stared at the floor.
“You knew?”
“Not until after the crash.”
Daniel looked sick.
“So Rebecca is our sister?”
“Half-sister,” Margaret said.
Russell sank into a chair.
“No wonder she came to work for me.”
“She came looking for answers.”
“And found what?”
“Enough to hate all of us.”
The generator suddenly kicked in.
Lights returned.
The server rebooted.
The transfer resumed automatically.
19%.
22%.
Then security cameras flickered on.
A car had arrived outside.
Not an ambulance.
A black SUV.
Three people stepped out.
Rebecca was one of them.
The other two wore tactical gear.
Margaret swore.
“She’s not alone.”
Russell looked at me.
“Emily, there is another exit.”
“No.”
“You need to leave.”
“I’m done leaving rooms without answers.”
“Please.”
“No.”
Claire wiped her face.
“I’m staying too.”
Daniel nodded.
Russell looked around at all of us.
His strange, broken family.
Then something in him softened.
“Fine.”
Rebecca’s
voice suddenly came through the intercom.
“Good evening.”
Claire looked up.
Rebecca appeared on one of the monitors.
She was smiling.
“I know you’re all down there.”
Daniel shouted at the ceiling.
“What do you want?”
“Justice.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Get in line.”
Rebecca ignored her.
“Russell stole my mother. Margaret killed her. Thomas covered his own crimes. And all of you got rich from the silence.”
I stepped toward the intercom.
“I didn’t.”
Rebecca paused.
“No. You didn’t.”
“Then why involve me?”
“Because you’re the one person Russell will sacrifice everything to save.”
Russell whispered, “Rebecca—”
She continued.
“And because you have the archive.”
The transfer reached 31%.
Rebecca said, “Stop the transfer.”
“No,” I answered.
“Emily.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll destroy the farmhouse.”
Margaret went pale.
“She can’t.”
Rebecca smiled.
“You should check the old fuel lines.”
Daniel ran to a utility panel.
“She’s rigged the generator.”
Russell looked
