Chapter 3 - The Blood-Stained Letter
The moment the door clicked shut, the adrenaline drained from my body, leaving me weak. I turned to Noah, gently cupping his face.
"He's gone, Noah. He's gone. I promise you, I'm not letting anyone take you."
I sat on the edge of the mattress, my hands trembling as I pulled the blood-specked envelope from my pocket. I tore it open. Inside was a single piece of notebook paper, covered in Megan's frantic, elegant handwriting.
Em,
If you're reading this, it means they found me. And it means I finally had to use the escape route we promised we'd never speak of again.
Twelve years ago, I didn't run away because I wanted to. I ran because Marcus Blackwell's family—the people who fund the city's highest offices—threatened to destroy you to get to me. They use their logistics company, Blackwell shipping, to traffic high-value, stolen antiquities and state secrets. I found the ledger. I hid it.
But Marcus found me. The crash on I-5 wasn't an accident. They ran our car off the road. I managed to push Noah out into the brush before they took me.
The key to the ledger is in our old college locker at the UW library—the one we rigged with the trick latch. The password is the day we became sisters.
Keep Noah safe, Em. You're the only one who can see the truth. You're my lady with two eyes.
Love always, Megan
A tear splashed onto the paper, smudging the ink. Twelve years of anger, confusion, and grief washed away in a single second. Megan hadn't abandoned me. She had sacrificed her entire life, her freedom, and her safety to keep me alive.
And now, her son was holding my hand, depending on me to save his mother.
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"Noah," I whispered, wiping my eyes. "Do you know where they took her?"
"A warehouse," Noah sobbed, his voice small. "Near the water. Marcus kept saying she had to give him the 'black book' or she’d never see me again."
