THE AMBULANCE AT THE GATE

The bullet shattered the concrete inches from my hand.

Concrete shrapnel bit into my cheek, but I held onto the hard drive, rolling behind a massive rusted shipping crate.

“Get her!” Anna screamed.

Caleb didn't hesitate. With Bell distracted by me, Caleb surged forward like a coiled spring. He tackled the doctor, driving him hard into the concrete.

The detonator flew from Bell’s hand, skittering across the floor.

“Rachel! Run!” my mother muffled through the tape over her mouth, kicking her legs wildly against the chair.

I didn't run. I couldn't leave them.

I pulled my medical bag close to me behind the crate. I unzipped the side pocket and pulled out my tablet—the one I used to chart Caleb’s daily vitals.

My hands shook violently as I plugged the black hard drive into the tablet’s USB port.

“Daddy!” Nora was crying now, backing away as Caleb and Bell fought brutally on the floor.

Anna ignored them. She was stalking toward my crate, her revolver raised. “Give me the drive, you stupid bitch. You don't know what you're holding.”

I opened the file directory. There was only one folder, labeled: For Anna.

I clicked it. A video file opened.

It was security footage. But not from Caleb’s house.

It was a dark alley. The timestamp in the corner read: October 12, 2021.

The day Anna’s brother, Leo, was killed.

On the screen, Leo wasn't breaking into Caleb’s house. He was standing in the alley, handing a thick manila envelope to someone.

The camera panned.

The person taking the envelope was Dr. Nathan Bell.

Answer one: Caleb didn't kill Leo.

“Nathan!” Anna screamed in the warehouse, pointing her gun at Caleb, who was currently pinning Bell to the ground.

I turned the tablet volume all the way up.

The audio from the video echoed through the cavernous warehouse.

“Here are Caleb’s shipping schedules,” Leo’s voice crackled from the tablet. “Just like you asked, Nathan. Now give me my money.”

“Of course, Leo,” Bell’s voice replied on the recording.

Then, on screen, Bell pulled a suppressed pistol and shot Leo twice in the chest.

In the warehouse, everything stopped.

Anna froze. The revolver in her hand trembled. She stared at the doctor struggling under Caleb’s weight.

“You told me Caleb shot him,” Anna whispered, her voice hollow. “You showed me the photo of his body on Caleb’s property.”

Bell spat blood onto the concrete. He grinned a sickening, bloody smile. “Caleb’s guards moved the body, Anna. They thought they were protecting their boss from a scandal. I just… let you believe what you needed to believe.”

“You killed my brother,” Anna said, stepping toward him.

Open two: If Bell killed Leo and framed Caleb to manipulate Anna, who was Bell really working for?

“Don't be dramatic, Anna,” Bell wheezed. “Leo was a liability. He was going to sell Caleb’s routes to the Chicago syndicate. I just took the routes for myself.”

Caleb yanked Bell up by his collar, his eyes blazing with absolute fury. “You used my wife’s grief to tear my family apart.”

“I used her greed,” Bell corrected, laughing. “She didn't care about Leo. She cared about the money. Just like she cares about the money now.”

Anna raised her revolver, pointing it directly at Bell’s head.

“Goodbye, Nathan.”

Before she could pull the trigger, the warehouse doors blew open with a deafening crash.

Three black SUVs roared into the building, their headlights blinding us again.

A dozen armed men poured out, but they weren't Caleb’s guards. They wore heavy tactical gear without any insignia.

And stepping out of the lead vehicle was a man I recognized instantly from the news.

Don Salvatore. The head of the rival Chicago syndicate.

“Nobody is killing anybody,” Salvatore said, his voice echoing off the metal walls. He looked at Anna. “Except me. You owe me twenty million dollars, Anna. And your time is up.”

Anna panicked. She looked at Salvatore, then at Caleb, and finally… at Nora.

In one swift, desperate motion, Anna grabbed her eight-year-old daughter by the arm and yanked her against her chest, pressing the barrel of her revolver against Nora’s temple.