Chapter 3 - The Buried Truth
Sophie fell to her knees beside the old man, desperately pressing her white silk veil against his bleeding chest.
She screamed for someone to call an ambulance, but the barn was completely isolated from the main estate.
Bernard let out a final, rattling breath and lost consciousness before she could ask him another question.
Tears streamed down her face as she remembered the urgent way he had pointed at the floorboards.
She grabbed a heavy iron crowbar from a nearby tool rack and wedged it between the thick wooden planks.
She pulled back with all her might, snapping the rusted nails and tearing the floorboard away.
Underneath the dirt and cobwebs rested a heavily rusted metal lockbox.
Sophie used the crowbar to smash the brittle padlock until it finally gave way.
She flipped the lid open with trembling hands.
Inside the box was a collection of printed emails and a small black USB drive.
The printed emails detailed a massive money-laundering scheme operated by a notorious local crime syndicate.
Every single email was signed by Thomas, completely implicating him as the mastermind.
She reached for a stack of glossy photographs resting at the bottom of the box.
The first few pictures showed Thomas handing briefcases of cash to dangerous-looking men in dark alleys.
May you like
She turned to the very last photograph in the stack and felt the air leave her lungs.
It was a picture of Thomas holding a gun directly to the head of her missing brother, Daniel.
