Chapter 7 - RACHEL Snow covered Silver Pine.
Daniel stepped from the SUV and saw the cabin.
Small.
Remote.
Smoke rising from the chimney.
Eleven months.
He walked toward the door.
His hands shook.
Marcus remained behind.
This moment belonged to Daniel.
The door opened before he reached it.
Rachel stood there.
For several seconds neither moved.
She looked thinner.
Her dark hair was longer.
A faint scar crossed one eyebrow.
But she was Rachel.
Alive.
Daniel stopped breathing.
She whispered:
“Daniel.”
He crossed the distance.
Rachel ran.
They collided halfway between the cabin and the car.
Daniel wrapped both arms around her.
Rachel buried her face against his chest.
Both cried.
No dramatic words.
No explanations.
Just eleven months of grief collapsing at once.
Finally Daniel whispered:
“Sophie knows.”
Rachel pulled back.
“What?”
“She knows you’re alive.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
Daniel hesitated.
“She almost wasn’t.”
Rachel saw his expression.
“What happened?”
He told her.
The pool.
Vanessa.
Sophie calling for him.
Rachel’s face went white.
“She tried to drown her?”
Daniel nodded.
Rachel turned away.
Daniel caught her.
“She’s safe.”
“This happened because of me.”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“No.”
He held her face.
“This happened because people made choices. Thomas. Vanessa. My mother. None of that belongs to you.”
Rachel cried.
“I thought disappearing would protect her.”
“It did for eleven months.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Now we finish it.”
Rachel looked at him.
Then toward the cabin.
“I have everything.”
Inside were financial records, recordings, names and encrypted backups.
Enough to destroy Thomas’s network.
Enough to expose corrupted officers.
Enough to dismantle Project Orpheus.
But one thing mattered more to Daniel.
“Come home.”
Rachel stared.
“I can’t yet.”
“Sophie needs you.”
“I know.”
“Then come home.”
Rachel touched his face.
“If Thomas sees me before the arrests, everyone connected to the evidence disappears.”
Daniel hated that she was right.
“How long?”
“Forty-eight hours.”
He nodded.
“Then I’m staying.”
May you like
Rachel smiled through tears.
“I knew you would.”
