Chapter 6 - The Sister's Price
The gunfire ceased as abruptly as it had started. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the cabin.
"Sarah?"
The voice was weak, raspy, and desperately familiar. It came from the top of the cellar stairs.
"Sarah, please... are they down there? Are my babies okay?"
I felt a hand grip my arm in the darkness. It was Lily. "Mommy?" she whispered, her voice hopeful yet terrified.
"Stay here," I commanded Lily, my voice cold. I climbed the wooden stairs slowly, my heart in my throat. When I pushed the trapdoor open, the sight made me gasp.
The cabin living room was a wreck. One of the hitmen lay motionless near the shattered window. Detective Vance was standing near the door, her gun pointed steadily at a woman slouched against the kitchen counter.
It was Rachel.
Her face was bruised, her clothes torn and stained with soot and blood. She held a hand over her side, where a dark crimson stain was spreading rapidly through her jacket.
"Rachel," I breathed, a toxic mix of relief and fury washing over me. "What have you done?"
"I saved them," she gasped, wincing in pain as she slumped further against the counter. "Sarah, you don't understand... they were going to kill them. To get to me. I had to make everyone think I abandoned them. I had to draw the fire away from your house."
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"By leaving four million dollars of blood money with them?!" I yelled, tears finally spilling over my eyelashes. "They almost died! We almost died!"
"It was the only leverage I had," Rachel cried, her eyes desperate. "The Morettis... they have a ledger. It's in the bottom of that bag. Under the money. It lists every dirty cop, every judge, every politician they own. I didn't steal the money for me. I stole it to buy our freedom."
