Chapter 7 - DANIEL'S LAST LIE
Daniel did not run toward the border.
He went home.
Mason realized it after reviewing the escape footage. Daniel stole a maintenance truck, changed clothes, and drove into Ashford instead of away from it.
He wanted something inside the house.
The original evidence had been copied.
But Daniel believed Avery had hidden more than the blue-box key.
When Mason reached the suburban street, the house was dark.
The front door was open again.
The same way it had been on the night Avery called 911.
Mason entered.
“Ashford Police!”
No answer.
He moved upstairs.
Avery’s bedroom had been stripped by investigators. The wall panel remained open. The dead snake was gone, but a faint outline remained on the blanket where it had been placed.
Daniel stood in the crawlspace holding a gasoline can.
At his feet were photographs, notebooks, and drives Mason had not seen before.
Insurance.
Daniel had kept his own records to protect himself from Hale and Voss.
“Step away from the fuel,” Mason ordered.
Daniel smiled.
“You ruined my life.”
“You built this life.”
“Emily made me do it. She was going to expose everything.”
“She tried to protect your daughter.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Avery was supposed to obey me.”
Mason heard movement behind him.
Emily entered the room.
She had left the hospital against medical advice.
Daniel stared at her.
“You always come back.”
Emily stood in the doorway, pale but steady.
“For her.”
Daniel raised a lighter.
“If I burn this, Hale’s people will kill you anyway.”
Emily looked at the records.
“No. If you burn it, they kill you first.”
The truth reached him.
Hale had never protected Daniel.
He had protected the evidence Daniel could provide against others.
With the records gone, Daniel became useless.
His hand began to shake.
Mason stepped closer.
“Give me the lighter.”
Daniel looked toward Avery’s bed.
For the first time, something like regret crossed his face.
“She used to sleep with the hall light on.”
Emily said nothing.
“She called me Daddy.”
“She was afraid of you.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
He dropped the lighter.
Mason moved forward.
Then a red laser appeared on Daniel’s chest.
A shot shattered the bedroom window.
Daniel fell.
Mason pulled Emily behind the wall.
Another bullet struck the dresser.
The shooter was across the street.
Someone was cleaning up the final witness.
Mason radioed the location.
Patrol units surrounded the neighboring house and arrested a former sheriff’s deputy carrying a suppressed rifle.
He had received the order from a prepaid phone.
The message contained two words.
CLOSE ACCOUNT.
Daniel survived surgery.
But he refused to identify who gave the order.
Until Mason placed a photograph beside his hospital bed.
It showed Avery sleeping safely beside Emily.
Daniel stared at it for a long time.
May you like
Then he gave Mason a name.
State Senator Malcolm Crane.
