We were trapped in my mother’s old study on the second floor of the lake house.

The only way out was the main staircase, or a jump from the second-story balcony into the dark waters of the lake below.

The storm lashed against the glass pane behind us, sending sheets of water running down the frame.

“Claire,” Richard called out from the bottom of the stairs.

His voice echoed through the empty wooden hallways, flat and demanding.

“You always were the difficult one,” he said, his footsteps beginning to ascend the wooden stairs.

“Vanessa understood the family business. She knew how to play her part.”

Gabriel pulled me behind a heavy oak desk.

He pressed a button on his wrist communicator, sending a silent signal to his security team.

“My men are three minutes away,” Gabriel murmured near my ear.

“We just need to buy three minutes.”

The footsteps grew louder on the stairs.

Each creak of the wood felt like a heartbeat.

I clutched the leather-bound ledger tight against my chest.

The bundle of letters tied with the blue ribbon felt heavy in my other hand.