Chapter 4 - The Photograph Made Me Question the One Man Who Had Been Protecting Me
I couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
Ronin.
Seventeen years old.
His father's body on the floor.
Blood across his hands.
His face twisted with something I couldn't identify.
Guilt.
Shock.
Rage.
Maybe all three.
"Where did you get that?" he asked.
I showed him.
His expression didn't change.
That frightened me.
"Is it real?"
"Yes."
"You killed him?"
Ronin looked at me.
"No."
"Then explain."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know everything that happened that night."
I stepped away.
"That's not good enough."
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, the famous Ronin Calder looked less like a crime boss and more like a seventeen-year-old boy who had lost his father.
"I found him."
"You were there."
"Yes."
"Your hands were bloody."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because there are truths that become dangerous when you know them too early."
I laughed bitterly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
He looked at me.
"I'm not going to ask you to trust me."
"Good."
"But I'm going to tell you what I remember."
We returned to the estate.
He showed me the original police file.
The official report said Daniel Calder died in a robbery.
Ronin had found him.
There had been a struggle.
Ronin tried to stop the bleeding.
His father's blood got on his hands.
Then Ronin heard someone in the hallway.
He ran.
"Who was there?"
"I don't know."
"Did you see anyone?"
"Only a shadow."
The photograph had been taken seconds later.
The person who sent it had cropped the image.
They had removed the part showing another figure in the doorway.
Ronin showed me the uncropped version.
A man stood behind him.
I stared.
I knew that face.
Edward Hayes.
My fiancé's father.
My stomach dropped.
"Why was he there?"
Ronin shook his head.
"That's what I never understood."
My phone rang.
Preston.
I almost ignored it.
Ronin gestured.
"Answer."
I did.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?"
I said nothing.
He laughed softly.
"I know you're with him."
My blood ran cold.
"Who?"
"Ronin."
I froze.
"You think he can protect you?"
Ronin listened silently.
Preston continued.
"Your father couldn't protect you."
I pressed the phone tighter.
"What do you want?"
"You."
"Why?"
"Because you have something your father stole."
"What?"
"The ledger."
Ronin looked at me sharply.
My father had mentioned documents.
But not a ledger.
Preston continued.
"Bring it to the old Calder warehouse."
"And if I don't?"
"Then your mother disappears."
My heartbeat stopped.
He hung up.
I looked at Ronin.
"He knows about the ledger."
Ronin nodded.
"Then your father told him."
"No."
"He knew where your mother lived."
"Because of the company."
"No."
Ronin stood.
"The company breach was only part of it."
He called Gideon.
"Move Mrs. Walker."
Then he looked at me.
"Where is the ledger?"
"I don't know."
"You said your father left a message."
"Yes."
"He may have hidden it somewhere you would recognize."
I thought.
Then I remembered.
My mother's old music box.
She kept it locked.
I had never been allowed to open it.
We returned to her apartment.
The box was missing.
Ronin examined the room.
"Someone has already been here."
He opened a drawer.
Inside was a note.
Find what the song forgot.
I knew immediately.
My mother used to sing one particular song.
A lullaby.
The song my father used when I couldn't sleep.
I hummed it.
Then remembered something.
The final line had always been different.
My father had changed one word.
Why?
We searched the house.
Behind an old bookshelf, we found a hollow panel.
Inside was a metal case.
The ledger.
I opened it.
Names.
Accounts.
Payments.
Politicians.
Police officers.
Corporate executives.
And at the final page:
The Black Ledger does not belong to one family.
It belongs to four.
Calder.
Mercer.
Hayes.
And Shaw.
I stared.
"Gideon."
Ronin's face changed.
"That's impossible."
I turned the page.
There was a photograph.
Gideon's father.
Daniel Calder.
Richard Mercer.
Edward Hayes.
And another man.
A young version of Ronin's uncle, Marcus.
All four standing together.
At the bottom was a handwritten line.
The successor will be chosen by the first family member who breaks the oath.
Ronin looked at me.
"What does that mean?"
Before I could answer, the apartment door opened.
Gideon stepped in.
He stopped when he saw the ledger.
His face went pale.
"Where did you get that?"
Ronin raised his weapon.
"How did you know it was here?"
Gideon didn't answer.
Ronin took another step.
"Gideon."
"I can explain."
"Then explain."
Gideon looked at me.
"I've been trying to protect Laurel."
"From who?"
"Everyone."
Ronin's voice hardened.
"Are you working for the Black Ledger?"
Gideon's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
"Then why were you in contact with Marcus?"
I stared.
Gideon went silent.
Ronin's expression became lethal.
"You lied to me."
"I was trying to find him."
"Why?"
"Because your father ordered me to."
Ronin froze.
"My father is dead."
Gideon nodded.
"But he left instructions."
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
More than one person.
Gideon turned.
"They found us."
Ronin grabbed me.
"Back exit."
Gunfire exploded through the front door.
Gideon returned fire.
We ran down the back staircase.
At the alley, a black car waited.
Ronin pulled me inside.
"Drive."
Gideon jumped in.
We sped away.
I looked at him.
"Who is Marcus?"
Gideon stared ahead.
"Your father's killer."
"No."
He shook his head.
"He's also Ronin's uncle."
Then he said the one thing that made everything worse.
"He's been living under another name."
"What name?"
May you like
Gideon looked at me in the mirror.
"Preston Hayes."
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