Chapter 5 - The Man Sebastian Hated Had Been Protecting Me All Along
Victor escaped before Sebastian could reach him.
By the time police sirens approached, the apartment was empty.
But his words remained.
Daniel Hart was never the target.
You were.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
All those years.
All those lies.
My father hadn’t been protecting himself.
He had been protecting me.
Back at the safehouse, doctors removed the bullet from Sebastian’s shoulder.
He refused pain medication.
Of course he did.
“You’re an idiot,” I told him.
“I’ve heard worse.”
“You nearly died.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were bleeding on the floor.”
“I recovered.”
“That doesn't make you less stupid.”
He smiled faintly.
“You’re worried.”
I crossed my arms.
“I’m angry.”
“At me?”
“At everyone.”
He watched me.
“You’re allowed.”
The doctor left.
Silence filled the room.
I sat beside the bed.
“Why didn’t my mother raise me?”
“She thought you were safer away from her.”
“And she was?”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“She asked you to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you ever find me?”
“Because Daniel made me promise.”
“What promise?”
“That if your mother disappeared, I would never search for you unless the Black Circle found you first.”
My throat tightened.
“And now they have.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“So what happens now?”
“We end this.”
“How?”
“We find the ledger.”
“And the final key?”
“You.”
I sighed.
“Then let’s figure out what I remember.”
We spent hours going through my childhood memories.
The numbers.
The cards.
The blue door.
My father’s stories.
Then something clicked.
“I remember a song.”
Sebastian looked at me.
“What song?”
“My father used to sing it whenever he wanted me to memorize something.”
I hummed the melody.
Mara, weak but conscious, listened from the next room.
Her eyes widened.
“That song.”
Sebastian turned.
“What?”
Mara whispered, “Daniel used it for the key.”
“What does it mean?”
Mara sat up painfully.
“The first line refers to a location.”
“What location?”
“Ward Memorial.”
Sebastian froze.
“That hospital?”
“Yes.”
“The hospital named after my family?”
Mara nodded.
“Daniel used your family name because he believed no one would search there.”
We went immediately.
Ward Memorial had been closed for years.
The basement archives were untouched.
Behind an old wall panel, we found a metal container.
Inside was a ledger.
Not the complete ledger.
But one third.
Names.
Accounts.
Photographs.
Everything.
Then we found another recording.
This time, Daniel’s voice sounded frightened.
“Sebastian, if you found this, then I failed.”
He paused.
“I need you to understand that Victor is not the mastermind.”
Sebastian stared at the recorder.
“Victor works for someone older.”
A name followed.
Evelyn Vale.
Sebastian’s mother.
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
He looked sick.
“My mother?”
Daniel continued.
“Evelyn believes the Black Circle belongs to her family.”
The recording ended.
Sebastian sat down.
For a long time, he said nothing.
“I thought she was dead.”
“She wasn’t.”
He looked at me.
“She left when I was eight.”
“She didn’t leave.”
He understood.
“She was hiding.”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“She was building something.”
We found Evelyn’s location through old accounts.
A private estate in Vermont.
But before we could leave, Sebastian received a call.
It was Victor.
“Come alone.”
Sebastian’s expression darkened.
“Where?”
“Pier 47.”
“What do you want?”
“My nephew.”
A pause.
“Not the girl.”
Sebastian looked at me.
Victor continued.
“She stays alive.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn wants her.”
Sebastian’s eyes became lethal.
“Why?”
Victor laughed.
“Because Valerie is the only person who can unlock the entire ledger.”
The call ended.
I stared at Sebastian.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
“Sebastian.”
“You remember more than you think.”
I closed my eyes.
The numbers.
The song.
The blue door.
Then I remembered something else.
A necklace.
My father had given it to me.
A small silver pendant.
I touched my neck.
“I still have it.”
Sebastian looked at the pendant.
“May I?”
I took it off.
He examined it.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a tiny strip of paper.
Three words.
THE SEVENTH DOOR.
Sebastian stared.
“What?”
“I remember this.”
“What?”
“My father said there were seven doors.”
I looked at him.
“Seven doors?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then Mara spoke.
“I do.”
She stood in the doorway.
“The Black Circle had seven meeting chambers.”
Sebastian turned.
“One in each city.”
“Where are they?”
Mara hesitated.
“New York.”
“Chicago.”
“Boston.”
“Miami.”
“Los Angeles.”
“London.”
“And the seventh…”
She looked at me.
“Was never recorded.”
My pulse quickened.
“Why?”
“Because your father destroyed the records.”
“And where is it?”
Mara looked at the pendant.
“Under Ward Memorial.”
Sebastian looked at the walls.
“The hospital.”
“Yes.”
A hidden passage existed beneath the basement.
We found it behind an old elevator shaft.
We descended into darkness.
At the end of the tunnel was a massive steel door.
Seven symbols were engraved across it.
I touched the seventh.
The door unlocked.
Inside was the Black Circle’s original chamber.
Seven chairs.
Six occupied by dust.
One chair remained covered.
On the wall was a message.
Only blood can reveal the seventh name.
Sebastian stared.
Then we heard footsteps behind us.
A woman’s voice echoed through the chamber.
“You took longer than I expected.”
We turned.
She stepped into the light.
Elegant.
Older.
Beautiful.
And completely emotionless.
Sebastian whispered one word.
“Mother.”
Evelyn Ward smiled.
“Hello, Sebastian.”
Her eyes moved to me.
“And finally…”
May you like
She smiled.
“Hello, Valerie.”
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