Chapter 4 - The Brother I Thought Betrayed Me Had Been Protecting Me All Along
Nolan told me the truth.
Years ago, Anna discovered the Black Circle.
She learned that our family was connected to it through our grandfather.
She also learned someone inside the organization wanted me dead.
Nolan was ordered to kill me.
Instead, he went undercover.
He pretended to work for the enemy.
He took the blame for crimes he didn't commit.
He allowed me to believe he had betrayed me.
Why?
Because if the Black Circle discovered he was protecting me, they would kill us both.
“You poisoned my meal,” I said.
“No.”
“You had the vial.”
“I planted it on myself.”
“Why?”
“To make sure you believed the assassination attempt came from inside.”
“You let them think you'd betray me.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Anna said you would never stop.”
“She was right.”
Nolan smiled sadly.
“She knew.”
He gave me a small key.
“Your grandfather's grave.”
We went there.
Inside the stone base was a hidden compartment.
The ledger wasn't there.
Only a letter.
Caleb,
The ledger is not an object.
It is a person.
I stared.
“What?”
Nolan read the next line.
The person who knows everything is closer than you think.
Lily walked forward.
“It's Mommy.”
“No,” I said.
“She knew the ledger.”
“But she's dead.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“She told me to tell you she wasn't.”
My entire body went cold.
Anna was alive.
Somewhere.
Arthur had lied.
Everyone had lied.
We followed a hidden trail of bank transfers.
They led to a private clinic outside Chicago.
A woman under the name Evelyn Cross had been treated there for years.
Her photograph was restricted.
I knew the face.
Anna.
I nearly collapsed.
She was alive.
Barely.
When I entered the room, she looked toward the door.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Caleb.”
I couldn't speak.
I walked to her.
“You're alive.”
She smiled.
“Barely.”
I hugged her.
For the first time since I was nineteen, I let myself be weak.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because Arthur had Lily.”
I looked at my niece.
She ran to her mother.
Anna held her.
I looked at the machines around her bed.
“What did he do?”
“He needed the ledger.”
“Where is it?”
Anna looked at me.
Then at Lily.
“Inside her.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Not physically.”
She smiled faintly.
“When Lily was born, I knew I wouldn't survive.”
“So?”
“I memorized the names.”
I stared.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“She remembers?”
“Every single one.”
I looked at Lily.
A seven-year-old child carried the names of the most powerful criminals in the city inside her memory.
That was why they wanted her.
That was why Arthur had taken her.
That was why Anna had sent her to me.
I asked,
“Why me?”
“Because I knew you would believe her.”
I laughed through tears.
“Everyone underestimated her.”
Anna nodded.
“That's why she's alive.”
Then she grabbed my wrist.
“Caleb.”
“What?”
“There's one person you still haven't questioned.”
“Who?”
Anna whispered,
“Marcus.”
I turned.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
He looked at Anna.
Then me.
His face was unreadable.
I realized something.
The ledger wasn't only about the Black Circle.
It was about my own organization.
And Marcus had been beside me for twenty years.
I asked,
“How much do you know?”
May you like
He answered,
“Everything.”
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