He Came Home Early and Heard His Mother Threatening His Wife—Then a Hidden Secret Was Revealed
Chapter 7
Daniel immediately turned off every light.
Thomas moved toward the back door.
Margaret stood beside Michael.
Emily whispered:
“How did they find us?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Someone followed you.”
Michael’s mind raced.
They had been careful.
Or so he thought.
The first SUV stopped.
Three men stepped out.
They weren’t police.
Daniel recognized them.
“Victor’s people.”
Michael looked toward the farmhouse.
“How many?”
“At least six.”
Thomas opened a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside were several old communication devices and documents.
Michael stared.
“You’ve been preparing for this.”
Daniel nodded.
“For twenty years.”
A loud knock came from the front door.
Then a man’s voice.
“Daniel.”
Nobody moved.
“Come outside.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
“They won’t leave until they have you.”
Michael whispered:
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the last legal link to Northstar.”
The door shook.
Someone kicked it.
Daniel pointed toward the cellar.
“There’s another exit.”
Michael helped Emily and Margaret downstairs.
Thomas followed.
Daniel remained upstairs.
Michael stopped.
“What about you?”
Daniel smiled.
“I’ve been running for twenty years.”
He looked toward the door.
“Tonight, I’m done running.”
Michael shook his head.
“You can’t fight six people.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I’m not planning to.”
A loud explosion shook the house.
Michael pulled Emily toward the cellar.
They crawled through another tunnel.
Behind them, shouting erupted.
Then gunshots.
Emily covered her ears.
Michael kept moving.
The tunnel eventually opened near an old barn.
They emerged into the darkness.
Thomas was waiting.
“Where’s Daniel?”
Michael looked back.
He didn’t know.
Minutes later, Daniel appeared.
He was bleeding from his forehead.
But alive.
They reached a second vehicle and drove away.
For the next hour, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel handed Michael a small flash drive.
“This contains everything.”
Michael looked at it.
“Everything?”
“Bank records. Audio recordings. Property transfers. Names.”
“Enough to bring them down?”
Daniel nodded.
“If we get it to federal investigators.”
Thomas looked at him.
“We can’t go to local police.”
“I know.”
“Victor has people everywhere.”
Michael stared at the flash drive.
“Then we go directly to the FBI.”
Daniel nodded.
“But first, there’s one more thing.”
Michael frowned.
“What?”
Daniel pulled out a photograph.
It showed Victor Blackwell standing beside Richard Carter.
But someone else was standing with them.
Michael stared.
He knew the man.
It was the current county sheriff.
Michael’s stomach dropped.
“He’s involved.”
Daniel nodded.
“And he’s not the highest-ranking person.”
Michael looked at him.
“Who is?”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s what the flash drive will tell us.”
They drove toward the city.
But before they reached the highway, their vehicle was forced off the road.
Michael grabbed Emily.
The car crashed into a ditch.
Glass shattered.
Silence followed.
Then footsteps approached.
A voice came from outside.
“Michael Carter.”
Michael recognized it.
Victor Blackwell.
