Chapter 5 - The Safe House with Two LocksThey moved Sloan to a safe house.
This time, she didn't protest.
Not because she trusted Cormack completely.
Because she had started to understand something about him.
He didn't make promises he couldn't keep.
He simply acted.
The safe house stood outside the city.
A farmhouse.
Snow covering the fields.
A single light in the upstairs window.
Mara was waiting with soup.
Sloan hadn't eaten all day.
She sat at the kitchen table.
Cormack watched from the doorway.
“You should eat.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“My brother—”
“Will survive.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I intend to make him.”
Sloan looked at him.
He meant it.
She took the spoon.
Halfway through the bowl, she asked:
“Why do they keep calling me the girl?”
Cormack sat opposite her.
“Because they don't know your name.”
“That makes me feel better.”
“You don't need them to know your name.”
“I need to know it.”
He understood.
There were pieces of her life missing.
The trust.
Her mother.
Her brother.
The gala.
Everything.
Fitz arrived with a laptop.
“We found Tobias.”
Sloan jumped up.
“Where?”
“Dock warehouse.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
She almost cried from relief.
Cormack looked at Fitz.
“What else?”
“Leon Voss is there.”
Cormack's expression changed.
“Let's go.”
The warehouse was dark.
Cormack entered first.
Leon stood in the center.
Tobias sat tied to a chair.
Sloan gasped.
Leon smiled.
“Don't worry. He's alive.”
Cormack stared at him.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Leon looked at Sloan.
“Because she has something you don't.”
“What?”
“Trust.”
Leon moved toward Sloan.
Cormack stepped between them.
Leon laughed.
“You don't even know what she is.”
Cormack's voice was cold.
“She is under my protection.”
“She doesn't need your protection.”
“What does she need?”
“Her inheritance.”
Sloan looked at Leon.
“What inheritance?”
Leon smiled.
“Your mother didn't die poor.”
He pulled out a document.
“She owned twelve percent of Vale Strategic.”
Cormack froze.
That was impossible.
Vale Strategic had belonged to his father.
No outside ownership.
At least officially.
Leon continued.
“She also owned fourteen percent of Riverline.”
Sloan stared.
“Why?”
“Because your mother and Cormack's mother built it.”
Cormack felt the floor shift.
His father hadn't built Riverline.
His parents had.
The secret partnership had been hidden.
Until their children grew old enough to claim it.
Then someone killed them.
Leon looked at Cormack.
“Your father stole it.”
Cormack's jaw tightened.
“Who killed my mother?”
Leon smiled.
“Ask your uncle.”
“My uncle is dead.”
“No.”
Cormack went still.
“Which one?”
“Daniel.”
Cormack's heart stopped.
Daniel Vale had supposedly died before Cormack was born.
Leon looked at Sloan.
“He's been alive this whole time.”
Tobias suddenly shouted.
“Cormack!”
A shot rang out.
The window shattered.
Cormack grabbed Sloan.
Leon disappeared into the chaos.
Tobias was hit.
Sloan screamed.
Cormack returned fire.
The attackers fled.
He rushed to Tobias.
“Stay with me.”
Sloan knelt beside her brother.
Tears ran down her face.
“You're okay.”
Tobias looked at her.
“I remembered.”
“What?”
“The man who came to the hospital.”
Sloan leaned closer.
“Who?”
“He had your mother's necklace.”
Cormack froze.
“Daniel.”
Tobias nodded.
“He said he was sorry.”
Sloan looked at Cormack.
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then find him.”
Cormack looked toward the broken window.
Snow blew inside.
He nodded.
“I will.”
Back at the safe house, Sloan found something on the floor.
A tiny brass key.
She recognized it.
Her mother had owned one exactly like it.
She had seen it in childhood photographs.
She took it to Cormack.
“What is this?”
He looked at it.
“Vault key.”
“For what?”
“My family.”
“How do you know?”
“My mother had the same one.”
They found the vault beneath an abandoned bank.
The key worked.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Contracts.
Letters.
And a cassette tape.
Cormack played it.
A woman's voice came through.
Sloan recognized it instantly.
Her mother.
“If you are hearing this, then both families have failed.”
Cormack closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
“Anna, I know you will hate me for this.”
Cormack's mother's voice.
“I don't hate you.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because I have decided the children must be separated.”
Sloan covered her mouth.
The tape continued.
“They cannot grow up knowing what we built.”
“Because of Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Or because of Thomas?”
Silence.
Then:
“Both.”
Cormack looked at Sloan.
Their mothers had been afraid of two men.
Thomas Vale.
Victor Ror.
And another name appeared.
Ethan Ror.
Gideon's father.
The tape ended.
Sloan stared.
“This goes back thirty years.”
Cormack nodded.
“Longer.”
Then the vault door slammed.
They were locked inside.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
“Good.”
Cormack turned.
“Who is that?”
May you like
The voice answered:
“Your father.”
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