Chapter 14 - THE LAST LIE
Nathan’s prison transport vehicle had crashed on a rural highway.
The driver was found unconscious.
One guard had been shot.
Nathan was missing.
Police issued an emergency alert.
Grace took Lily to a secure location.
She refused to believe Nathan had planned the escape.
However, evidence suggested someone had helped him.
A stolen vehicle was discovered near the crash site.
Inside, investigators found Nathan’s fingerprints and a photograph of Grace’s house.
Jonah wanted to move them out of state.
Before they could leave, Grace received a message from Nathan.
The text contained only an address.
Beneath it were five words.
Please come before they find me.
Jonah traced the location to an abandoned summer cabin once owned by Beatrice.
Grace agreed to go only with police nearby.
She left Lily inside an armored vehicle with Camila.
The cabin door stood open.
Grace entered.
Nathan sat on the floor near the fireplace.
Blood covered one side of his shirt.
He raised his hands when he saw her.
“I didn’t escape.”
“Then what happened?”
“Someone attacked the transport.”
“Who?”
Nathan looked toward the bedroom.
A man stepped through the doorway.
Grace recognized Samuel Bennett.
Her supposedly dead uncle.
Samuel pointed a gun at Nathan.
Grace froze.
Samuel smiled.
“Our family has always been talented at funerals without bodies.”
Grace remembered Nathan saying Samuel had reviewed Mercer’s reports.
She remembered the boating accident three years earlier.
Samuel had disappeared only weeks after Nathan learned Grace was alive.
“You worked with Mercer.”
“I trained him.”
Samuel explained that the clinic had not been created solely to imprison Grace.
It was part of a private network used to silence spouses, heirs, witnesses, and business partners.
Wealthy clients paid enormous sums to make inconvenient people disappear.
Grace’s case had become dangerous after Camila stole the records.
Samuel faked his death and continued operating the network overseas.
Nathan’s trial threatened to expose everything.
Samuel had attacked the transport to force Nathan to reveal where the remaining files were hidden.
Nathan had refused.
Samuel pressed the gun against Nathan’s head.
“The drive Charles gave you contains the names of every client.”
Grace kept her voice calm.
“The police already have it.”
“No.”
Samuel smiled.
“Charles gave them a copy with several names removed.”
Grace understood.
Her father had protected the most powerful people until the end.
Samuel demanded the original drive.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Don’t give it to him.”
Samuel struck him with the weapon.
Grace reached inside her coat.
She removed the drive.
Samuel extended his hand.
Grace threw it toward the fireplace.
Samuel lunged forward.
Nathan grabbed his leg.
The gun fired.
Grace fell to the floor.
For one terrifying second, she felt no pain.
Then she saw Nathan.
The bullet had entered his stomach.
Samuel kicked him away and reached for the drive.
Grace grabbed a metal poker from beside the fireplace.
She struck Samuel’s wrist.
The gun fell.
He turned toward her.
Grace struck him again.
He collapsed near the flames.
Jonah and the tactical officers stormed the cabin.
Samuel was arrested.
Grace dropped beside Nathan.
Blood spread beneath him.
Nathan looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stay awake.”
“I should have come for you.”
“You should have.”
“I loved you.”
Grace pressed both hands against the wound.
“Love without courage is only a feeling.”
Nathan cried.
“I know.”
Paramedics rushed inside.
As they lifted him onto a stretcher, he grabbed Grace’s hand.
“Tell Lily I finally told the truth.”
Nathan survived surgery.
The original drive was recovered.
It exposed judges, business leaders, doctors, and politicians connected to the clinic network.
The investigation spread across the country.
Dozens of missing people were found alive.
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Grace’s stolen years could never be returned.
But the truth she carried saved others from losing theirs.
