Chapter 5 - Marcus Returned From the Dead and Told Me Lily Was the Key to a Fortune Worth Billions—But the Real Secret Was Much More DangerousLily was asleep when Marcus returned with us.
She woke the next morning and saw him standing beside the window.
Her eyes widened.
“Daddy?”
Marcus turned.
For twelve years, the strongest man I had ever known had been hiding from the world.
But when that little girl called him Daddy, he broke.
He knelt.
Lily ran into his arms.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I was hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you safe.”
She hugged him tighter.
I watched them.
For the first time, I understood what Marcus had sacrificed.
Then Lily whispered:
“Mommy said bad men wanted your secret.”
Marcus looked at me.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing.”
Lily pointed at me.
“Uncle told me not to be scared.”
Marcus smiled.
“You chose a good uncle.”
I laughed.
“He's been calling me Uncle for two days.”
Marcus looked at me.
“You like it.”
I didn't answer.
He smiled.
“You do.”
The ledger was hidden beneath the old library.
Marcus explained.
“Twelve years ago, I discovered that someone was stealing from every legitimate business.”
“Richard.”
“Yes.”
“He kept a second set of books.”
“And the original ledger?”
“Contained every payment.”
“Judges?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Politicians?”
“Yes.”
“Marcellis?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the floor.
“If Richard gets that ledger…”
“He controls half the city.”
“And if we get it?”
“We destroy him.”
But there was a problem.
Nobody knew exactly where the ledger was.
Except Lily.
Marcus explained that Elena had once hidden the key inside a toy.
The same toy Lily carried.
Her rabbit.
I stared at it.
“You're telling me the key has been with her for three years?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know?”
“No.”
We examined the rabbit.
Inside its stitched body was a tiny metal capsule.
Inside the capsule was a key.
A small brass key.
I recognized the shape.
It matched an old lock in my library.
We opened the hidden compartment.
Inside was a ledger.
Dusty.
Heavy.
Filled with names.
Richard Moretti.
Page after page.
Payments.
Orders.
Threats.
Murder arrangements.
Everything.
But there was one final page.
A note.
If Daniel ever finds this, tell him the truth about his brother.
I stared.
“Brother?”
I had no brother.
My father had only one other child.
My uncle Richard.
Marcus looked at me.
“Your father had another son.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“His name was Adrian.”
I felt the room tilt.
Adrian.
A name I had heard once.
A child my mother said had died at birth.
Marcus handed me another document.
Birth certificate.
Adrian Moretti.
Alive.
Age forty-two.
I stared.
“Where is he?”
Marcus shook his head.
“We don't know.”
The door opened.
Evelyn stood there.
She was crying.
“I know.”
We turned.
May you like
She stepped inside.
“I know where Adrian is.”
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