Chapter 20 - Victor’s Real Assignment
Malcolm held Daniel Keene beneath the orchard’s security light.
Daniel was thin and unsteady, but alive.
“Bring me the archive,” Malcolm called. “Nora gets her father back.”
Nora moved toward the door.
Rebecca stopped her.
“He will kill both of you.”
Elise searched Samuel’s files for another exit. She found a tunnel leading from the cellar to an old packing barn.
Victor took the Orchard ledger and walked outside alone.
Malcolm smiled.
“The obedient son returns.”
“I was never obedient,” Victor said. “I was afraid.”
While Malcolm focused on him, Elise and Nora entered the packing barn through the tunnel. They reached Daniel from behind and pulled him toward cover.
Malcolm’s guards opened fire at the barn walls. Victor dropped the ledger into the mud and tackled his father.
Rebecca activated the orchard’s irrigation system, filling the yard with freezing water and blocking visibility.
They escaped in Malcolm’s own vehicle.
Only after they reached the highway did Elise discover the ledger Victor surrendered was empty.
He had hidden the real files beneath the farmhouse floor.
Daniel explained that Malcolm’s greatest power was not the Registry itself.
It was a financial trust funded by families who had purchased identities.
When Elise reached thirty-five, control of that trust would automatically pass to the “original surviving Ward beneficiary.”
Her birthday was three days away.
Malcolm did not need Elise dead.
He needed the system to recognize someone else as Elise Ward.
Nora looked at the hospital bracelets.
“Lydia Crane.”
Daniel nodded.
“If Lydia becomes Elise on paper before midnight three days from now, Malcolm controls everything.”
Elise’s phone rang.
May you like
The caller identification displayed her own name.
When she answered, Lydia said, “I’m already inside your house.”
