Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew Her Father
The woman in the photograph was named Eleanor Graves.
Seventy-one years old.
Former chief financial officer of Cain International.
Retired after a stroke.
Living alone outside Albany.
Tristan wanted to send a team.
Lily insisted on going.
He refused.
She went anyway.
He followed.
By the time they reached Eleanor's home, the woman was waiting on the porch.
"You took your time."
Tristan stared.
"You knew we'd come?"
Eleanor smiled.
"I've known for twenty years."
Her eyes shifted to Lily.
"You look just like your father."
Lily stepped forward.
"You knew him?"
"I knew Marcus before he was Marcus."
The sentence made no sense.
Eleanor invited them inside.
Her living room contained almost nothing.
One sofa.
A fireplace.
A clock.
A locked cabinet.
Lily sat.
Eleanor poured tea.
"Your father wasn't an accountant," she said.
"What was he?"
"A federal informant."
Lily's heart stopped.
Tristan leaned forward.
"For whom?"
"Nobody officially."
Eleanor smiled sadly.
"Marcus had been investigating a financial network that connected organized crime to legitimate corporations. Cain Holdings was one branch."
"Your branch," Tristan said.
"My branch was the one paying the bills."
She looked at him.
"Your father knew."
"How much?"
"Everything."
Eleanor opened the locked cabinet.
Inside were files.
"Marcus discovered the network was not controlled by Victor Cain alone."
Tristan's eyes narrowed.
"Who else?"
Eleanor looked at Lily.
"Someone close to you."
Lily swallowed.
"Who?"
"Your mother."
Lily stood.
"What?"
Eleanor's expression softened.
"Claire knew more than she ever told you."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"She helped Marcus disappear."
"For protection?"
"Yes."
"Then why did she let me believe he was dead?"
"Because the people searching for him were watching you."
Lily sat again.
Eleanor handed her a letter.
The handwriting was unmistakably her father's.
My little girl,
If you ever read this, it means I failed to stay close.
Don't blame your mother.
Don't blame yourself.
There are people who believe money gives them the right to own other people's lives.
They are wrong.
Your mother knows the truth.
You must never trust a man named Adrian Cross.
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Why didn't he come back?"
Eleanor looked at Tristan.
"Because he was protecting someone."
"Who?"
"Your father found out Adrian Cross was preparing to take control of the entire operation."
Tristan's face hardened.
"Adrian was part of it before I ever inherited Cain Holdings."
"Yes."
"But my father kept him."
"Because Victor believed he could control him."
Tristan stood.
"He couldn't."
"No."
He looked at the fireplace.
"What happened to Marcus?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"He went into hiding."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Lily whispered, "He's alive?"
Eleanor nodded.
"I believe so."
A sound came from the kitchen.
Everyone went still.
Tristan drew a weapon from inside his jacket.
He moved Lily behind him.
A man burst through the rear door.
Then another.
Gunfire erupted.
Glass shattered.
Eleanor fell.
Lily screamed.
Tristan returned fire.
The attackers ran.
One collapsed outside.
The other disappeared into the trees.
Tristan knelt beside Eleanor.
She was bleeding from the shoulder.
"It's all right," he said.
Eleanor gripped his sleeve.
"No."
"What?"
"Don't let them find the girl."
Tristan looked at Lily.
Eleanor whispered:
"She carries her father's final key."
Lily stared.
"What key?"
Eleanor reached for Lily's hand.
A small brass object had been hidden inside the lining of the old photograph envelope.
Lily felt it.
She pulled it out.
A tiny key.
Tristan took it.
"What does it open?"
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"The place where Marcus left the last ledger."
Then she looked at Lily one final time.
"Your father never stopped looking for you."
The police arrived.
By midnight, Eleanor was in surgery.
Lily sat outside the hospital with Tristan.
She cried silently.
He handed her a tissue.
She took it.
"Why are you helping me?"
He looked straight ahead.
"Because someone used you to get to me."
"That's not the whole reason."
"No."
She waited.
He finally said, "Because you're brave."
Lily looked at him.
"I walked into your room drunk."
"You walked into a trap."
"I screamed."
"You survived."
She smiled weakly.
"That's a strange compliment."
"It's the only kind I give."
She laughed.
For the first time since the hotel, the fear loosened.
Then Tristan's phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief spoke for five seconds.
Tristan's face turned cold.
"What?"
Lily watched.
He ended the call.
"What happened?"
"Your mother's hospital room has been emptied."
Her blood went cold.
May you like
"What?"
"She's gone."
