Chapter 9
Elena’s knees nearly failed near the coffin.
Colonel Harris saw it before anyone else.
He stepped closer, not touching her, only offering presence.
“Mercer.”
She looked at him.
The use of her name, steady and military, helped her focus.
“I’m standing,” she said.
“I see that.”
His eyes softened for half a second.
Then hardened again toward Dominic.
Elena followed his gaze.
Dominic had stopped trying to stand.
He sat on the marble floor, funeral suit wrinkled, face gray, staring at the padlock like it was alive.
Maybe it was.
For him.
That lock carried the sound of the cabin door.
The decision to leave.
The belief that Elena’s body would be found too late.
Or not found at all.
Chloe whispered, “I didn’t know he locked you in.”
Elena looked at her.
She did not answer.
Because Chloe’s ignorance, if it was ignorance, would be for investigators to test.
Not for Elena to forgive while bleeding in a memorial hall.
Special Agent Grant stepped closer to Dominic.
No handcuffs appeared.
No completed arrest happened.
No final charges were read.
Only one command remained in the air.
“Nobody leaves this hall.”
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And for the first time since the cabin, Dominic was the one trapped inside a locked room.
Read the full story 👉 Elena did not reveal what Chloe knew, because the truth needed investigation, not emotion.
