Chapter 23 - THE UNTOUCHED SHADOW
The call cut out into an ear-splitting burst of static, followed by the cold, hollow drone of a dead dial tone.
"Reyes? Reyes!" I shouted into the receiver. Nothing.
I slammed the phone down, my hands trembling violently. Outside, thunder shook the foundation of the house, rattling the heavy glass panes of the French doors.
Julian stepped into the library from the kitchen, holding a flashlight as the overhead lights flickered and died, plunging the house into darkness.
"Meredith? What happened? Was that the precinct?" Julian asked, illuminating the room with the harsh white beam of the torch.
"Julian... my mother," I whispered, unable to steady the tremor in my voice. "Reyes said my mother’s biometric signature just unlocked the master cryptographic key to Victoria's offshore accounts."
Julian froze, the beam of the flashlight shaking slightly in his grip. "That’s medically impossible. Clara Vance was declared deceased twenty years ago. The death certificate was signed by the county coroner."
"The coroner who was on Victoria's payroll," I whispered, the horrific pieces of a far larger puzzle snapping into place with chilling speed.
Suddenly, the roar of the storm outside was pierced by the sound of tires crunching slowly over the wet gravel driveway.
Through the streaming library window, two brilliant headlights cut through the torrential rain, casting long, menacing shadows across the pine trees. A long, black town car glided to a halt right in front of the porch steps.
The engine purred into silence. The headlights clicked off, plunging the yard back into darkness.
Julian reached into the drawer of my father’s desk and pulled out the licensed service revolver, cocking the slide with a sharp metallic clack. "Stay behind me, Meredith."
The front doorbell did not ring.
Instead, from the front hallway came the slow, distinct, terrifying sound of a key turning smoothly inside the heavy brass deadbolt of our front door.
A key that only three people had ever possessed: my father, myself, and the woman who had walked out of this house two decades ago.
The heavy front door swung open with a slow, agonizing creak. The icy wind rushed through the foyer, blowing rain across the hardwood floor and snuffing out the faint warmth of the dying fireplace embers.
Standing in the entryway, silhouetted against the flash of lightning that illuminated the storm behind her, was a tall, elegant woman wrapped in a drenched trench coat.
She reached up, slowly untying the silk scarf that covered her hair, revealing the unmistakable, striking green eyes and high cheekbones of the portrait that hung above our mantle.
May you like
She looked directly past Julian, directly at me, and smiled a smile that chilled the blood in my veins.
"Hello, Meredith," she said softly, her voice echoing through the dark, silent house. "You've grown so much. I'm sorry about the drink... but Victoria was always far too impatient with the family business."