
"You murdered him?"
"No."
Victor smiled.
"Samuel survived."
My heart raced.
"Then where is he?"
Victor looked toward the darkness behind him.
"Closer than you think."
A voice suddenly came from the shadows.
"He's telling the truth."
Everyone turned.
A man stepped forward.
My breath caught.
I recognized him from the old photograph.
Samuel Morgan.
Alive.
Daniel stared at him.
"Uncle?"
Samuel looked at him with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel rushed toward him.
"Where have you been?"
"Running."
"From who?"
Samuel looked at my father.
"From everyone."
My father looked devastated.
"You should have stayed away."
Samuel shook his head.
"I stayed away for ten years."
He turned toward me.
"But she deserves the truth."
I swallowed.
"What truth?"
Samuel looked at my mother.
She nodded through her tears.
Samuel took a small envelope from his coat.
"This contains the original agreement."
My uncle stepped closer.
"And the names of everyone involved."
My hands trembled as I took it.
I opened the envelope.
There were several pages.
At the bottom of the first page were three signatures.
My father's.
Samuel's.
Richard Blackwood's.
But beneath them was another signature.
A name I didn't recognize.
I looked at Samuel.
"Who is this?"
His face became serious.
"The person who ordered the fire."
I stared at the signature.
Then my father whispered:
"That name should never have appeared in that document."
Before anyone could respond, the warehouse lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
Someone screamed.
And when the emergency lights came back on…
Samuel was gone.