Chapter 8 - The Night Rosie Disappeared, I Realized the Enemy Wasn't Hunting Me—They Were Hunting Anyone I LovedRosie vanished from a secured property.
No broken locks.
No camera footage.
No guards attacked.
Someone inside had helped.
Jericho became terrifyingly calm.
“Find every employee.”
We did.
One woman was missing.
Her nanny.
But she wasn't responsible.
She had been drugged.
The trail led to a private airport.
A plane had left.
Destination unknown.
I blamed myself.
“If I hadn't come here…”
Jericho interrupted.
“No.”
“They want me.”
“Yes.”
“So they took her.”
He stepped closer.
“This is not your fault.”
“They took your daughter because of me.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“They took my daughter because they think they can use her against me.”
He held my gaze.
“And they're wrong.”
We traced the plane.
Cuba.
A private compound.
We flew.
The rescue operation was brutal.
Jericho's men entered first.
I followed.
Rosie was alive.
She was locked in a room.
She saw me.
“Lennox!”
I ran.
She hugged me.
I cried.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
Then she whispered:
“They said my daddy would die because of you.”
I felt sick.
“They lied.”
Jericho entered.
He lifted her.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We escaped.
But the kidnappers left one message.
THE CIRCLE KNOWS YOUR LOCATION.
Back in Miami, we opened the archive.
The Circle's members were listed.
Twelve people.
Judges.
Industrialists.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Then one name stopped me.
Margaret Vale.
My grandmother.
I stared.
“My family.”
“Yes.”
Jericho looked at me.
“She's alive.”
“What?”
“She died twenty years ago.”
“Apparently not.”
We found her in New York.
She was ninety.
Still powerful.
She smiled when I entered.
“My granddaughter.”
I froze.
“You know me.”
“I created the conditions that made you.”
I felt sick.
“You were part of it.”
“Yes.”
“The Circle.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“For power.”
“What did you do to me?”
“Protected your gift.”
“What gift?”
“Memory.”
She explained.
My brain had been conditioned to store information.
The Crown's ultimate weapon.
My father wanted it.
Rafael wanted to destroy it.
My mother wanted to save me.
They fought.
Rafael died.
My mother disappeared.
Gabriel took me.
And Margaret erased my identity.
She created Lennox.
But the memory remained.
I looked at her.
“You did all that.”
“Yes.”
“Why bring me back?”
“Because the Circle is failing.”
“And?”
“You are the only one who can rebuild it.”
I laughed.
“No.”
She smiled.
“You don't have a choice.”
I stood.
“I do.”
Jericho appeared behind me.
Margaret looked at him.
“You've become your father.”
He replied:
“No.”
“Your father loved power.”
“I love my daughter.”
Margaret laughed.
“Same weakness.”
Jericho raised his gun.
I stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I want her alive.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows everything.”
Margaret smiled.
“Then ask me.”
“What?”
“Who killed Rafael.”
Silence.
She looked at Jericho.
“Your father wasn't killed by Victor.”
“Then who?”
“Daniel.”
Jericho froze.
“And why?”
“Because Rafael chose Evelyn.”
“He chose her over the Crown.”
I stared.
My father's betrayal had begun because he was jealous of Rafael.
He wanted control.
Rafael wanted freedom.
My father killed him.
Jericho looked devastated.
He turned away.
I reached for his hand.
He took it.
The Circle had won one thing.
It had hurt him.
But it had made our alliance stronger.
May you like
We returned to Miami.
And began preparing for war.
Related Stories
