She knocked.
No answer.
She opened the door.
An elderly woman sat beside the window.
Gray hair.
Thin body.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Claire's eyes.
Richard's eyes.
The woman looked at Emma.
“Who are you?”
“Emma Blake.”
The woman inhaled sharply.
“Claire sent you?”
Emma froze.
“You know Claire?”
Lena smiled sadly.
“She knew you'd come.”
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
Emma stepped closer.
“Where is she?”
Lena looked toward the door.
“Not here.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
Emma's heart raced.
“Where?”
Lena shook her head.
“She told me not to tell anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside Weston & Co. is trying to kill her.”
Emma felt cold.
“Michael?”
Lena looked away.
“Not Michael.”
“Then who?”
Lena whispered:
“Richard.”
Emma stared.
“You think Richard wants Claire dead?”
“No.”
Lena's eyes filled with tears.
“Richard thinks he is protecting her.”
Emma didn't understand.
Lena continued.
“Claire discovered that the money wasn't being stolen.”
“What?”
“It was being moved.”
“Where?”
“To protect people.”
“From whom?”
Lena looked directly at Emma.
“The people who built Weston & Co.”
Emma's confusion deepened.
“What does that mean?”
Before Lena could answer, the lights went out.
The room became dark.
Emma heard footsteps in the hallway.
Lena whispered:
“Get under the bed.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Emma dropped.
The door opened.
A man's silhouette appeared.
He walked toward Lena.
Emma held her breath.
Then Lena screamed.
The man grabbed her arm.
Emma crawled out and struck him with a metal chair.
He stumbled.
Emma grabbed Lena.
“Run!”
They rushed into the hallway.
Security alarms exploded through the building.
The man disappeared.
Emma and Lena reached the emergency exit.
Outside, rain hammered the parking lot.
Lena leaned against the wall.
“Thank you.”
Emma stared at her.
“Who was he?”
Lena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then a black SUV screeched into the parking lot.
A door opened.
Daniel stepped out.
“Emma!”
She stared.
“How did you find us?”
“I tracked your phone.”
Lena looked at him.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“You were supposed to be dead.”
Daniel froze.
Emma looked between them.
“What?”
Lena whispered:
“Daniel Mercer died eleven years ago.”
Emma's blood turned cold.
Daniel slowly lowered his head.
Then he said:
“Not exactly.”
Claire
The truth came in pieces.
Daniel had once worked for the Weston family.
Not as Richard's chief of staff.
As an investigator.
Eleven years earlier, Lena had discovered that Weston & Co. was being targeted by a group of investors who wanted to destroy the company and buy its assets cheaply.
She hired Daniel to investigate.
Daniel found something worse.
The investors weren't outsiders.
They were members of the Weston board.
They had created shell companies.
They manipulated stock valuations.
They moved money.
And when Lena tried to expose them, her car was sabotaged.
Daniel found her alive.
But everyone believed she had died.
Richard knew the truth.
Together, they hid Lena.
Claire eventually discovered the secret.
And Claire became determined to expose everyone.
Emma listened in disbelief.
“So Claire knew her mother was alive?”
“Yes,” Lena said.
“And she disappeared voluntarily?”
Daniel nodded.
“She went into hiding.”
“Why didn't she tell Richard?”
“She didn't trust him.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Lena.
“Because Richard made a deal.”
Emma waited.
“With whom?”
Daniel answered:
“The board.”
Richard had agreed to pretend he was cooperating with the people stealing the company.
In reality, he had been gathering evidence.
But Claire didn't know.
She believed her father had betrayed her mother.
So she disappeared.
“She left this,” Daniel said.
He handed Emma a small flash drive.
Claire's final evidence.
Emma opened the files.
Thousands of documents.
Bank transfers.
Encrypted messages.
Audio recordings.
Board meetings.
Then she found a folder named:
TWELVE MINUTES.
She opened it.
A video appeared.
Claire Weston sat in front of a camera.
Her face was tired.
Her eyes were red.
“Emma,” she said.
Emma stopped breathing.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, my father finally trusted you.”
Emma stared.
“I don't know who will find this.”
Claire continued.
“But I chose twelve minutes.”
Emma frowned.
“Twelve minutes is all it takes for a person to decide who they are.”
Claire explained that the day she disappeared, she had been scheduled to meet federal investigators.
She had twelve minutes between leaving Weston Tower and reaching the meeting.
She never arrived.
Someone intercepted her.
But Claire had planned for that.
She had hidden evidence in twelve separate locations.
One for every minute.
Emma watched the video until the end.
Claire's voice became quieter.
“The final location is the one place no one in the company would search.”
The video ended.
Emma turned to Daniel.
“Where is she?”
“We don't know.”
Emma looked at Lena.
“You do.”
Lena began crying.
“She asked me never to tell.”
“She's your daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because if I tell you, they will follow you to her.”