hunting past

---

Chapter Eleven:

The tunnel was darker than I’d expected—narrow, musty, the walls damp with years of neglect. My bare feet echoed against the stone as I followed Liam deeper into the unknown. My heart thundered in my chest, every breath short and ragged.

“Keep moving,” he muttered, his voice a low growl in the near silence.

“Where are we going?” I asked, struggling to keep up with his long strides. “And why do you even have a tunnel under my house?”

“It’s not your house anymore,” he replied without turning. “And this tunnel connects to the Sinclair estate. Old escape route. My father had it built decades ago.”

Of course he did. Nothing about Liam Sinclair was ever straightforward. Every corner of his life seemed to have a secret passageway.

“Why now, Liam? Why show me this now?”

He stopped so abruptly I nearly ran into him. “Because they know where you live, Isla. They’ve been watching you. This was never about if they’d strike—it was about when.”

I swallowed the knot of fear in my throat. “And who exactly are ‘they’?”

He hesitated. Just for a second. But I caught it.

“You still don’t trust me,” I whispered

“I trust you more than I trust myself,” he said, facing me now, his eyes glowing dimly in the flickering light of the tunnel. “But this truth... it’ll destroy you, Isla.”

“Then let it.”

He looked at me like I was a ticking bomb, one he’d tried to disarm but now had no choice but to run with. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”

We kept going. The air grew thicker the deeper we went. The silence between us, once comforting, now itched against my skin like a warning.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Liam stopped at a wooden hatch above us. He reached up, pressed a hidden latch, and the panel opened with a groan.

“Stay close.”

I climbed the rusted ladder behind him, emerging into what looked like a forgotten study. Dust coated everything. The air was stale, thick with the scent of old books and older secrets.

“Where are we?” I asked, stepping into the room.

“The Sinclair library. The one the world thinks burned down fifteen years ago.”

“Why would you hide it?”

He turned slowly, jaw clenched. “Because this room holds everything—documents, files, records—proof of what my father did. What Scarlett did.”

My stomach dropped. “Scarlett was part of this?”

He nodded grimly. “She wasn’t just part of it. She was the architect.”

I backed up, needing space. “You said she protected me.”

“She thought she was. In her own twisted way. But Scarlett made enemies, Isla. And those enemies want you because of what you represent.”

I grabbed the edge of the desk to steady myself. “Represent? Liam, speak clearly.”

He walked over to the bookshelf and pulled a weathered file. Inside were photographs, reports, and—my breath hitched—a baby photo. Me.

I snatched it from him. “What is this?”

“You were born into something bigger, Isla. Your father... he wasn’t just a businessman. He was part of an old alliance. One that guarded very sensitive information—encrypted codes, financial control, even legal immunity for governments. When he died, everything was passed on to you.”

“That’s insane,” I murmured. “I’m just—”

“—a target,” Liam finished. “Because someone out there thinks you know where the master key is.”

“The master key?”

He nodded. “To the entire Sinclair-Redmond archive. Billions in digital currency. Names. Deals. Blackmail material. All hidden behind one vault. And they think you have the access.”

My legs buckled beneath me. “How... how could I have it?”

“You don’t. Not yet. But your DNA is the key—literally. The system was bio-locked to your father’s bloodline. Scarlett made sure the vault wouldn’t open unless the next Redmond heir tried.”

I sat in stunned silence.

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed from above.

We froze.

“Someone’s here,” Liam said, pulling me toward the hidden door behind the bookcase. “Go. Now.”

I followed him blindly into the passageway. Another tunnel, this one narrower, with stone walls that seemed to press in with every step.

“Where does this one go?” I asked.

“An emergency chamber. It’s shielded from drones and heat scanners. We can hide there for a bit—”

Another crash. Louder this time. Closer.

Then came voices. Two. No—three. Male. Sharp. Hunting.

“They’re in here somewhere,” one said. “Find the girl. Kill the traitor.”

My blood turned to ice.

Liam pushed me faster, urgency in his voice. “Don’t stop. Don’t even breathe loud.”

But the footsteps behind us were gaining.

Suddenly, Liam turned and shoved me into a side alcove, drawing a sleek silver weapon from inside his coat.

“You’re armed?” I whispered, horrified.

“I didn’t plan to use it unless I had to.” His jaw was tight. “Stay behind me. No matter what you hear, don’t move.”

I barely had time to nod before two men rounded the tunnel’s bend.

“Sinclair,” one of them growled. “Still playing hero?”

Liam didn’t flinch. “I warned you to stay out of this.”

“Too bad we don’t take orders from fallen kings,” the other sneered. “Where’s the girl?”

“Gone.”

They laughed. “You think we’re that stupid?”

Liam raised the gun slowly. “You underestimated me once. Don’t do it again.”

What followed was chaos—gunfire, shouting, the sound of metal clashing. I crouched in the shadows, covering my ears, heart hammering against my ribs.

A body dropped. Another scream. Then silence.

Footsteps approached.

“Isla,” Liam called softly. “It’s me. It’s over.”

I peeked out. The two men lay unconscious—one bleeding from the shoulder. Liam looked... changed. Hardened.

I stepped into the tunnel, hands shaking. “You killed them.”

“I stopped them.”

“But—”

He didn’t let me finish. “I’ll explain later. We have to move. There’s another exit from the emergency room, but we need to get to it before more come.”

We ran.

The chamber, when we reached it, looked like a panic room built by a billionaire paranoid with secrets. Touchscreen panels, digital locks, steel walls.

Liam keyed in a code and the door sealed behind us.

I collapsed onto the floor, panting. “I can’t... I can’t live like this.”

He knelt beside me, touching my shoulder. “You won’t have to. I’m going to end this.”

“How?”

“By destroying the vault.”

“But... all that data—”

“Is poison,” he said. “Your life matters more than blackmail and power.”

I looked at him, searching for the man I once adored. “And Scarlett?”

“She’ll come for you. But next time, we’ll be ready.”

I leaned against the wall, eyes burning. “Why didn’t you just tell me all of this from the beginning?”

“Because I didn’t want you to hate me,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “But I’ve realized something, Isla... I’d rather have you alive and furious than gone forever.”

I didn’t know what to say.

In that room, surrounded by secrets and shadows, I realized the world I thought I knew had shattered—and in its place stood something far darker, and far more dangerous.

But I wasn’t running anymore.

Let them come.

---