Chapter 5 - The Secret My Mother Died Protecting
Emergency lights flickered.
People screamed in the hallway.
Dominic moved instantly.
Gabriel locked down the ward.
Nathaniel stayed behind him.
I grabbed the nurse’s arm.
“You said the Beaumonts killed my mother.”
“I said they wanted the evidence.”
“Did they kill her?”
“I didn’t see it happen.”
“Then who did?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I saw the driver.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“My father?”
“He drove your mother to the meeting.”
“Then how did he survive?”
“He didn’t.”
I stared at her.
“But I watched him die.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The man in the funeral home was not your father.”
I couldn’t speak.
The nurse looked at Dominic.
“Your father helped them disappear.”
“Who?”
“Richard Pierce.”
The pieces moved into place.
Richard had staged my father’s death.
He had hidden Miriam.
He had hidden Nathaniel.
And somehow, my mother’s murder was connected to the same conspiracy.
“What did she have?” I asked.
The nurse reached inside her coat.
She pulled out a tiny key.
“This.”
I took it.
“What does it open?”
“Locker 414.”
“Where?”
“The old Chicago Union Station.”
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
“We go now.”
We drove through the city with sirens behind us.
At Union Station, Dominic’s security team spread out.
Locker 414 was buried in an old storage corridor.
The key opened it.
Inside was a metal box.
No money.
No jewelry.
Just documents.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Contracts.
And a cassette tape.
Yes.
A cassette.
Dominic found an old player in the box.
He pressed play.
My mother’s voice filled the room.
“Beatrice, if you ever hear this, I failed to protect you.”
I covered my mouth.
“I need you to understand something. Your father did not betray the Pierces. He saved them.”
A pause.
“Charles Beaumont has spent years buying judges, politicians and businessmen. But the money comes from one hidden operation.”
She named it.
The Chicago Exchange.
The same organization we had heard about.
“I found proof that Charles plans to eliminate Richard Pierce and transfer control of the Exchange to himself.”
My mother sounded frightened.
“I also found something worse.”
Static.
“Richard has a son.”
Nathaniel.
“He has hidden him because Charles needs a legal heir to control the trust.”
The tape crackled.
“If anything happens to me, trust Richard.”
Another pause.
“And trust my husband.”
I started crying.
The tape continued.
“My husband is pretending to betray him.”
Dominic looked at me.
My father had been a double agent.
He had entered the Beaumont network.
He had been feeding Richard information.
My mother had discovered the plan.
That was why she was killed.
But there was more.
The final document was a bank agreement signed by Charles Beaumont.
Beneath his signature was another.
Vivienne Beaumont.
She had been sixteen.
Dominic read it.
“She was involved from the beginning.”
I shook my head.
“Maybe under pressure.”
He looked at me.
“Maybe.”
The door behind us clicked.
We spun around.
Elias Crowe stood there.
Alive.
Smiling.
He wore a dark coat.
No weapon visible.
“You have your mother’s curiosity.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“You kidnapped my brother.”
“No.”
Elias smiled.
“Charles did.”
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not far.”
Dominic stepped forward.
Elias lifted one hand.
“Shoot me and you’ll never find him.”
I looked at him.
“You killed people.”
“Yes.”
“You stole from Dominic.”
“Yes.”
“You used Vivienne.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elias’s smile faded.
“Because your families built a city where everyone thinks monsters are born.”
He pointed at Dominic.
“But monsters are usually manufactured.”
Dominic’s voice was deadly.
“Where is Nathaniel?”
Elias looked at me.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“The wedding.”
He laughed softly.
“Dominic was never the target.”
We froze.
“What?”
“The real target is Beatrice.”
Silence.
He looked at the documents.
“Your father left one final key.”
My heart pounded.
“What key?”
Elias pointed at the metal box.
“You.”
Dominic stepped between us.
“Explain.”
“Your father knew the Exchange would eventually find you.”
“I’m nobody.”
“You were.”
Elias’s voice became quiet.
“Until you found the books.”
He looked directly at me.
“The books were never meant to expose the stolen money.”
I frowned.
“What were they meant to do?”
“Reveal the names of everyone inside the Exchange.”
Dominic looked at the documents.
“She decoded it.”
“No,” Elias said.
“Your father taught her how.”
My knees weakened.
All my life, I had thought I inherited my father’s caution.
Maybe I had inherited his war.
A phone rang.
Dominic answered.
Charles Beaumont.
“Dominic,” the older man said.
“Where is Nathaniel?”
“Come to the church.”
“What church?”
“Your wedding church.”
Charles laughed.
“Bring Beatrice.”
The line went dead.
Elias looked at us.
“You finally understand.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Beatrice, I’m canceling the wedding.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He stared at me.
“No?”
“If the wedding is a trap, canceling it gives them exactly what they want.”
“What do you suggest?”
I looked at the clock.
“Let them think the wedding is happening.”
Elias smiled.
“That’s what your father would have said.”
Dominic looked at me for a long moment.
May you like
Then he nodded.
“Then tomorrow, we get married.”
