Chapter 2: The Trap Closes In
Eleanor’s knees almost gave out. She’d spent the past two weeks planning this gala, using her old museum connections to secure the venue, inviting every donor who’d ever supported her local historical society, thinking that hosting a charity event for homeless veterans would keep her and Lila safe. She’d been wrong. So, so wrong.
She stared at Jasper, her mouth dry. “This is a public event,” she said, her voice shaking. “You can’t just keep my daughter against her will.”
Jasper tilted his head, his gaze flicking to the three men by the fireplace, who were now walking toward their table. Eleanor recognized the tallest one-he’d been at her cabin the night of the break-in, his face half-hidden by a baseball cap, his hands calloused from hard labor. “These gentlemen are with the company,” Jasper said, his tone casual, like he was explaining why the dessert course was running late. “They need to have a word with your daughter. Privately.”
Lila stepped in front of Eleanor, her hands balled into fists. “Get away from us,” she said, her voice steady, even as her hands trembled. “Or I’ll scream.”
A laugh escaped Jasper’s lips, sharp and cold. “You can scream all you want,” he said. “No one will hear you over the orchestra. And even if they do, what will they do? They don’t know you. They don’t know who you really are.”
Eleanor’s blood ran cold. She’d told Lila the truth last month, after the break-in: that she’d been a whistleblower at a pharmaceutical company 10 years prior, exposing a cover-up that had killed 12 patients, including a young woman named Clara Bennett, who’d been 22, the same age as Lila. The company had tried to silence her, paying her off to keep her quiet, but she’d refused, and they’d followed her ever since. She’d thought they’d given up, after she’d moved cross-country and changed her name, but now she knew they’d been waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The three men reached their table, surrounding Lila and Eleanor. One of them grabbed Lila’s arm, his grip tight, like he was holding a prisoner. Lila struggled, but he was stronger than her, his fingers digging into her skin. “Let go of her!” Eleanor yelled, reaching for the man’s arm, but another man stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“Mrs. Voss,” Jasper said, his voice soft, like he was comforting a child. “We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to talk to your daughter. About what she did to Mr. Hale.”
Mr. Hale. The name sent a jolt through Eleanor. Mr. Hale was the CEO of the pharmaceutical company she’d exposed, the man who’d ordered the cover-up, the man who’d died in a car crash three years prior. “He’s dead,” she said, her voice hollow. “You can’t hurt us for something he did.”
Jasper smiled, a cold, dead smile. “Mr. Hale’s son isn’t,” he said. “And he’s been looking for you for a long time. He wants you to pay for what you did to his father. For what your daughter did to ruin his family’s name.”
Lila stopped struggling, her eyes wide. “I didn’t do anything,” she said, her voice breaking. “I was just a kid. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Eleanor remembered now. Lila had been 16 when she’d found Eleanor’s old files, the ones detailing the cover-up, and had posted a thread on Twitter about it, going viral, leading to a federal investigation that had shut down the company and sent Mr. Hale to prison before his death. She’d told Lila to take it down, to keep it quiet, but Lila had refused, saying that the public had a right to know. She’d never thought that the Hale family would come after them, not after all these years.
The man holding Lila’s arm pulled her toward a set of double doors at the back of the banquet hall, doors that led to a private hallway. Lila kicked and screamed, but the man didn’t let go, his grip only tightening. Eleanor tried to follow, but the third man blocked her path, his face impassive. “You can come, too,” Jasper said, his voice cold. “But you don’t get to interfere.”
Eleanor stared at her daughter, who was being dragged away, her face pale, her eyes filled with terror. She had to do something. She couldn’t let them take Lila, not after everything they’d been through. She reached into her purse, grabbing her phone, but Jasper noticed, stepping forward and snatching it from her hand, tossing it into a nearby potted plant.
May you like
“Rules of the game,” he said, smiling. “No phones. No witnesses.”
She followed him down the hallway, her heart pounding, her mind racing. She had to find a way to escape, to call for help, to save Lila. But as she walked down the hallway, the doors closing behind her, she knew that the trap had closed in, and there was no way out.
