Chapter 24 Hidden Threats #2
“How did they get this number?” I breathe, showing Max the message. “I changed it after the trial. Only you, Luna, Erik, and David have it.”
“Someone’s been tracking us more closely than we thought.” Max’s jaw tightens as he studies the text. “Should we check the laptop?”
Every instinct screams that this is a trap, but the alternative—living in ignorance while someone pulls strings from the shadows—is worse. I power up my laptop, noting how slowly it boots, how certain programs seem to be running in the background without my permission.
A new folder has appeared on my desktop: PROTECTION PROTOCOLS
Inside are documents I’ve never seen before—financial records, correspondence, operational reports. All bearing the letterhead of a private security firm called Cerberus Solutions. As I read, a horrifying picture emerges.
My parents didn’t just exploit children for their powerful friends.
They were part of a larger cult-like network, one that required periodic sacrifices to maintain order and silence.
The inner circle—the ones with the symbol—demanded blood offerings from member families to ensure loyalty and secrecy.
Instead of Janet Wilson, that night was supposed to be Luna’s sacrifice, but then Luna’s worth grew, and they wanted to collect on it by marrying her off to get another powerful pawn into their midst. Senator Wilson got off on the wrong foot with the higher-ups, and they took his daughter instead.
But still… something went wrong. The punishing ritual was interrupted.
According to these documents, the debt was transferred to the Gallagher family, with me designated as the substitute offering.
“They saved me,” I whisper, scanning pages of coded communications between my parents and their handlers.
“By framing me for Janet’s murder, by making me believe I was guilty, they protected me from this.
” I gesture at the screen, where details of the ritual requirements are laid out with clinical precision.
“The guilt was meant to keep me compliant, but it also made me untouchable. You can’t sacrifice someone who’s already destroyed. ”
Max reads over my shoulder, his presence warm and solid as my world continues to crumble. “But now that you’ve testified, now that you’ve proven you’re not broken…”
“The protection is gone.” I close the laptop, unable to look at any more evidence of the nightmare that’s been orchestrating my life from the shadows. “Whoever this Architect is, whoever’s really running the network—they think it’s time to collect what they’re owed.”
My phone buzzes again. This time, it’s a call from Detective Harper, and I answer without thinking.
“Don’t talk long,” he says without preamble. “Your phone’s been compromised. They’re tracking everything.”
“How do you know?”
“Because mine is too. Belle, you need to get somewhere safe. Now. I got an envelope, and I assume you did too. The surveillance photos they sent us—those were taken by professionals. Military-grade equipment. This isn’t some remnant of your parents’ operation. This is something bigger.”
The line goes dead before I can respond, leaving me staring at my phone like it’s a poisonous snake.
“We need to leave,” Max says, already moving toward the door. “If they can hack our phones, monitor our movements, plant evidence on our computers…”
“Where can we go?” The question sounds pathetic even to my own ears. “If this network is as far-reaching as these documents suggest, if they have people inside the school administration…”
“My family’s safe house in Vermont. It’s off-the-grid, cash purchase, no paper trail leading back to us.” He pauses at the door, hand on the knob. “Belle, I know this is terrifying. But we’re not helpless. We have allies, resources, information they don’t know we’ve uncovered.”
I nod, forcing my scattered thoughts into something resembling a plan. “We need to warn Luna and Erik.”
“Already on it.” Max holds up his phone, showing a text thread I didn’t know existed. “Erik’s been suspicious about their security for days. He’s got Luna somewhere safe.”
“And David Stone?”
“Has a team of Federal Marshals protecting him.” Max’s expression is grim but determined. “Belle, we’re going to figure this out. We’re going to find out who’s really behind this network, who’s been pulling the strings all along.”
As we gather essential items—cash, identification, the evidence from my hidden files—I think about the photographs, about Janet Wilson’s body marked with that symbol, about my parents’ desperate attempts to protect me from a fate they couldn’t escape themselves.
The Gallaghers and Queens weren’t the architects of this nightmare. They were just middle management, expendable pieces in a game played by people whose names we don’t even know.
But those people made one crucial mistake: they underestimated what happens when their victims refuse to stay broken.
I look at Max, at the fierce determination in his dark eyes, and feel something that might be hope. “Let’s go hunting.”
The Gothic spires of Shark Bay University fade behind us as we speed toward the mainland, but I can feel them watching even from this distance. Somewhere in those ancient stones, behind the facade of academic excellence and old money tradition, monsters are still operating.
But for the first time since this nightmare began, I’m not running from them.
I’m preparing to hunt them down.