Chapter 7 - The Man Who Wanted to Destroy Nico’s Kingdom
Elias Vale was waiting inside the warehouse with three men.
Nico entered alone.
Genevieve stayed behind a secure barrier with Mateo.
Elias looked older than Genevieve expected.
He was not a monster.
That made him more frightening.
“You have your father's eyes,” Elias said.
Nico raised his gun.
“You have ten seconds.”
Elias smiled.
“I don't want to kill her.”
Genevieve frowned.
“He doesn't want me?”
“No,” Nico said.
Elias looked at him.
“I want the truth.”
Nico's gun lowered slightly.
“What truth?”
“Your father ordered my brother killed.”
“He betrayed us.”
“He was trying to expose the Whitmores.”
Genevieve stepped forward.
Everyone turned.
“What did you say?”
Elias looked at her.
“Your father and my brother were working together.”
Nico stiffened.
“That is impossible.”
“It isn't.”
Elias tossed a folder onto a table.
Inside were letters between Thomas Hayes and Elias’s brother.
They had planned to expose Harrison Whitmore together.
But the Whitmores discovered the plan.
They manipulated Nico's father into believing Elias's brother had betrayed him.
Then they orchestrated his death.
Nico stared at the evidence.
His entire understanding of his family's history collapsed.
“You're telling me my father was manipulated.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I hated you.”
Nico looked at him.
“And now?”
“Now I want Whitmore destroyed.”
Elias explained that he had spent years collecting evidence.
He had not returned to kill Nico.
He had returned because he knew the Whitmores were preparing one final move.
They planned to assassinate a federal witness before trial.
“Who?”
Mara Hayes.
Genevieve went cold.
They raced back to the estate.
Too late.
Mara was gone.
Her guards were unconscious.
A vehicle had smashed through the outer gate.
Genevieve screamed her mother's name.
Nico immediately took control.
“Lock the property down.”
Mateo checked the security feed.
“We have footage.”
The screen showed Daniel Hayes entering the estate with armed men.
Genevieve stared.
Her uncle had kidnapped her mother.
A message appeared on the monitor.
COME TO THE OLD PORT.
ALONE.
BRING THE LEDGER.
Nico looked at Genevieve.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Genevieve.”
“She took my mother.”
“You're too important.”
“I am going.”
Nico's eyes hardened.
“You could die.”
“So could she.”
Silence.
Nico finally nodded.
“Then you stay behind me.”
The old port was abandoned.
Fog covered the water.
Genevieve held the ledger.
Nico stood beside her.
Daniel emerged from a warehouse.
Mara was tied to a chair behind him.
“Uncle Daniel.”
He smiled.
“You look so much like your father.”
“You murdered him.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your father was going to destroy everything.”
“You destroyed everything.”
“I protected our family.”
“You protected yourself.”
Daniel's face twisted.
“Your father was arrogant. He thought morality mattered. In this city, power is morality.”
Nico stepped forward.
“You're finished.”
Daniel laughed.
“Not yet.”
A helicopter roared overhead.
Police sirens sounded.
Daniel looked confused.
Then Mara smiled.
“You forgot one thing.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“The walls are listening.”
A small microphone had been hidden inside the ledger.
Everything he said had been recorded.
Daniel reached for his gun.
Nico moved first.
The shot went wide.
Federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Daniel was arrested.
Mara was safe.
The Whitmore network began collapsing.
May you like
But Judge Harrison Whitmore remained missing.
And that meant the war wasn't over.
