Chapter 7: The Woman Who Vanished
Emily couldn't hear anything after Bishop said it.
Not the motorcycles outside.
Not the shouting.
Not even her father's voice calling her name.
One sentence kept repeating inside her head.
Your mother gave Victor the first location.
Emily turned slowly toward Daniel.
“Is that true?””
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
Her face went pale.
“You knew.””
Daniel looked devastated.
“I knew she had contact with Victor.””
“You knew she betrayed you?””
“I didn't know how far it went.””
Emily stepped backward.
“You let me believe she abandoned me.””
“She didn't abandon you.””
“She disappeared.””
“She was trying to protect you.””
Emily laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“Everyone says that.””
Daniel looked at her.
“I know.””
“No, you don't.””
Her voice rose.
“You don't know what it was like to wake up every morning and wonder whether my mother even remembered my name.””
Daniel's eyes filled.
“She remembered.””
“Then where was she?””
He looked away.
Emily stepped closer.
“Where was she?””
Daniel finally answered.
“In Nevada.””
Her heart stopped.
“Where?””
“She moved between shelters. Cheap motels. Women's centers.””
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
“And you never found her?””
“I did.””
Emily stared.
“Then why didn't you bring her back?””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Because she was afraid of me.””
Emily shook her head.
“Why?””
Daniel said nothing.
Caruso stepped forward.
“Emily—”
“Don't.””
She turned toward him.
“Not another excuse.””
Caruso lowered his head.
Daniel looked exhausted.
“Your mother believed I was becoming someone she didn't recognize.””
Emily frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“I changed.””
“How?””
“After Victor started threatening people, I became obsessed with stopping him.””
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“I stopped coming home. I stopped sleeping. I stopped listening.””
“You were trying to protect us.””
“Yes.””
“But she was afraid of you.””
“Yes.””
Emily's eyes filled.
“She thought you would hurt her?””
“No.””
Daniel's voice cracked.
“She thought I would make you disappear with me.””
Emily said nothing.
That was somehow worse.
She had spent years believing her parents had simply failed her.
Now she was discovering they had both been trying, badly and secretly, to keep her alive.
And neither had trusted her enough to tell her the truth.
Behind them, Bishop groaned.
Everyone looked over.
Michael knelt beside him.
“You're losing too much blood.””
Bishop gripped Michael's arm.
“Don't waste time on me.””
Emily stared at him.
“You said my mother helped Victor.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Bishop looked at Daniel.
“Because she wanted to stop the club.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“She wanted to destroy what Victor was building.””
“Then why give him anything?””
“Because she believed the only way to expose Victor was to let him believe she was helping him.””
Emily froze.
“What?””
Bishop struggled to breathe.
“Your mother was playing both sides.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“Before the crash.””
Bishop coughed.
“She said Victor was planning an attack.””
“And?””
“She gave him a false location.””
Emily stared.
“The location you said was real.””
Bishop nodded.
“It was a trap.””
Daniel's face changed.
“Then how did Victor find me?””
Bishop closed his eyes.
“Because someone else gave him the real location.””
Everyone in the room went silent.
Razor looked at Caruso.
Caruso looked at Michael.
Michael looked at Daniel.
Emily felt cold.
“Who?””
Bishop opened his eyes.
“I never found out.””
Daniel's voice became harsh.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
Bishop shook his head.
“Your mother was trying to save you.””
“Then where is she now?”” Emily demanded.
Bishop hesitated.
“Gone.””
“Gone where?””
“I don't know.””
Emily grabbed the table.
“You all keep saying that.””
Then she remembered the photograph.
Her mother in the café.
Alive.
Recently photographed.
Emily pulled out her phone.
“This was taken recently.””
Daniel looked.
His entire body went rigid.
“Where did you get this?””
“Someone sent it to me.””
“Who?””
“Victor.””
Daniel took the phone.
He stared at the reflection.
Then at the woman.
He whispered her name.
“Isabel.””
Emily's chest tightened.
“That's my mother.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then find her.””
Daniel looked at her.
“I will.””
“No.””
Emily's voice became firm.
“We will.””
Razor exchanged a glance with Caruso.
“There's a problem.””
Emily turned.
“What?””
“The photo was taken at a café in Reno.””
Daniel looked at the timestamp.
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
Emily felt hope for the first time in years.
“She was there yesterday.””
“Yes.””
“Then she could still be there.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Not likely.””
“Why?””
“Because Victor sent the photo to make us move.””
Emily stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
“It means he wants us to chase your mother.””
“So?””
“So he gets to decide where we go.””
Emily looked at the jacket.
Then at the hidden compartment.
“The coordinates.””
Daniel nodded.
“The bunker.””
“You said it contains the original evidence.””
“It does.””
“Then Victor will go there.””
“Exactly.””
Emily looked at him.
“So we don't chase my mother.””
Daniel understood immediately.
“We go where Victor expects us to go.””
“Because he won't expect us to stop.””
Razor smiled faintly.
“Now you sound like Ghost.””
Daniel almost smiled.
“She's better.””
Emily glanced at him.
“That wasn't funny.””
“It wasn't supposed to be.””
For the first time, the tension cracked.
Only slightly.
Then Caruso's phone rang.
Everyone froze.
He answered.
No one spoke.
A distorted voice came through.
“Your family reunion is touching.””
Caruso's face hardened.
“Victor.””
“Tell Ghost the bunker isn't safe.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where's Isabel?””
Victor laughed.
“You still don't understand.””
“Where is she?””
“Closer than you think.””
The call ended.
Emily immediately looked at the phone.
“Closer?””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Search the ranch.””
“What?””
“Every room.””
Razor moved.
Caruso followed.
Michael checked the hallway.
Emily stood frozen.
Then she noticed the kitchen clock.
It had stopped.
At 11:17.
She remembered seeing it before.
The clock in the ranch house.
It wasn't broken.
It had been deliberately stopped.
“Dad.””
Daniel turned.
“What?””
She pointed.
“The clock.””
He approached.
He removed it from the wall.
Behind it was a folded map.
Daniel opened it.
His expression changed.
“It’s the old highway.””
“What does it show?””
“A route.””
“To the bunker?””
“No.””
He traced the line with his finger.
“To Reno.””
Emily's heart raced.
Her mother had not been photographed there by accident.
There was a route marked from the ranch to a small roadside motel.
Daniel stared at it.
“That was our emergency route.””
“For what?””
“For when Isabel and I needed to disappear.””
Emily looked at him.
“You built a way to escape together.””
“Yes.””
“Then she used it.””
Daniel nodded.
“But why leave the map?””
He turned the paper over.
There was a note.
Three words.
*I never left.*
Emily stared.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel looked shaken.
“She's been here.””
“Where?””
He searched the room.
Then saw the fireplace.
A loose brick sat slightly crooked.
He pulled it out.
Inside was a small metal box.
Emily opened it.
A photograph.
Her mother.
Daniel.
Emily as a child.
On the back was a handwritten message.
*I never stopped watching her.*
Emily's fingers trembled.
Then another piece of paper fell from the box.
This one was newer.
Emily read it.
*Daniel, if Emily ever finds this, tell her I am sorry.*
She covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the note.
“She knew.””
“She knew what?””
“That I would survive.””
Emily looked at him.
“She expected you to come back.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
His voice broke.
“She expected me to die.””
The room became silent.
Emily looked at the final line.
*If he comes back, don't let him take you to the bunker.*
Her blood ran cold.
She looked up.
“Why?””
Daniel slowly stepped away.
“Because the bunker isn't the safe place.””
“Then what is it?””
“A grave.””
Razor frowned.
“What?””
Daniel looked at him.
“The bunker was built for the Nine.””
He pointed to the coordinates.
“But there is another tunnel.””
“Where does it lead?””
Daniel's face hardened.
“To the original meeting house.””
Emily understood.
“Where Victor is going.””
“Yes.””
“Then that's where we go.””
Caruso shook his head.
“Too dangerous.””
Emily looked at him.
“You lied to my father.””
Caruso flinched.
“You hid things from me.””
“I know.””
“So tell me the truth now.””
Caruso nodded.
“The original meeting house is where the First Nine made their final agreement.””
“What agreement?””
“To protect the families of the founding members.””
Emily glanced at the patch.
“That includes me.””
“Yes.””
“And my mother.””
Caruso looked toward Daniel.
“If she was part of that agreement, then she's protected.””
Emily's heart jumped.
“You know where she is?””
“No.””
“But someone does.””
Caruso nodded.
“Victor.””
A distant siren sounded outside.
Razor looked toward the road.
“We don't have much time.””
Daniel picked up his old leather gloves.
He looked at Emily.
“You don't have to come.””
She stared at him.
“I've spent two years looking for you.””
He nodded.
“I know.””
“I've spent even longer wondering where my mother was.””
“I know.””
Emily put the jacket back on.
“I’m not losing either of you again.””
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Then stay close.””
They left the ranch just before dawn.
The sky was turning gray.
As they drove toward the old meeting house, Emily looked out the window.
Her father's hand rested on the gearshift.
For the first time since she could remember, it was only inches away.
She wanted to touch it.
But she was afraid.
Afraid that if she did, he might disappear again.
Daniel noticed.
He lifted his hand.
Emily hesitated.
Then she placed her fingers in his.
He squeezed gently.
“I should have come back.””
She looked at him.
“Yes.””
“I should have told you everything.””
“Yes.””
“I should have trusted you.””
Emily swallowed.
“Yes.””
Daniel looked out at the road.
“I can't change those things.””
“No.””
“But I can tell you the truth now.””
She nodded.
“Then start.””
He looked at her.
“There was never only one person behind what happened.””
Emily frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“Victor was the face.””
“Bishop was the betrayal.””
“Samuel was the money.””
Daniel paused.
“And your mother…”
He looked toward the horizon.
“She was the one person who understood why it all started.””
Emily waited.
“Why?””
Daniel's expression darkened.
“Because twenty-two years ago, before the club became powerful, before Victor became dangerous, before the money…”
He looked at her.
“The Nine found something buried beneath Fresno.””
“What?””
“A box.””
“And?””
Daniel's voice lowered.
“Inside it was a list.””
“What kind of list?””
“The original names of everyone who controlled the land around us.””
Emily stared.
“That's why this happened?””
“Yes.””
“Who were they?””
Daniel looked at her.
“That's what your mother has been trying to uncover all these years.””
Emily felt a chill.
“And Victor?””
“He's trying to make sure nobody ever sees that list.””
The truck turned onto a dark road.
Ahead stood an abandoned building.
The old meeting house.
One light was glowing inside.
Daniel stopped the truck.
He looked at Emily.
“Whatever happens next…”
She waited.
“Don't believe the first person who tells you the truth.””
Emily nodded.
Then the building's front door opened.
A woman stepped into the doorway.
Older.
Tired.
Her dark hair streaked with gray.
Emily knew her immediately.
She had seen that face only in photographs and dreams.
Her mother.
Isabel Rodriguez.
Emily stopped breathing.
Isabel looked at her.
Then at Daniel.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Emily,” she whispered.
But before either of them could move, a gunshot exploded from inside the building.
May you like
Isabel screamed.
And the light went out.
