“Caleb did it.”

“He put the device under the seat.”

I stared at her, the cellar spinning around me.

“He wanted us both dead that night,” she whispered.

“But when you survived, he had to change his plan.”

“He took me from the wreckage before the police arrived.”

“He made you believe I was ashes.”

Suddenly, Daniel’s radio crackled again.

The static was loud and sharp in the quiet cellar.

“Boss,” Daniel’s voice came through, tense and fast.

“The motion sensors on the North perimeter just went dark.”

“We have headlights coming down the driveway.”

“Two black SUVs, no license plates.”

I stood up, my chest tight.

I looked at Clara, then at Nora.

“Secure the doors,” I ordered Marcus.

“Daniel, get to the security monitors.”

The headlights reflected off the high cellar windows.

They were already here.

I reached down and gripped Clara’s cold, thin shoulder.

The concrete floor beneath my boots vibrated with the distant rumble of the approaching engines.

“Why, Clara?” I asked, my voice low and strained. “Why keep you alive all these years if he wanted us both dead?”