"Samuel!"
Daniel's voice echoed through the warehouse.
He ran toward the place where Samuel had been standing, but there was nobody there.
Only the envelope remained.
I looked around frantically.
"How did he disappear?"
Adrian grabbed my arm.
"Stay close to me."
My father was already examining the room.
"Nobody leaves."
Victor was gone too.
My uncle rushed toward the side entrance.
"He's escaped."
My father shook his head.
"No. Someone helped him."
Daniel turned toward us.
"My uncle wouldn't just disappear."
Adrian picked something up from the floor.
A small black device.
"What is that?" I asked.
"A recorder."
He pressed a button.
A voice came through.
Samuel's voice.
"If you're hearing this, it means I couldn't stay."
Daniel's face tightened.
The recording continued.
"The agreement you found is not the original. Someone replaced the final page years ago."
I looked at my father.
He went pale.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
The recording continued.
"The original document contains the name of the person who ordered the fire. But that person is not your father, not Richard Blackwood, and not me."
A pause.
Then Samuel said:
"It was someone none of you would suspect."
The recording ended.
Silence.
I looked at the envelope in my hand.
"The document."
I opened it.
The pages were still there.
But the final page was missing.
Someone had taken it.
Daniel looked at my father.
"Did you know?"
My father shook his head.
"No."
My uncle suddenly spoke.
"I know who has it."
Everyone turned toward him.
"Who?"
He looked directly at me.
"Your mother."
My heart stopped.
"Mom?"
"She took the original agreement before she disappeared."
"But why?"
"Because she discovered the truth."
I remembered her warning.
Don't trust him.
My mother had known something.
Something she was terrified to tell me.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
There was a photograph.
My mother was sitting in a dark room.
Alive.
My breath caught.
Underneath the photograph were six words:
Come alone if you want her alive.
I stared at the screen.
Adrian saw my expression.
"What happened?"
I showed him.
His face hardened.
"No."
"I have to go."
"You're not going alone."
"The message says—"
"I don't care what it says."
He took my hand.
"Whoever has your mother wants you frightened. That's exactly why you shouldn't go alone."
My father stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
I looked at him.
"No."
He stopped.
"I don't trust you."
His face fell.
For the first time, my father looked like a broken man.
"I understand."
Daniel picked up his jacket.
"I'm coming too."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because this started with my family."
He looked toward the dark warehouse.
"And I'm going to make sure it ends."
My uncle walked toward the exit.
"I'm coming."
Adrian looked at me.
"Then we're all going."
I nodded.
But deep inside, I knew something.
The person who had taken my mother knew our every move.
They knew where we were.
They knew what we had discovered.
And they knew exactly how to control us.
As we walked out of the warehouse, my phone vibrated again.
Another message.
Bring the original agreement.
Then a second message appeared.
And don't bring your father.
I stopped walking.
Everyone looked at me.
I slowly raised my eyes.
Because suddenly, I knew this wasn't about the money anymore.
Someone wanted my father dead.