Chapter 3 - The Name My Father Buried
The drive back to Manhattan was silent.
I stared out the window.
My mother was alive.
At least that was what Claudia claimed.
I didn't know whether to believe her.
Vaughn didn't say much either.
Finally I asked:
"Do you believe her?"
"I believe Claudia knew something."
"That's not my question."
He glanced at me.
"I believe your mother's death may have been staged."
"Why?"
"Because the records are inconsistent."
He handed me a file.
My mother's death certificate listed one hospital.
Her medical record listed another.
One said she died at 9:12 p.m.
The other recorded an emergency admission at 11:47 p.m.
Two hours after she was supposedly dead.
I stared.
"My father told me she died at nine."
"I know."
"You knew this too?"
"I found it three years ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because every time I got closer to your family, people around me disappeared."
I closed the file.
"You thought I'd be next."
"Yes."
When we returned to the safe house, Ronin had uncovered another piece.
The black roses.
The same symbol from the back of my photograph.
They belonged to a secret network called The Harbor Circle.
A group of executives, politicians, smugglers, and financiers who had controlled shipping routes along the eastern seaboard for decades.
Vaughn had been investigating them.
So had my father.
And apparently, so had my mother.
"My father wasn't protecting me from the company."
I whispered.
"He was protecting me from the Circle."
Vaughn nodded.
"Probably."
"Then why bring me into your company?"
"Because your father left something there."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"We don't know."
I remembered Claudia's words.
Ledger.
Wedding dress.
Recorder.
Maybe the answers were hidden in something I had inherited without knowing.
That night I called my aunt.
She lived in Arizona.
She remembered my mother.
"Your mother wasn't weak," she said.
"Why did everyone call her fragile?"
"Because she wanted them to."
"Where did she go?"
My aunt sighed.
"Your father asked me to keep you away from the truth."
"Why?"
"Because the truth would get you killed."
I closed my eyes.
"And now?"
"I think he's dead anyway."
"Do you know if my mother is alive?"
"Yes."
I stopped.
"You know?"
"I saw her eight years ago."
My heart pounded.
"Where?"
"Chicago."
She gave me an address.
I barely slept.
The next morning, Vaughn and I flew there.
The address belonged to an old bookstore.
A woman stood behind the counter.
Gray hair.
Blue eyes.
When she saw me, she dropped a book.
"God."
I whispered:
"Mom?"
She covered her mouth.
Vaughn stepped back.
I walked toward her.
She didn't move.
Then she cried.
"You were never supposed to find me."
I embraced her.
She held me so tightly it hurt.
"I thought you were dead."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because your father made me disappear."
"Why?"
"Because he was afraid of the Circle."
She looked at Vaughn.
"And now he has brought you here."
Vaughn's face hardened.
"Your daughter was already in danger."
My mother shook her head.
"Not because of you."
"Then why?"
"Because of what she inherited."
I frowned.
"What did I inherit?"
She pulled a key from beneath the counter.
The same symbol.
Black rose.
"The ledger."
"What ledger?"
She looked at Vaughn.
"Your father never told him?"
Vaughn's voice was cold.
"Tell us."
My mother pulled a hidden book from beneath the floor.
Inside were account numbers.
Shipping routes.
Bribes.
Names.
Hundreds of them.
At the back was one page.
Laurel Monroe.
My own name.
I stared.
"What is this?"
My mother whispered:
"Your father discovered the Circle was using your identity before you were born."
I felt sick.
"My identity?"
"You're not only his daughter."
"What does that mean?"
She looked at Vaughn.
"Tell her."
He stared at her.
"You know."
My mother nodded.
"Laurel's father wasn't the only man protecting her."
Vaughn stepped closer.
"What are you saying?"
"My husband made a deal with your father."
Silence.
"What deal?"
She looked at me.
"When Laurel was born, the Circle wanted her dead."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
"Because she was the legal beneficiary of a trust controlling three shipping ports."
Vaughn looked stunned.
My mother continued.
"Your father asked Victor Mercer to protect her."
Vaughn froze.
"My father knew her?"
"Yes."
"And my mother?"
"They were friends."
He took a step backward.
Everything was connected.
My mother.
His mother.
Our fathers.
The Circle.
And me.
Then a gunshot shattered the bookstore window.
Vaughn tackled me to the floor.
Glass exploded above us.
Ronin returned fire.
My mother screamed.
A second bullet struck the wall.
Then silence.
Vaughn looked at me.
"Are you hurt?"
I shook my head.
He touched my face anyway.
His hands were trembling.
"I thought I lost you."
I stared at him.
For the first time, his mask slipped completely.
He wasn't a mafia boss in that moment.
He was just a man terrified of losing someone.
My mother saw it.
Her eyes softened.
Then she whispered:
"Oh."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She smiled sadly.
"Your father would have hated this."
May you like
"What?"
"The way he's looking at you."
