The Blackwood's Conspiracy: A Hidden Network

Chapter 7: The Unexpected Revelation (continued)

“Micheal?” Sam said in a trembling voice. Sam was holding the gun tightly due to her instinct. “What are you doing here?”

Micheal stepped into light, but his facing was completely giving off a dark energy. Micheal stuttered a bit then said. “Agent Sam all this time you have been following the trail that I have been giving you.”

Sam keeping her gun pointed on Micheal. “Why? Why are you doing this? Did you call me here to kill? Why are you giving me these trails?” Micheal in shock from the severity of these questions. “No of course not I don’t want to kill you. I have called you here to tell you everything that I know. Everything that has happened so far, Alexander disappearance and the dark secrets of blackwood I know everything. Come with me and I will show you everything.”

Sarah in complete shock followed Micheal at a complete dark corner there was a staircase both climbed it up. It was all dark but there was a box shining in the whole darkness. Micheal reached out to it and opened it. Everything that Sarah saw there was utter evil. The box contained photographs, documents and folders which contained all the wrongdoings and crimes of the Blackwood family.

Sam was completely stunned. “Where did you get this evidence and why are you not coming forward?"

Micheal in a dark abyss of fear. “My father is not the only person in this. It is more than you think. It is a of the charts type of force you are going head-to-head with. The Midnight Circle. The elites that control everything politicians, police departments and law enforcing authority that why I was helpless, but Alexander is opposite he has a complete sense of justice that why he is coming for everyone.”

Sam was stunned by severity, absorbing everything from what she had seen. Micheal giving her a bigger picture. “Father is just a public face for them. Alexandar stumbled upon the truth. So, they want to silence him.”

Sam's mind raced, connecting dots. "But you helped him escape."

Micheal nodded. “I can’t let my brother die that why I stagged the kidnap to keep him out of the harm’s way. They figured it out eventually. That’s why I needed your help.”

"And where is Alexander now?"

“Safe but not for long.”

Suddenly there were cars crashing inside the warehouse.

Micheal “looks like they are here. You need to get out of here. Here take this key it will lead you to alexander. Just go now.”

“You are coming with me. I am not going to leave you here all alone.” Sam being impatient.

“I am going to hold them off for while so go.” Michael pushed Sam out of the window, and she came down all the way falling. Sam heard gunshots while running away in the night tightly holding on to the key Michael gave him.

Chapter 8: The Sanctuary

Sam found an abandoned lighthouse on the outskirts of the city using the unlabeled key. The building's light was long gone, but it still stood up against the night sky. She walked to the base of the old door and saw new scratches around the lock.

The key slid in perfectly.

Surprisingly, the lighthouse was kept up inside. The old stone walls stood out against modern furniture and technologies. Sam heard voices above her as she climbed the spiral staircase.

"Hello?" she called out cautiously.

The voices went silent. Then footsteps approached.

Alexander Blackwood appeared at the top of the stairs, relief washing over his face when he saw her.

“Detective Carter," he breathed. "You made it. Where's Michael?"

He could tell everything he needed to know from Sam's expression. Alexander's expression dropped short.

"He said this might happen," he whispered. "He made me promise to continue if he didn't make it."

"Continue what?" Sam asked.

Alexander took her to a woman sitting among computer equipment at the top of the lighthouse. Newspaper stories, financial documents, and surveillance footage related to the Blackwood family and tops city officials were shown on screens.

"Detective, this is Julia Chen," Alexander said. "She's been helping us gather evidence against the Midnight Circle."

Julia nodded curtly. "I'm a former data analyst for Blackwood Enterprises. I've been tracking their transactions for years."

"And I've been collecting individual statements," Alexander said, referring to a stack of flash drives. "People who have been injured by the Circle's actions. Together with the physical proof you've discovered, we have enough to expose them all."

Sam examined the setup, impressed. "You've been busy."

"We had to be," Julia said grimly. "The Circle doesn't just control business and politics. They've infiltrated law enforcement too."

Sam felt a chill. "How deep does this go?"

"All the way to the top," Alexander answered. "The police commissioner, the district attorney, and certain judges. That was why we needed someone we could rely on." He handed her the file. "Michael said if anything happened to him, I should give you this."

"There's something else," Alexander said hesitantly. "Something about your father."

Sam's head snapped up. "My father? What about him?"

Alexander and Julia exchanged glances.

"Your father was investigating the Circle twenty years ago," Julia explained. "His death wasn't an accident."

Sam felt the floor shift beneath her. Her father Detective James Carter had died in what was ruled an accidental drowning when she was just twelve. It was the reason she'd become a detective.

"How do you know this?" she demanded.

"Because my father confessed it to me," Alexander said quietly. "It was the first secret I discovered that one that led me to everything else. I'm sorry, Detective."

Sam supported herself against the wall, memories pouring back. Her father warned her to keep away from the Blackwood’s. He spent late evenings going over case files. Strange males that visited their residence after the funeral.

It all made sense now.

"We need to move," she said finally, her voice steely. "If they found Michael, they'll find this place too."

As if summoned by her words, headlights appeared on the coastal road below.

"They're here," Julia said, closing her laptop. "We have an escape route planned."

Alexander activated a hidden switch, revealing a door that led to a narrow staircase diving under the cliff beneath the lighthouse.

"It leads to a boat," he explained. "We can take the evidence and disappear until it's safe to come forward."

Sam pulled out her phone. "I'm calling my partner. With his help, we can secure federal protection."

She dialed the number, listening to it ring. When he answered, she felt a wave of relief.

"Jack, it's me. I need your help. I've uncovered something big."

"Sam," Alexander interrupted, his voice suddenly tense. He was looking at the list of names again, his face pale. "Don't say anything else."

Sam groaned, covering the phone. "What is it?"

Alexander turned the page toward her, pointing to a name she had missed. There, highlighted in yellow, was her partner's name: Detective Jack Morrison.

"He's one of them," Alexander whispered.

Through the phone, Jack's voice came through, concerned. "Sam? Where are you? Are you okay?"

Car doors slamming rippled from below, and spotlights lit the lighthouse windows, making Sam's blood run icy.