Chapter 6 - Before the Sun Came Up
Sadie moved before anyone could stop her.
Declan caught up near the staircase.
“Sadie.”
“She’s supposed to be at Dr. Park’s clinic.”
“She is.”
“Then why did Victor say Green Hollow?”
Victor hurried behind them.
“I misspoke. Shaw went to Green Hollow first, then requested information about where your mother was transferred.”
Sadie stopped.
“Did they tell him?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“We’re checking.”
Declan looked at Victor.
“Call Evelyn.”
Victor did.
Dr. Park answered immediately.
Mrs. Miller was safe.
Two guards were outside her room.
Nobody had visited.
Sadie leaned against the wall.
Relief weakened her knees.
Declan stood near her without touching.
“She’s safe.”
“For now.”
“For now,” he agreed.
Sadie looked at him.
She appreciated that he did not offer certainty he could not guarantee.
“What does Shaw want with her?”
“Leverage.”
The word made Sadie sick.
“Everybody keeps treating my mother like she’s a bargaining chip.”
Declan’s face hardened.
“That ends today.”
“How?”
He had no immediate answer.
That frightened her more than another promise.
Agent Collins approached.
“We located Shaw’s vehicle.”
“Where?” Declan asked.
“Airport parking.”
“He ran?”
“Looks that way.”
“Flight?”
“No record.”
Victor understood first.
“Decoy.”
Collins nodded.
“Probably.”
Sadie sat down slowly.
The sleepless night was catching up with her.
Pain medication made her thoughts heavy.
Declan noticed.
“Enough.”
She looked up.
“What?”
“You need rest.”
“I’m not sleeping.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I’ll stand better angry.”
A faint smile touched Victor’s face.
Declan glared at him.
Victor immediately became serious.
Declan crouched in front of Sadie again.
The same position he had taken when he first saw her arm.
“You cannot protect your mother by collapsing.”
Sadie looked away.
“I know.”
“Then sleep for two hours.”
“I’ll miss something.”
“I’ll wake you.”
“How do I know?”
“You don’t.”
That surprised her.
Declan continued.
“You decide whether to trust me.”
Sadie studied him.
That was the first time he had put the decision entirely in her hands.
She nodded.
“Two hours.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Two and a half.”
Sadie almost laughed.
“Fine.”
Mrs. Price prepared a guest room.
Sadie expected luxury.
She found something quieter.
Cream walls.
Simple furniture.
Fresh sheets.
A vase of white flowers.
She removed her shoes and sat on the edge of the bed.
Declan remained in the doorway.
“You need anything?”
“No.”
He started to leave.
“Declan?”
He turned.
She hesitated.
“Why are you doing this?”
His expression became guarded.
“What?”
“All of it.”
“Because it’s my responsibility.”
“No.”
He said nothing.
Sadie continued.
“You’re losing millions. Federal agents are taking your records. People you trusted betrayed you.”
Her voice softened.
“And you’re standing here making sure I have a pillow.”
Declan looked toward the hallway.
For several seconds she thought he would not answer.
Then:
“When I was fourteen, my mother broke her wrist.”
Sadie waited.
“My father told everyone she fell.”
Declan’s jaw tightened.
“She hadn’t.”
Sadie went very still.
“He broke it?”
Declan nodded once.
“She stayed.”
“Why?”
“Three children. No money. No family willing to challenge him.”
Sadie suddenly understood the moment in the dining room.
I know what falling looks like.
Declan continued.
“I grew up watching people notice and do nothing.”
He met her eyes.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t become one of them.”
Sadie whispered,
“Did you keep that promise?”
His answer took too long.
“Not always.”
He left before she could ask what that meant.
Sadie lay down.
She expected to remain awake.
Instead exhaustion pulled her under almost immediately.
When she woke, sunlight filled the room.
Her first thought was panic.
The clock read 9:17.
Three hours.
She sat up.
A note rested beside the bed.
Your mother is safe. Eat before you yell at me. — D
Sadie stared at it.
Then smiled despite herself.
Downstairs, the estate had transformed.
Federal agents were gone.
Lawyers had arrived.
Phones rang constantly.
News vans gathered beyond the gate.
Sadie found Declan in the kitchen.
Not the formal dining room.
The kitchen.
He was standing over a coffee machine looking personally offended by it.
She leaned against the doorway.
“Problem?”
He turned.
“You’re awake.”
“You let me sleep three hours.”
“You needed it.”
“We agreed on two and a half.”
“I lied.”
“You’re terrible at apologies.”
“I wasn’t apologizing.”
Sadie walked toward the coffee machine.
“What are you doing?”
“Making coffee.”
“No, you’re threatening it.”
She reached with her left hand and pressed two buttons.
The machine started.
Declan stared.
“That's it?”
“That’s it.”
He looked genuinely annoyed.
“You own twelve hotels.”
“I don’t operate their coffee machines.”
Sadie laughed.
Declan watched her.
Again, a second too long.
She looked away.
“Any news?”
His expression hardened.
“Keller left the country.”
“Where?”
“Belize, probably.”
“Shaw?”
“Still missing.”
“Marcus?”
“No.”
“And your company?”
“Board meeting at noon.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It will be.”
Sadie poured coffee.
Then opened a spice cabinet.
Declan watched her add cinnamon.
“You remembered.”
“I remember things too.”
He took the cup.
Their fingers almost touched.
Neither moved for a moment.
Then Victor entered.
“Sorry.”
He did not look sorry.
“What?” Declan asked.
Victor placed a flash drive on the counter.
“Found in Martin Keller’s office.”
“What’s on it?”
“A video.”
They went to the study.
Victor connected the drive.
Security footage appeared.
The date was six months earlier.
Marcus Vane entered Keller’s office.
Then Adrian Shaw.
Then another person.
Sadie leaned forward.
The fourth man wore an expensive suit.
Older.
Distinguished.
Declan’s face changed.
“No.”
Sadie looked at him.
“Who is that?”
He did not answer.
Victor did.
“Senator Raymond Cole.”
Sadie recognized the name.
Everybody did.
Former state attorney general.
Current senator.
Possible presidential candidate.
One of the most powerful politicians in the country.
The video had no audio.
But the men opened documents.
Keller handed Cole a folder.
Cole handed Marcus something.
Then Adrian Shaw placed papers in front of everyone.
Declan’s forged signature was visible at the bottom.
Sadie whispered,
“They built it together.”
Victor nodded.
Declan remained silent.
Sadie remembered politicians dining at the estate.
Had Cole been one of them?
“How well do you know him?”
Declan’s face became hard.
“He was at my sister’s funeral.”
That answered enough.
Victor opened another file.
“There’s metadata.”
“What?”
“The footage was copied two days ago.”
“By whom?”
Victor turned toward Sadie.
“Household access.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Someone in the mansion?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Victor hesitated.
“Mrs. Price.”
Sadie stared.
The woman who had prepared her guest room.
The housekeeper who had worked for Declan for twenty-one years.
Declan did not react immediately.
Then he looked toward the door.
“Where is she?”
Victor checked his phone.
Nobody answered.
At that exact moment, the mansion’s fire alarm began screaming.
Sadie jumped.
Declan turned toward the hallway.
Smoke curled beneath the study door.
Victor shouted,
“Move!”
Declan grabbed the flash drive.
Sadie followed them out.
Smoke was already filling the west corridor.
Sprinklers activated.
Employees rushed toward exits.
Declan turned.
“Where’s Mrs. Price?”
Nobody knew.
Then Sadie noticed something.
The fire was not spreading randomly.
Smoke came from the archive room.
The room containing personnel records.
Addresses.
Family contacts.
Everything Marcus Vane needed.
Sadie looked at Declan.
“This isn’t a fire.”
He understood.
“It’s a distraction.”
Victor’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then his face drained of color.
“What?”
Victor looked directly at Sadie.
“Dr. Park’s clinic lost power.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
“Backup generators?”
“Disabled.”
“My mother?”
Victor did not answer quickly enough.
Sadie ran.
By the time she reached the front doors, Declan was beside her.
The sun was fully above Grayhaven now.
Fifteen men were gone from the estate.
But the real war had only just begun.
May you like
And someone had decided Sadie’s mother would be the next battlefield.
---
