Chapter 6
Victor called the hidden crews contingency.
Every ambitious man eventually finds a clean word.
“Your organization has enemies,” he said. “I built reserves.”
“Without telling me.”
“You didn’t need details.”
I almost smiled.
That sentence alone could have ended him.
Instead, I asked:
“How many?”
Marco answered.
“Thirty-six.”
Victor glared at him.
I ignored it.
“Where?”
“North bunkhouses. Two old horse properties. One cabin line near the ridge.”
Claire could have hidden in any of them once.
Or been held in one.
The thought landed before I could stop it.
“Did you keep Claire there?”
Victor’s expression changed.
“No.”
Too quick.
Marco closed his eyes.
I turned toward him.
“Did he?”
“Not exactly.”
That answer chilled the room.
Victor snapped:
“Marco.”
My security captain looked at his brother.
Then at me.
“She found the crews.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
One month before she disappeared.
“What happened?”
Marco swallowed.
“She confronted Victor.”
“Where?”
“The north stable office.”
“Then?”
Silence.
I moved closer.
“Then?”
Victor answered.
“She threatened to expose everything without understanding why I built it.”
I looked at him.
“That is not what I asked.”
He stared back.
“Claire tried to leave.”
“And?”
“I stopped her.”
Emma’s face changed.
My hands closed.
“How?”
Victor said nothing.
Marco did.
“He locked the stable office.”
The barn seemed to shrink around me.
Claire had not simply discovered a shadow force.
She had been physically stopped from reaching me.
“What happened after?”
Marco looked at the floor.
“She got out.”
“How?”
“Window.”
Victor added bitterly:
“She injured herself doing it.”
I understood Emma’s first description now.
No coat.
Blood on one sleeve.
May you like
Claire had not arrived at that diner after wandering away from me.
She had escaped my own ranch.
