od. The sun slowly brightening up the day. The sky was painted with warm shades of amber, h

hat matter. Kennedy's revelation left her mind jumbled u

eculations to be true and with it a piece of new informa

t to her life. The deeper she went digging for answers

asn't surprised that her brother visited Kenn

rprotective one

going to come finding answers and wan

e? He knew this was dangerous? Did he also know he wasn't going to be he

sort of trouble anyway, it just

disappearing off the face of the earth like her brother,

st to the now empty house. The fear, grief, and sadness they felt after their parents' death. The cautiousness she and Lucas had

She could almost see Lucas talking to her with his unkempt hair and sleep-deprived eyes. "I'm telling you Em, their deat

nt out for long periods investigating, and frequenting police stations. He had a lot of free time on his hands as he a

had. She was tired of him being so absent, she'd lost her parents also and felt like she

real and stop chasing shadows!

ormalcy by being a good big brother but she knew he didn't for a moment stop. For one, he locked his room ever

en we could have figured something o

rt of her back then believed what Lucas said but she'd rather live in denial, in a world where things weren't s

herself a glass of water for her parched throat. The glass of water seemed to do the trick as h

rust and looked almost a decade old. Emily quickly entered the combination making the safe pop open. It belonged to Lucas and contained

graphs. The pages were filled with Lucas' scribbled notes, his neat handwriting frantical

was of their

eadline read: "TRAGEDY STRIKES AT SOCIAL G

ght but they didn't let her. She was coerced to sleep

nt out of control. She looked at her brother's notes '

the family, Richard was found guilty of money laundering and tax evasion but just a year into his

one of the tech investors committed suicide after being scammed. T

s but Lucas was convinced they were all connected somehow, drawing lines that at some point

e of time as Emily reread the documents in the binder. It

knowing she was going to get scolded a

hell are you?" She flinched at Natal

stuff and didn't notice the time." S

th our heads on a platter soon," Natalie grunted. "At least, make an excuse that you'll be wor

sorry." Emily

be a next time?" N

e continued to ring through the phone. She could picture her frie

Nat,

orities straight, Emily. I get that you're on a personal crusade or whatev

bother to add that if she never wanted to work, she could afford it because of all her p

oncern. "Just be careful, okay? I don't like the idea of y

all smile. "Thanks, Nat. I'll

me sleep, you sound like y

will. Tal

h. L

n. Her gaze lingered on the binder that held the weight of her brother's

agining he could hear her. Talking aloud brought a bit of comfor

ong, but she knew better. T

er brother's disappearance, Kennedy's revelation, the texts. It all pointed to dange

sifying as it spilled across the floor. Emily knew she n

d a browser and began typing, her fingers moving with purpose across

their fall from grace had been sudden and shrouded in mystery. Emily scoured through old articles, legal documents, and even

ing sense or it was just wishful thinking on her path. But the little she found showed that Lucas had been on the brink of so

known he was close to something dangerous, would he have hidde

e most obvious place possible was, " she trailed off her eyes darted to her brother's old room,

esk. She returned to Lucas's door and, with trembling fingers, worked the paperclip into th

scattered across the floor, some yellowed with age, others still crisp and clean. Hi

and started going through the boxes and files Lucas had hidden under it. It didn't take long

efully removed it, peeling a

olded it and found a note written in Lucas's handwrit

ido N

ed at it, her mind racing. What had Lucas left behind fo

her hand glancing at not

t no

from downstairs making her jump to her feet,