Chapter 5 - Pier Nine and the Father Who Should Have Been Dead
They reached Pier Nine at 1:12 in the morning.
The harbor was dark.
Rain fell in thin silver lines.
Containers stacked like buildings around them.
Emmet insisted on a plan.
Noel insisted on coming.
Luca insisted nobody was listening to either of them.
Three vehicles stayed hidden in nearby alleys.
Two snipers positioned themselves on rooftops.
Emmet wore a bulletproof vest beneath his shirt.
Noel hated knowing that.
"You stay behind me," he said.
She nodded.
They reached the container.
A voice called out.
"Alone."
Emmet stopped.
A light switched on.
A man emerged.
Noel recognized him.
"Uncle Adrian."
Adrian Vance smiled.
"Hello, Noel."
She stared.
"You said you were dead."
"I was supposed to be."
Emmet raised his weapon.
Adrian laughed.
"You really don't trust me."
"No."
"I didn't expect you to."
Adrian looked at Noel.
"You're older than the last time I saw you."
"I don't remember you."
"You were nine."
Noel felt sick.
"Where is my father?"
Adrian nodded toward a container.
"Inside."
Emmet stepped forward.
Adrian lifted a hand.
"One condition."
"What?"
"The ledger."
Emmet held it up.
"You first."
Adrian smiled.
"Your father is alive."
A door opened.
A man stumbled out.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Deep scars.
Noel's knees nearly gave out.
"Dad?"
He looked at her.
For one second, he didn't seem to recognize her.
Then his eyes widened.
"Noel?"
She ran to him.
He caught her.
They held each other while she cried into his shoulder.
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought you'd be safer believing that."
"Why?"
His eyes went to Emmet.
"Because of the Sartoris."
Emmet stood still.
"No," he said. "Because of my grandfather."
Her father nodded.
"He knew."
"No one is supposed to know this."
"I know."
Then Adrian laughed.
Everyone turned.
"Families," he said. "Always thinking secrets are buried when they're only waiting for someone to dig."
He raised a gun.
Luca fired.
Adrian dropped.
Noel screamed.
Emmet grabbed her.
"He's alive."
Adrian had been wearing a vest.
He rolled behind the containers and vanished.
The harbor exploded into gunfire.
Emmet pulled Noel toward cover.
Her father followed.
They fought their way to the vehicles.
A bullet struck Emmet's shoulder.
He stumbled.
"Emmet!"
"I'm fine."
Blood spread across his shirt.
"You're not fine."
"Keep moving."
They reached the SUV.
Luca drove.
Noel pressed a cloth against Emmet's wound.
"It's not deep," he said.
"You are impossible."
"So I've heard."
She looked at him.
He smiled faintly.
Then passed out.
Panic hit her.
"Emmet!"
Luca looked back.
"He's breathing."
The car raced through the city.
At the safehouse, doctors treated Emmet.
Noel waited outside.
Her father sat beside her.
"He loves you."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"That man."
She shook her head.
"He said he did."
"Then believe him."
"You don't know him."
"I know his eyes."
Her father sighed.
"Your mother used to say love is the one thing powerful men cannot command."
Noel looked toward the closed door.
"What should I do?"
Her father smiled sadly.
"Choose the man who gives you a choice."
The door opened.
The doctor came out.
"He'll live."
Noel let out a breath.
She entered the room.
Emmet was awake.
He looked at her.
"You're still here."
"Of course."
He closed his eyes.
"You shouldn't be."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily."
He laughed softly.
For the first time, she saw how young he could look when he wasn't carrying the weight of a family.
She sat beside him.
"What happened to my mother?"
"She died protecting the ledger."
Noel lowered her head.
"She left you a message."
Emmet's eyes opened.
"Where?"
Noel took the ledger.
Inside the back cover was a folded piece of paper.
A hidden compartment.
She opened it.
The handwriting was unmistakably hers.
MY DEAR NOEL,
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, IT MEANS THE TRUTH HAS FINALLY FOUND YOU.
TRUST THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN PRETENDING NOT TO LOVE YOU.
He stared at the note.
Noel stared too.
Then they both looked at each other.
"Your mother knew," Noel whispered.
Emmet swallowed.
"My mother knew everything."
The note continued.
EMMET WILL BELIEVE HE MUST PROTECT YOU BY STAYING AWAY.
HE IS WRONG.
THE ONLY WAY TO END THIS IS TO MAKE HIM STAY.
Noel looked at him.
"She knew."
"I didn't."
"What happens now?"
Emmet took her hand.
"We finish it."
"And after?"
May you like
He looked at her.
"After, I ask you to stay."
