Chapter 8 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
We opened the basement door just before midnight.
The stairs descended farther than any blueprint indicated.
Twenty feet.
Then thirty.
Then forty.
The walls changed from brick to concrete.
Finally, we reached a steel door.
Victoria entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a control room.
Monitors.
Files.
Audio recordings.
Photographs.
Maps.
And one live camera feed.
A man sat in a chair.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
My heart stopped.
“Dad.”
I ran toward the screen.
Julian grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.”
The man looked up.
It was Daniel Marlowe.
Alive.
My father looked directly into the camera.
Then he said:
“Elena, if you're seeing this, Julian found you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
His expression changed.
“I am inside the house.”
I turned.
“What?”
The screen showed another camera.
A room behind the wall.
A hidden room.
Daniel sat there.
Alive.
Julian searched the room.
“Why are you here?”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Because they need me.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
He explained everything.
The Vescari empire had not been controlled by one person.
It was a network.
Businessmen.
Politicians.
Criminal organizations.
Bankers.
Security contractors.
People from different worlds connected through the ledger.
Daniel discovered it.
Julian's father ordered him to protect it.
Isabella discovered the truth.
She tried to destroy it.
Marcus attacked Julian believing he had betrayed the family.
Victoria tried to protect Clara.
Dominic sided with Evelyn.
Evelyn manipulated everyone.
The lake was not an isolated assassination attempt.
It was a final attempt to remove Julian and retrieve the ledger.
But why was I involved?
Daniel looked into the camera.
“Because you are the only person they cannot legally silence.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I put the ledger in your name.”
I stared.
“You what?”
“The original documents were legally transferred to you when you were a child.”
Julian looked stunned.
“My father couldn't?”
“He did.”
Daniel continued.
“Your name was the legal key.”
“The ledger is mine?”
“Yes.”
“What happens if I destroy it?”
“Everyone implicated disappears from the network.”
“And if I release it?”
“Chicago burns.”
Julian stepped forward.
“You knew Elena would come to me.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I knew she needed help.”
“You used her.”
“I protected her.”
Julian became angry.
“You manipulated her life.”
Daniel sighed.
“You're right.”
I stepped between them.
“I need the truth.”
Daniel nodded.
“I made one mistake.”
“What?”
“I thought Evelyn would protect you.”
My stomach dropped.
“You trusted her?”
“She helped hide Clara.”
“Why?”
“To keep the network from finding her.”
“Then why did she turn on us?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She didn't.”
Silence.
“What?”
“She has been pretending to be our enemy.”
Julian stared.
“Then why attack the mansion?”
“To force the network into exposing itself.”
I looked at the screens.
Images of every member.
Every transfer.
Every call.
Every secret meeting.
Evelyn had recorded them all.
Julian realized it too.
“The ledger isn't the evidence.”
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“The network itself is.”
Then the steel door behind us slammed shut.
Dominic entered.
He held a gun.
Victoria screamed.
Julian turned.
Dominic looked at me.
“You should have stayed poor.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“Your father should have stayed dead.”
Julian raised his weapon.
Dominic laughed.
“You still think you're in control.”
Then another person entered.
Marcus.
He stood behind Dominic.
Julian froze.
“Marcus.”
Marcus looked at him.
“I never wanted to kill you.”
“Then why shoot me?”
“Because you wouldn't listen.”
Dominic raised his gun toward Julian.
Marcus moved.
One shot.
Dominic fell.
Everyone stared.
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“I spent twenty-six months trying to get close enough to stop this.”
Julian said nothing.
Marcus looked at me.
“You were never the target.”
“Then who?”
He pointed at the screen.
Evelyn.
“Her.”
Evelyn appeared on the monitor.
She smiled.
“I knew you'd figure it out.”
Julian looked toward the hidden camera.
“Where are you?”
“In the only place you never searched.”
“Where?”
She smiled.
“Outside.”
Then the building shook.
An explosion rocked the basement.
Fire alarms screamed.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Daniel's room began flooding with smoke.
Julian shouted:
“Get him out!”
Marcus grabbed Daniel.
I opened the emergency door.
We ran.
The mansion was burning.
Windows shattered.
Security personnel fought attackers.
Victoria dragged Clara from the upper floor.
Rafael covered everyone.
We reached the lake.
The same lake.
The same water.
The same place where Julian had nearly died.
May you like
And Julian looked at the flames behind us.
“This ends tonight.”
