Chapter 6 - My Cousin's Betrayal
Mason Moretti was gone by the time we reached his house.
The place had been abandoned in a hurry.
Coffee still sat on the kitchen counter.
A suitcase was open.
The bedroom closet was empty.
Luca searched every room.
I stood near the fireplace.
Emily came downstairs holding a photograph.
“Gavin.”
I turned.
It showed Mason.
Our fathers.
And Vincent.
My heart sank.
“How many people knew?”
“My father.”
“Your father trusted Mason.”
“I know.”
“Maybe that's why Mason could betray you so easily.”
I stared at the photograph.
There was writing on the back.
Family is the easiest disguise.
I closed my eyes.
“Find him.”
Luca nodded.
We traced Mason to a marina.
He had a yacht.
We arrived before dawn.
The boat was moving.
I called.
“Mason.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“You shouldn't have come.”
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“You betrayed me.”
“No.”
“You sold our family.”
“No.”
“You worked with Vincent.”
“I worked against him.”
I paused.
“What?”
Mason continued.
“You think the ledger means what they want you to think.”
“Then explain.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because they have Emily.”
I froze.
I turned.
The car behind us was empty.
Emily wasn't there.
Her phone sat on the seat.
The blood drained from my face.
“Mason.”
His voice softened.
“Now you understand.”
I hung up.
Then I saw a video message.
Emily was tied to a chair.
Noah was nowhere visible.
My entire body went cold.
Vincent appeared beside her.
“Bring me the ledger.”
I stared at the screen.
“You'll get it.”
“Alone.”
“No.”
“Or she dies.”
The video ended.
Luca cursed.
I didn't.
My mind became completely calm.
That was always when I was most dangerous.
Mason called again.
“I can get her out.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
“Then why?”
“Because our fathers trusted each other.”
I stared at the water.
Mason continued.
“Meet me under the Fremont bridge.”
I went.
He arrived alone.
He looked exhausted.
“Where is Emily?”
“With Vincent.”
“Where is Noah?”
Mason looked at me.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With someone Vincent can't reach.”
I didn't believe him.
“Prove it.”
He showed me a photograph.
Noah sleeping in a crib.
A woman sat beside him.
My aunt Elena.
She had taken him.
Mason whispered:
“Vincent wants the baby because the child can unlock the final security layer.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because Vincent killed my brother.”
I froze.
Mason's younger brother had disappeared two years earlier.
Everyone thought he had run away.
“He found the ledger first,” Mason said.
“And Vincent killed him?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“For two years?”
“Yes.”
I hated him for that.
But I understood it too.
Fear had ruled all of us.
Mason gave me a location.
An old courthouse.
Vincent was holding Emily inside.
I entered alone.
Emily sat in a chair.
Vincent stood behind her.
“You came.”
I held up the ledger.
“Let her go.”
Vincent smiled.
“You still think you're negotiating.”
“No.”
I set the ledger down.
“I came because you wanted me.”
He walked toward it.
I watched.
He opened it.
And froze.
The pages were blank.
Vincent looked up.
“What did you do?”
“The real ledger is with investigators.”
His expression changed.
“You copied it.”
“Yes.”
“You're bluffing.”
“No.”
He looked at Emily.
She smiled.
For the first time, Vincent realized he had lost.
He grabbed her.
I stepped forward.
“Don't.”
He pulled a gun.
A shot fired.
The window shattered.
Emily screamed.
Then Mason appeared from the hallway.
He tackled Vincent.
The gun went off again.
Luca's team rushed in.
Vincent was restrained.
Emily was safe.
I ran to her.
She collapsed into my arms.
“Gavin.”
“I'm here.”
“I knew you would come.”
I held her tightly.
“I should have been there sooner.”
“You came.”
I looked at her.
“Noah?”
“Safe.”
I exhaled.
Mason stood nearby.
I looked at him.
“You helped.”
“Yes.”
“You still betrayed me.”
“I know.”
I nodded.
“Then you answer for it.”
He lowered his head.
“Fair.”
The ledger had been copied.
But one final layer remained encrypted.
The key was hidden in Noah's records.
We found the truth that evening.
The baby wasn't the key because of his DNA.
He was the key because Thomas Carter had designed his legal identity to contain a code.
His full name.
His birth date.
My middle name.
Emily's maiden name.
Together they created the final password.
When we entered it, the complete ledger opened.
Every secret.
Every payment.
Every operation.
And one final name.
Gideon Cross.
Not as a participant.
As the mastermind.
Vincent had been working for Cross.
Mason had been forced into cooperation.
Cross had orchestrated the divorce.
The false bank records.
The missing phone calls.
The disappearance of the evidence.
Everything.
He hadn't wanted the ledger.
He wanted the Moretti and Carter families destroyed so he could control the port system through the vacuum.
I looked at Emily.
“It's over.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Not until he's caught.”
She was right.
May you like
Cross was still free.
And now he knew the full ledger was in our hands.
