Chapter 6 - Jack Put Himself Between a Gun and Me—Then My Father Revealed the Final Betrayal
Victor had taken control of Northbridge security.
Every door locked.
Every elevator stopped.
Every employee was trapped inside.
Jack called his men.
No signal.
“They've jammed communications.”
My father looked at him.
“He has a second entrance.”
“Where?”
“Parking tunnel.”
Jack shook his head.
“He'll expect us there.”
Daniel pointed to the old archive room.
“There's a passage beneath it.”
We moved quickly.
The tunnel led underneath the building.
Halfway through, gunfire erupted above us.
Jack pushed me against the wall.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
He stared.
“You are not going without me.”
He gave a tight smile.
“You really did choose the wrong man to argue with.”
“I learned from you.”
We reached the basement.
Victor waited.
He was older than the photographs.
But his eyes were sharp.
Two men held my father.
Another held Thomas, who was barely standing.
Victor smiled.
“Family reunion.”
Jack stepped forward.
“You're finished.”
Victor laughed.
“You've always been sentimental.”
He looked at me.
“So you're the girl.”
“I have a name.”
“Emily.”
He smiled.
“Your father thought he could hide you.”
“Why kill Daniel?”
“I didn't.”
He glanced at him.
“I kept him alive.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“I protected him.”
Jack's face hardened.
“You destroyed his life.”
Victor shrugged.
“Necessary.”
Then he revealed the final truth.
Project Black had been started by Jack's father.
Not Victor.
My father had discovered it.
He tried to stop it.
Victor took over.
But someone else had rebuilt it.
Someone younger.
Someone close to Jack.
I looked at Thomas.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Not Thomas.”
The doors opened.
Victoria Hale walked in.
My blood ran cold.
Jack turned.
“Victoria.”
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
Victor gestured toward her.
“She has served me for fifteen years.”
Jack stared at her.
“You.”
Victoria cried.
“I didn't want this.”
“Then why?”
“My brother.”
Victor nodded.
“He controlled my family.”
She looked at me.
“He threatened to kill my brother.”
“You could have told Jack.”
“I tried.”
Victor interrupted.
“Enough.”
He pointed the gun at my father.
“You're giving me the ledger.”
Jack looked at me.
“Do you have it?”
I nodded.
“It’s in the archive.”
Victor smiled.
“Bring it.”
I stepped forward.
Jack caught my arm.
“No.”
Victor pressed the weapon closer to Daniel.
“I'll shoot him.”
My father shouted.
“Don't!”
I looked at Jack.
Then at my father.
Then at Victor.
“I'll get it.”
Jack whispered.
“Emily.”
“I have a plan.”
He looked confused.
I walked into the archive.
The ledger was exactly where we left it.
But I noticed something.
A second book.
Inside was a list.
I understood.
The real evidence wasn't the first ledger.
It was this.
I took both.
When I returned, Victor held out his hand.
I gave him the original ledger.
He smiled.
“You're clever.”
“Not enough.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
I held up my phone.
Recording.
Every confession.
Every name.
Every admission.
Victor's face changed.
“You—”
Jack smiled.
“I told you she was good.”
Victoria looked at me.
“You planned this?”
“No.”
I looked at Victor.
“You did.”
He stared.
Then the basement doors exploded open.
Federal agents stormed inside.
Jack had found a hidden emergency transmitter in the office.
The conversation had been recorded.
Victor tried to run.
Jack tackled him.
Thomas helped.
Victoria dropped her weapon.
She began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Jack looked at her.
“You should have trusted me.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
Victor was arrested.
Project Black collapsed.
But the story wasn't over.
Because the evidence revealed something even worse.
Jack's father hadn't died naturally.
He had been murdered.
And the order came from a person nobody had suspected.
My mother.
I stared at the document.
“No.”
My father looked devastated.
Helen had agreed to give Victor information years ago.
Not because she wanted power.
Because she was threatened.
She believed it would save me.
But her choice had helped keep the network alive.
She had lived with that guilt for twenty years.
I wanted to be angry.
Instead, I understood.
Fear makes people do things they never believed they could do.
That night, I visited her.
She cried before I spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
I held her hand.
“I know.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were.”
“I wasn't strong enough.”
I squeezed her fingers.
“You were scared.”
She looked at me.
“I don't deserve forgiveness.”
“Maybe not today.”
She started crying harder.
“But someday,” I whispered.
“Someday.”
I left the hospital and found Jack waiting outside.
“What now?”
He looked at me.
“Now we rebuild.”
“Our families?”
“Our lives.”
May you like
He reached for my hand.
This time, I let him.
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