Midnight Rebel (Midnight Falls, Texas)

Chapter 11

Autumn

I watch Colt’s taillights disappear into the darkness, a mix of emotions swirling in my chest.

The Manor looms before me, its gothic spires cutting sharp silhouettes against the night sky. As I make my way inside, the weight of what I’m about to do settles on my shoulders.

The halls are eerily quiet as I make my way to the office. My footsteps echo on the hardwood floors, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being watched.

I slip into the office, closing the door behind me with a soft click.

Hours pass as I pore over the numbers, cross-referencing dates and transactions. The more I dig, the more certain I become that this is deliberate, systematic fraud.

Payments redirected, expenses inflated, client contracts tampered with—it all points to an inside job.

I’m so engrossed in my work that I almost miss the footsteps in the hallway. My head snaps up, heart racing.

The door creaks open, and Frank Ward stands in the doorway, his bulk filling the frame. His sharp, calculating eyes narrow as they land on me, then flick to the papers scattered across the desk.

“Miss Clarke,” he says, his voice deceptively calm. “Working late, I see.”

I force a smile, trying to keep my voice steady. “Just following up on a few leads, Mr. Wells. You know how it is with deadlines.”

He steps into the room, closing the door behind him. The soft click of the latch sounds like a gunshot in the tense silence.

“Leads, huh?” Frank’s eyes never leave mine as he moves closer. “And what kind of leads might those be?”

I stand, putting the desk between us. “Oh, you know, just some background on The Manor’s history. Nothing too exciting.”

Frank’s lip curls, his polite facade cracking. “Cut the bullshit, Miss Clarke. We both know what you’re really looking for.”

My heart pounds, but I force myself to stand my ground. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He slams his hand down on the desk, making me jump. “Don’t play dumb with me! I’ve seen you snooping around, asking questions. You’re digging into things that don’t concern you.”

I take a deep breath, steeling myself. No point in pretending anymore. “Actually, Mr. Wells, I think they do concern me. And a lot of other people too. Care to explain why over half a million dollars is missing from The Manor’s accounts?”

Frank’s face contorts with rage, his calm demeanor evaporating. He’s around the desk in a flash, his hand closing around my arm in a bruising grip.

“You little bitch,” he snarls. “You have no idea what you’re meddling with.”

I try to wrench my arm free, but his grip is like iron. “Let me go,” I demand, my voice shaking despite my best efforts.

He yanks me closer, his breath hot on my face. “You’re going to forget everything you’ve seen here. You’re going to pack your bags and leave Midnight Falls. And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you ever do. Understand?”

Fear courses through me, but beneath it, a spark of defiance ignites. “Is that how you’ve kept this going for so long, Frank? Threats and intimidation? How long have you been sabotaging The Manor?”

Frank’s eyes widen in surprise, then narrow dangerously. “You don’t know anything,” he growls, but I see the panic in his eyes.

“I know enough,” I counter. “The redirected payments, the inflated expenses, the ‘accidents’ at events. It’s all you, isn’t it? Playing the hero while you bleed this place dry.”

His grip tightens painfully. “I’ve given my life to this estate. Decades of loyal service, and for what? To be treated like a servant while the Montgomerys live in luxury. I deserve my share, and I’m going to get it,” he spits out.

“By selling out to developers?” I press, watching his face for confirmation. “Tearing down The Manor for condos?”

Frank’s expression is all the answer I need. He drags me toward the door, his voice low and menacing. “You’re coming with me. We’re going to have a little chat about keeping your mouth shut.”

As we pass a side table, I manage to knock a vase to the floor. It shatters with a satisfying crash. Frank curses, his grip loosening for a second.

It’s all the opening I need. I wrench free, stumbling backward. Frank lunges for me, but I dodge, years of self-defense classes kicking in. I sprint down the hallway, my heart pounding in my ears.

Frank’s heavy footsteps pound behind me, gaining ground. I push myself harder, rounding a corner and nearly colliding with a suit of armor.

An idea strikes me. I grab the helmet, yanking it free.

As Frank appears around the corner, I hurl the helmet at him with all my might. It catches him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He staggers back, gasping for air.

I don’t wait to see if he recovers. I run, my legs burning with the effort. I need to call Colt, but can only do it somewhere private and safe.

I dash down another hallway, frantically searching for an exit when I see it—the door to the tunnels. It’s risky, given the recent cave-in, but it might be my only chance.

I yank the door open and plunge into the darkness, pulling it shut behind me. The air is cool and damp, heavy with the scent of earth and decay.

I fumble in my pocket, relief washing over me as my fingers close around my phone.

With shaking hands, I pull it out and dial Colt’s number. It rings once, twice, three times. “Come on, come on,” I mutter.

As I hear the call connect, the tunnel door crashes open. Frank’s silhouette fills the doorway, backlit by the hall lights.

“Colt—”

Frank is on me in an instant, and the phone is wrenched from my grip, clattering to the ground as his hand clamps over my mouth.

“Thought you could outsmart me, did you?” he hisses, his breath hot against my ear.

I struggle against his grip, but he’s too strong. My eyes dart to my phone on the ground, Colt’s name still flashing on the screen. So close, yet so far.

Frank follows my gaze and sneers. With deliberate slowness, he brings his foot down on the phone, crushing it under his heel.

The screen goes dark, and with it, my last hope for immediate rescue.

“Now,” Frank says, his voice eerily calm, “we’re going to take a little walk. And you’re going to listen very carefully to what I have to say.”

He starts dragging me deeper into the tunnels, away from the light, away from safety. As we move, Frank keeps talking, his voice full of anger and bitter resentment.

“You don’t understand what it’s been like,” he says. “Years of watching them throw money away on parties and renovations while I struggled to make ends meet. I kept this place running, and what thanks did I get?”

I try to speak, but his hand is still firmly over my mouth. He seems to notice and loosens his grip slightly.

“And that justifies stealing? Sabotaging events?” I gasp.

Frank’s grip tightens again. “It was supposed to be simple. Make the place look unprofitable, and force a sale. But then you had to start digging, didn’t you?”

We enter a larger chamber, moonlight filtering in through a grate high above. Frank pushes me roughly against a wall, finally removing his hand from my mouth.

“Now, Miss Clarke,” he says, his voice dangerously low, “we’re going to figure out how to keep that pretty mouth of yours shut.”

I swallow hard, trying to keep the fear from my voice. “People will come looking for me, Frank. Colt knows I’m here.”

Frank’s eyes gleam in the dim light. “By the time they find you, it’ll be too late. These tunnels can be quite treacherous, you know. Accidents happen all the time down here.”

My heart races as the full gravity of the situation hits me. Frank is desperate, and cornered. There’s no telling what he might do. I need to keep him talking, and buy time.

“Why, Frank?” I ask, forcing my voice to remain steady. “Why go through all this trouble? There has to be more to it than just resentment.”

He regards me suspiciously for a moment, then lets out a bitter laugh. “You want the truth, Miss Clarke? Fine. It’s not like you’ll be sharing this story with anyone else.”

Frank begins to pace, his words spilling out in a torrent of desperation. “I never meant for it to go this far. It started small—a few bets here and there. I thought I could handle it, that I’d quit while I was ahead.”

I listen intently, my mind racing for a way out. As Frank talks, I slowly edge along the wall, my fingers tracing the rough stone behind me.

Every inch of distance I can put between us might be crucial. I keep my eyes on Frank, watching for any sign that he’s noticed my movement.

“But the debts kept piling up,” he continues, his voice cracking with shame and desperation.

Frank runs a hand through his thinning hair, his eyes unfocused as if he’s reliving every bad decision. “I shifted from placing bets at the track to the casino, believing I could win it all back, you know?”

He lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “Before I knew it, I was in over my head. The kind of debt you can’t walk away from. I took out loans, thinking I could buy some time, maybe turn things around.”

Frank’s eyes meet mine, and I see a flicker of the man he might have been before greed and desperation took over. “I didn’t know then that the loan sharks were connected to the developers. It was all a setup from the start.”

“The developers?” I prompt, hoping to keep him talking. My hand finds a loose stone in the wall, and I curl my fingers around it, just in case. “How did they get involved?”

Frank’s face twists with relief and disgust, as if finally confessing is a weight off his shoulders and a bitter pill to swallow.

“They approached me out of the blue. Offered to clear all my debts, and make everything go away. All I had to do was help them acquire The Manor.”

“And that’s when the accidents started happening,” I say, my voice carefully neutral.

I need to keep him distracted and keep the information flowing. Every detail could be crucial later—if I make it out of here.

Frank nods, a hint of pride creeping into his voice despite the circumstances. “It was the perfect plan. Make the place look unprofitable, and force a sale. No one would suspect the loyal estate manager, always there to ‘fix’ the problems.”

I continue my slow, careful movement along the wall as he speaks. Freedom is only a few steps away, but one wrong move could spell disaster.

“They forced your hand?” I ask, hoping to keep him talking.

Frank nods, his eyes defiant. “I didn’t have a choice. They threatened to expose me, to ruin me. The ‘accidents,’ the financial manipulation—it was all their idea. I was simply following orders.”

As he speaks, I notice a loose stone in the wall behind me. If I can reach it without him noticing...

“And now?” I ask, inching my hand toward the stone. “What happens now, Frank?”

His face hardens. “Now, I finish the job. Once you’re out of the picture, nothing will stand in the way of the sale. The developers get The Manor, I get my freedom.”

My fingers close around the stone as Frank’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Enough talk,” he growls, stepping toward me. “It’s time to end this.”

I yank the stone free and hurl it at Frank’s head in one desperate move. It catches him off guard, striking his temple. He staggers back, momentarily stunned.

I seize the opportunity, darting past him toward the tunnel entrance. But in my haste, I misjudge my footing on the uneven ground.

I stumble, my ankle twisting painfully beneath me. I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me.

As I struggle to breathe, I hear Frank’s heavy footsteps approaching.

“Nice try, Miss Clarke,” he pants, looming over me. “But I’m afraid your luck has run out.”

I look up, my vision blurring from the pain and lack of oxygen. Frank reaches down, his hands moving towards my throat.

Suddenly, a deep rumble shakes the tunnel. Dust and small debris rain down from the ceiling.

Frank freezes, his eyes wide with fear. “No,” he whispers. “Not now. Not when I’m so close.”

The rumbling intensifies. Cracks spider across the ceiling, growing larger by the second. I try to move, to crawl away, but my injured ankle refuses to cooperate.

Frank looks from me to the crumbling ceiling, indecision warring on his face. For a moment, I think he might help me. But then he turns and runs, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.

I’m alone, trapped, as the world around me begins to collapse. The last thing I see is a massive chunk of ceiling breaking free, plummeting toward me.

Then everything goes black.