Chapter 89 - The Night Everything BurnedThe fire spread faster than anyone expected.
Flames climbed the workshop walls, and thick smoke rolled across the yard.
Michael shouted for everyone to get away from the building.
Jason rushed outside and helped move the children toward the main house.
Olivia called emergency services.
I grabbed Mom's hand.
"Come inside!"
But she was staring at the workshop.
"Your father's photographs!"
I turned.
The photographs were stored in the cabinet near the back wall.
I wanted to run toward them.
Michael grabbed my arm.
"Don't!"
The roof made a terrible cracking sound.
A section of timber collapsed.
I stumbled backward.
Within minutes, the fire department arrived.
They worked for nearly an hour before bringing the flames under control.
The workshop was badly damaged.
Most of the furniture and equipment had been destroyed.
The cabinet containing Dad's photographs was gone.
I stood in the snow, shaking.
Michael put his arm around me.
"We're safe."
I looked at the ruined building.
"Everything was in there."
"Not everything."
He pointed toward the locked case we had moved into the lodge earlier.
The original documents were safe.
But the fire had destroyed the remaining photographs, several letters, and the old accounting records.
The police began investigating.
They discovered evidence that someone had deliberately damaged the electrical system and started the fire near the rear entrance.
Then an officer approached me.
"We found something."
He held up a small piece of metal.
A silver cufflink.
The same distinctive black stone as the one discovered after the earlier break-in.
I stared at it.
"Could it belong to Daniel?"
The officer shook his head.
"We're checking."
Daniel arrived shortly afterward.
When he saw the damaged workshop, he began crying.
"I swear I didn't do this."
I looked at him.
"Did you know someone was coming?"
"No."
"Did you tell anyone about the documents?"
He shook his head.
Then Thomas stepped forward.
"I know who might have done it."
Everyone turned.
Thomas explained that he had seen a man following him earlier that afternoon.
The man had been driving a vehicle registered to one of Caldwell's former business associates.
Helen immediately contacted the investigators.
But the biggest shock came when Rebecca called.
Her voice was trembling.
"Sarah is missing."
I felt my heart stop.
"What do you mean?"
"She was supposed to meet me at the community office. She never arrived."
"Have you called her family?"
"Yes. Nobody has heard from her."
I looked at Michael.
The fire, the missing documents, and Sarah's disappearance could not be coincidences.
Helen contacted the police.
Within an hour, officers were searching the surrounding roads.
Then I received a message.
An unknown number.
Stop investigating the trust. The next person who disappears won't be found.
I showed it to the officer.
He immediately ordered additional security.
Michael looked at me.
"This has gone too far."
I nodded.
"We need to find Sarah."
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"I know where Caldwell might have taken her."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
He looked toward the mountain.
"There is an abandoned development office near the old northern road. Caldwell used it when he was working on the original resort proposal."
"Why would Sarah be there?"
"Because she has the original beneficiary declaration."
I stared at him.
"How do you know?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Because I helped hide it."
The room fell silent.
Helen immediately contacted the police.
Officers prepared to search the property.
But Daniel insisted on going with them.
He looked at me.
"I owe Sarah the truth. I owe all of you."
I wanted to stop him.
But I understood.
This time, he needed to face what he had done.
The police convoy left shortly before midnight.
I stood on the porch watching the vehicles disappear.
Then my phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Please help me."
Sarah.
May you like
The call disconnected.
And somewhere beyond the lodge, the mountain swallowed the sound of approaching sirens.
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