Chapter 6 - The Pawn in the Game
I stared at the bloody diamond bracelet, my mind racing with terrifying questions.
Aunt Martha looked just as confused and horrified as I was.
I carefully picked up the bracelet using a tissue and examined the intricate clasp.
I realized my brother Grant must have been involved in something much darker than simple fraud.
I asked Aunt Martha if she had a secure landline I could use that could not be traced.
She pointed to an old rotary phone in the kitchen, assuring me the line was completely safe.
I dialed the cell phone number of Grant’s girlfriend, Paige, praying she would actually answer.
The line rang four times before a very quiet, trembling voice whispered hello.
I identified myself and demanded to know why her bloody bracelet was locked in my grandfather's safe.
Paige began to sob hysterically, begging me not to let Grant find out she was talking to me.
She agreed to meet me at a crowded 24-hour diner a few miles away from Martha’s house.
I borrowed a heavy oversized coat from Martha to hide my identity and walked to the diner.
Paige was already sitting in a corner booth, wearing dark sunglasses and looking absolutely terrified.
I slid into the booth across from her and placed the bloody bracelet directly on the table.
She flinched violently and covered her mouth to muffle a panicked scream.
Paige confessed that Grant had forced her to steal the bracelet during my eighteenth birthday party.
She said Grant had accidentally killed a man who worked for the Russian syndicate during a drunken argument.
Grant used the diamond bracelet to wipe his own blood off the weapon before fleeing the scene.
He had planted the bloody jewelry in my grandfather’s old safe to frame me for the murder.
Paige explained that the syndicate was not hunting me because of my father's financial debts.
They were hunting me because they truly believed I was the one who murdered their associate.
My entire family was working together to offer me as a sacrificial lamb to the Russian mob.
I felt sick to my stomach as the full weight of their monstrous betrayal crushed my spirit.
Suddenly, Paige went completely pale and stared at the large glass window behind me.
May you like
She whispered that they had finally found us.
I turned my head just in time to see a massive black van screech to a halt directly outside the diner doors.
