BOUND BY BLOOD AND BETRAYAL

Chapter 16

ADRIAN

The gun was pointed directly at Elena.

Everything inside me went still.

I didn’t think.

I reacted.

I stepped in front of her.

“Put the f*****g gun down.”

The officer didn’t blink.

His finger remained on the trigger.

“Elena isn’t your problem, Cross.”

I recognized him now.

Detective Richard Hale.

Blackwood Falls Police Department.

For twenty-five years, his name had appeared in my father’s case files.

He had been one of the first officers at the scene when my father was supposedly murdered.

He had testified that Daniel Cross was dead.

He had signed the original death report.

And now he was standing in front of me.

Alive.

Armed.

And pointing his weapon at Elena.

“You lied,” I said.

Hale smiled.

“I did what I was paid to do.”

Elena’s voice came from behind me.

“Paid by who?”

Hale looked at her.

“Your family.”

Marcus stepped forward.

“Richard, don’t.”

Hale laughed.

“Don’t what?”

Marcus’s face was pale.

“Don’t make this worse.”

“You made it worse twenty-four years ago.”

I looked at Marcus.

“What the f**k is he talking about?”

Marcus didn’t answer.

Hale did.

“Your uncle knows.”

I felt anger burning through me.

I turned toward Marcus.

“You knew this man?”

Marcus swallowed.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Since before you were born.”

I stared at him.

“And you never told me?”

“I was protecting you.”

I laughed.

“Everybody in this f*****g house needs to find a new excuse.”

Hale raised his gun again.

“Enough.”

I immediately focused on him.

“Put the weapon down.”

“You’re in no position to give orders.”

“I don’t need a position.”

I stared directly into his eyes.

“I need one good reason not to put you through that wall.”

He smiled.

“You won’t.”

“Try me.”

Elena grabbed my arm.

“Adrian.”

I looked at her.

Her face was terrified, but she was trying not to show it.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

I lowered my voice.

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

She whispered:

“Why?”

I didn’t answer.

Because the truth was becoming harder to hide.

I’d spent six years telling myself I was protecting Elena because her father had asked me to.

That was only part of the truth.

The other part was far more dangerous.

I cared about her.

More than I should.

More than I was willing to admit.

And now I was standing between her and a loaded gun.

Hale suddenly fired.

BANG!

The bullet struck the wall beside my head.

I grabbed Elena and pulled her down.

“GET DOWN!”

Everyone screamed.

Another shot rang out.

I rolled behind the nearest table and drew my weapon.

“Stay down!”

Hale fired again.

I saw Marcus dive behind the sofa.

Victoria pulled Sophia toward the dining room.

Daniel disappeared through the doorway.

And Gabriel—

Gabriel was gone.

“Son of a bitch.”

Elena looked at me.

“Where’s my father?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then find him!”

“Right now I’m trying to keep you alive!”

She stared at me.

“Then f*****g do it!”

I almost smiled.

Even terrified, she was still Elena.

Stubborn as hell.

I looked toward the hallway.

Hale was moving.

He wasn’t shooting randomly.

He was searching.

For Elena.

I realized what was happening.

“Hale isn’t here for everyone.”

Elena looked at me.

“Then who?”

“You.”

Her eyes widened.

“Why?”

“I don’t know yet.”

A gunshot came from the kitchen.

Hale shouted:

“ELENA!”

I grabbed her hand.

“Move!”

We ran.

Bullets tore through the wall behind us.

We reached the hidden corridor.

I slammed the door shut.

“Elena, go.”

“What about you?”

“I’m right behind you.”

She grabbed my shirt.

“Don’t you dare f*****g die.”

I looked at her.

For one second, everything stopped.

Her eyes met mine.

There was fear there.

But there was something else.

Something neither of us wanted to name.

“I won’t,” I whispered.

She released me.

We ran deeper into the passage.

The mansion disappeared behind us.

The walls were damp and cold.

Our footsteps echoed through the darkness.

Then Elena stopped.

“What?”

She was staring at the wall.

“What is it?”

She pointed.

There was a photograph hanging inside the tunnel.

An old photograph.

I stepped closer.

My blood ran cold.

It showed my father.

Daniel.

Gabriel.

Marcus.

Catherine.

And a fifth man.

I recognized him immediately.

Richard Hale.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

Written beneath the photograph were five names.

DANIEL CROSS

GABRIEL VALE

MARCUS MARLOWE

CATHERINE CROSS

RICHARD HALE

And underneath them:

THE FIVE WHO KNEW.

Elena stared at the photograph.

“What did they know?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know.”

Then I noticed something.

A date.

MAY 17, 2002.

The night Elena was born.

I touched the photograph.

There was something written on the back.

I turned it over.

My heart stopped.

It said:

FOUR CHILDREN.

THREE FATHERS.

ONE BLOODLINE.

Elena whispered:

“What does that mean?”

I didn’t know.

But something about it felt familiar.

Then I remembered my father’s old journal.

A sentence he’d written years before his death.

I’d never understood it.

Until now.

If the four girls ever find each other, the truth will destroy every family involved.

I looked at Elena.

“There’s something I never told you.”

She stared at me.

“What?”

“My father left me a journal.”

“You have it?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

I reached inside my jacket.

“Here.”

I pulled out the worn black journal.

Elena stared at it.

“Why didn’t you show me this before?”

“Because I was afraid.”

She looked surprised.

“Of what?”

“Of what we’d find.”

She opened it.

Page after page was filled with names, dates, payments, hospital records, photographs.

Then she stopped.

Her face changed.

“What?”

She turned the journal toward me.

I read the page.

And felt my stomach drop.

There were four names.

ELENA

ISABELLA

EVELYN

And—

I stared at the fourth name.

VICTORIA.

“No.”

Elena looked at me.

“Victoria?”

I shook my head.

“That can’t be right.”

The journal contained a handwritten note beneath her name.

THE FOURTH CHILD WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE FOUND.

Elena’s breathing became shaky.

“Adrian…”

“I know.”

“No.”

She pointed to the page.

“Look at the date.”

I did.

September 5, 2026.

Today’s date.

Someone had written it recently.

Very recently.

The ink was still wet.

My blood ran cold.

Someone had been inside the tunnel.

Someone had written that message today.

Then we heard footsteps behind us.

Slow.

Heavy.

Coming closer.

Elena grabbed my arm.

“Adrian…”

I raised my gun.

“Stay behind me.”

The footsteps stopped.

A woman’s voice echoed through the darkness.

“Adrian?”

I recognized it.

Victoria.

“Where are you?”

Elena looked at me.

“That’s my sister.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because Victoria doesn’t sound like that when she’s afraid.”

The voice came again.

Closer.

“Adrian…”

I tightened my grip on my weapon.

Then a figure stepped into the dim light.

Victoria.

Blood covered her hands.

She looked at Elena.

Then at me.

And whispered:

“I’m sorry.”

Elena stepped forward.

“What did you do?”

Victoria began crying.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

I raised my gun.

“Where is Hale?”

Victoria looked at me.

“He’s dead.”

Silence.

“What?”

She wiped the blood from her hands.

“Hale is dead.”

Elena stared at her.

“Who killed him?”

Victoria looked toward the darkness behind her.

Then whispered:

“Your father.”

Elena froze.

“My father?”

Victoria nodded.

“He’s alive.”

I lowered my weapon slightly.

“Where?”

Victoria looked directly at Elena.

“He’s waiting for you.”

“Where?”

She pointed deeper into the tunnel.

“At the place where you were born.”

Then the lights went out.

And in the darkness, I heard Daniel Cross whisper:

“Adrian…”

I turned.

His voice came from directly behind me.

“You really should have stayed out of this.”

I spun around.

Nobody was there.

Then something struck the back of my head.

Everything went black.