Chapter 7 - EVELYN’S CALL
Evelyn Hart had spent eight months hiding.
Not from Alexander.
From the person who paid the gunmen.
She came downstairs slowly.
Marcus looked stunned.
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Alexander’s voice was colder.
“You used Rebecca’s phone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To send you the pharmacy message.”
Alexander stepped toward her.
“You put me on that road.”
Evelyn did not retreat.
“Yes.”
Julian moved slightly between them.
Alexander looked at him.
“Move.”
Evelyn spoke.
“Let him stay.”
Alexander ignored her.
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Rebecca asked me.”
The room went silent.
Alexander stared.
“No.”
“She asked me to get you out of the estate.”
“Why?”
“Because she was confronting Victoria.”
Alexander felt anger rising.
“She wanted me gone?”
“She thought you would defend your mother before you heard everything.”
That hurt because it might have been true.
Rebecca wanted three hours.
Enough time to gather the family elders.
Enough time to show Thomas’s letters.
Enough time to force Victoria to admit she knew the old story.
Evelyn sent the message from Rebecca’s phone.
Alexander left.
Then the ambush happened.
“Who knew the route?”
Evelyn looked toward Julian.
“Nobody.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“The gunmen were not waiting at the pharmacy.”
Alexander frowned.
“They followed you from the estate.”
Daniel’s name entered his mind immediately.
His bodyguard had been with him.
But Daniel took a bullet protecting Alexander.
Julian understood.
“Not Daniel.”
Evelyn continued.
“There was a tracker under your car.”
Alexander stared.
Rebecca found the same model later inside a drawer in Victoria’s office.
Not proof.
Victoria denied knowing it existed.
Then Rebecca died before she could investigate further.
Alexander looked toward Julian.
“You said she discovered the old loyalists didn’t order it.”
“They didn’t.”
“Then who placed the tracker?”
Evelyn answered.
“Marcus.”
Marcus went completely still.
Alexander turned.
His brother’s face drained.
“I did.”
Silence.
Alexander stared.
“Why?”
Marcus moved backward.
“Not for the ambush.”
“Then why was there a tracker under my car?”
Marcus covered his face.
He had been following Alexander for months.
Not to kill him.
To learn whether Alexander planned to remove him from family business.
He was paranoid.
Jealous.
Convinced Rebecca had turned Alexander against him.
He placed the tracker to see where Alexander held private meetings.
Alexander looked disgusted.
“So whoever attacked me discovered your tracker.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You told someone about it.”
Marcus went quiet.
Alexander’s voice lowered.
“Who?”
Marcus sat.
There was no dignity left in hiding.
He had told Victoria.
Not because she asked.
Because she caught him checking the location data.
Victoria ordered him to remove the tracker.
He promised.
Then did not.
Alexander stared.
“Mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“Could she access it?”
Marcus nodded.
Another door opened.
Another layer.
Alexander turned toward Evelyn.
“Rebecca believed my mother arranged the shooting.”
“No.”
“She believed Victoria gave the tracker information to someone.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at Julian.
Julian answered.
“Your uncle Raymond.”
Alexander frowned.
Raymond Sterling.
Edmund’s youngest brother.
Seventy-one.
Still alive.
Still invited to family dinners.
Still treated as harmless because age had softened his voice.
Raymond had openly hated Alexander’s reforms for years.
Alexander looked toward Marcus.
“Was Raymond at Sophia’s birthday?”
“Yes.”
Then Julian said:
“And he was at today’s banquet.”
Alexander’s face changed.
The ballroom.
The guests.
Victoria being confronted.
Sophia speaking.
Raymond had disappeared before Alexander noticed.
Then Daniel called.
“Sir.”
Alexander answered.
“We found one of the gunmen from your ambush.”
Alexander went still.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Trying to leave the city.”
Alexander looked at Julian.
Daniel continued.
“He gave us the name of the person who paid him.”
Alexander waited.
It was not Raymond.
Not Victoria.
Not Marcus.
May you like
Daniel said:
“Rebecca Sterling.”
