Chapter 6 - Shadows at the Library
Dawn broke over Milfield in shades of bruised purple and grey. A thick mist hung over the streets, dampening the sounds of early morning traffic.
At 7:15 AM, a heavy black SUV pulled into the alley behind the Milfield Public Library.
Arthur Reynolds stepped out, dressed in a sharp Italian overcoat, his eyes rimmed with red from a sleepless night spent searching for the twins. Behind him walked Miller and Burke—two burly men in dark suits with visible bulges beneath their jackets.
Arthur pulled out his phone and dialed the burner number Lily had provided.
"I'm at the side entrance," Arthur said coldly into the receiver. "Open the door, or I start burning your high school records."
"The door is unlocked, Arthur," Lily’s voice answered smoothly through the speaker. "Come upstairs to the Rare Manuscripts Room. Second floor. Come alone."
"I don't take orders from children," Arthur snapped, gesturing for his two guards to follow him as he shoved the heavy oak door open.
The library was silent, smelling of old paper, leather polish, and floor wax. Shafts of pale morning light filtered through the high stained-glass windows, illuminating rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
Arthur led his men up the wide marble staircase, his leather shoes clicking loudly against the stone. They reached the second-floor gallery, stepping into the Rare Manuscripts Room—a grand, wood-paneled room filled with glass display cases and heavy oak tables.
Sitting alone at the far end of the long reading table was Ethan Reynolds. He looked frail, but his head was held high, his silver key drive resting on the polished wood in front of him.
"Ethan," Arthur smiled, a vicious, triumphant gleam in his eyes. "You look terrible. Cellar air never did suit you."
"You haven't changed, Arthur," Ethan said quietly. "Still stealing what you couldn't build."
"Save the moral lecture!" Arthur barked, stepping forward while Miller and Burke posted themselves at the doors. "Where are the girls?"
"Safe," Ethan replied. "Far away from you."
Arthur pulled a thick stack of legal documents from his coat, slamming them onto the table alongside a portable tablet. "Insert the cryptographic key, Ethan. Transfer the voting rights to the shell company in Panama. Do it now, and I let you walk out of this town alive."
Ethan looked at the tablet, then at his cousin. "And if I refuse?"
Arthur drew a sleek black pistol from his pocket, screwing a heavy suppressor onto the barrel with practiced ease. "Then you die of a 'sudden heart attack' right here, your thumb print is forced onto the scanner, and those two little girls suffer a fatal car accident on their way to school."
Ethan stared at the gun, then slowly picked up the silver USB drive. "You always were short-sighted, Arthur."
Ethan inserted the key into the tablet.
Instantly, the quiet room was shattered by a loud, electronic beep, followed by the blinding flash of three professional camera strobes from behind the heavy velvet curtains near the archive vaults.
"What the hell?!" Arthur screamed, whipping his gun around.
"Thank you, Mr. Reynolds!" a loud voice boomed.
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Stepping from behind the curtains was Mrs. Gable, holding a megaphoned microphone, flanked by two local news camera crews from Channel 4 and a detective from the State Police Major Crimes Unit.
"Arthur Reynolds," Detective Martinez called out, his service weapon drawn and aimed directly at Arthur’s chest. "Drop the weapon! You are live on the morning news!"
