Chapter 12 - The Puppet Master
""You really are impossible to kill, Julian,"" Elena said softly, not even looking up as he stepped into the room.
Julian leveled the gun at her forehead, his finger tightening against the trigger. ""Where is Clara?""
Elena let out a soft, humorless laugh. She finished securing the white bandage on her arm, then slowly stood up and turned to face him. The bruise he had given her in the kitchen was now a grotesque shade of purple, but her eyes were remarkably bright, sharp with malice.
""You really thought Michael Hall was the mastermind?"" Elena stepped around the table, keeping her hands visible. ""Michael was a dog on a leash. Broken, desperate, easily manipulated. Clara used him to steal the cartel's fortune, then she used you to provide her with a legal cover and a billion-dollar fortress to hide in.""
""I asked you where she is,"" Julian snarled, his vision beginning to blur at the edges from blood loss.
""She’s in the cellar beneath your feet, Julian,"" Elena whispered, pointing down at the heavy wooden trapdoor secured with a brass padlock. ""She’s been down there for three days. You see, Clara thought she could cut me out of the deal. She thought I was just her sweet, obedient younger sister who would play nanny to her child while she staged another disappearance.""
Julian’s breath hitched. Sister. Clara had never mentioned having a sister. The entire foundation of his life—his marriage, his home, the tragic death he had mourned for two endless years—was an intricate web of deceit spun by two spiders.
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""Give me the key,"" Julian ordered.
Elena tilted her head, smiling faintly. ""You think you're saving a victim down there, Julian. Open it. See the monster you married.""
