Chapter 4 - The Safe Room
Ruby sat on the floor of Damon’s safe room holding Bunny.
Marcus stood at the door.
For ten minutes, she had asked the same question.
“Where is my mommy?”
Marcus gave the same answer.
“Damon is finding her.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
“Does Damon know?”
“Yes.”
“Is Damon scared?”
Marcus looked away.
Ruby frowned.
“You don't know.”
Marcus sighed.
“I think Damon is very angry.”
“Angry is okay.”
“Sometimes.”
Ruby hugged Bunny.
“Scared is worse.”
Marcus looked at the child.
She seemed too young to understand what was happening.
But she understood enough.
A hidden speaker crackled.
Damon's voice.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Status?”
“Ruby is safe.”
There was a pause.
Then Damon said something Marcus had never heard from him before.
“I'm sorry.”
Marcus stared at the speaker.
“For what?”
“For bringing them into this.”
Marcus understood.
Damon was talking about Selena and Ruby.
He was blaming himself.
Marcus pressed the communication button.
“You didn't bring this to them.”
“I hired Selena.”
“She saved Ruby from danger.”
Damon was silent.
Marcus continued.
“She trusted you.”
Another pause.
“Find Selena.”
“We will.”
The line went dead.
Meanwhile, Damon stood inside the old study with Victor.
The photograph of Rafael and Selena remained on the desk.
Damon stared at it.
“Why would my brother meet Selena?”
Victor answered carefully.
“Because she had something he needed.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Victor looked at the closed door.
“The Reyes family's biggest secret.”
Damon turned.
“What secret?”
Victor finally told him.
Javier Reyes had built a hidden organization called The Meridian Circle.
It was not simply a criminal network.
It was a system of influence.
Judges.
Police officials.
Contractors.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
Anyone powerful enough to move money or people.
The Black Ledger contained their names.
Damon sat slowly.
“My father was running all of this.”
“Yes.”
“And Rafael tried to expose it.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Victor looked ashamed.
“I helped.”
Damon's jaw tightened.
“Then why are you still alive?”
Victor smiled without humor.
“Because your father needed someone he trusted.”
Damon looked at the photograph.
“And you betrayed him.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Victor looked toward the photograph of Rafael.
“Rafael did.”
Damon froze.
“What?”
“He did not try to destroy the network.”
Victor's voice lowered.
“He wanted to control it.”
Damon closed his eyes.
For six years he had believed his brother was a victim.
What if Rafael had not been innocent?
What if he had disappeared willingly?
What if everything Damon knew about his family was a lie?
A knock sounded.
Marcus entered.
“We found Selena's car.”
Damon stood.
“Where is she?”
“Abandoned.”
“Blood?”
“Yes.”
Damon grabbed his coat.
“Who has access to our vehicles?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Several people.”
“Names.”
Marcus gave him six names.
Damon looked at the list.
Then one name stood out.
Ben.
The guard who had supposedly gone to Selena's house.
“Find him.”
“We already are.”
Marcus held up a phone.
“His vehicle left the property twenty-two minutes ago.”
Damon's expression hardened.
“Track it.”
Marcus nodded.
Then his phone buzzed.
He read the message.
“Damon.”
“What?”
“Ben's vehicle belongs to Victor's security company.”
Damon looked at Victor.
Victor whispered.
“They've been using my people.”
Damon's eyes narrowed.
“Or you have been using them.”
Victor looked wounded.
“I swear—”
Damon cut him off.
“Don't swear.”
A gunshot sounded in the hallway.
Then another.
Marcus shoved Damon backward.
“Down!”
The safe-room alarm began screaming.
Damon grabbed the nearest weapon.
“Who is inside?”
Marcus checked the monitors.
“Three intruders.”
“Employees?”
“No.”
“Location?”
“North hall.”
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Ruby screamed from the safe room.
Damon ran.
Marcus followed.
The emergency lights flickered.
A man appeared at the end of the corridor.
Damon fired.
The man fell.
Another emerged.
Marcus fired.
The second man disappeared behind a wall.
Then a voice echoed through the house.
“Damon!”
Damon froze.
It was Rafael.
“Come outside.”
Damon stared into the darkness.
Marcus whispered.
“That's impossible.”
Rafael's voice returned.
“You want Selena alive?”
Damon stepped forward.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
“He has her.”
“You don't know that.”
A screen on the wall suddenly activated.
Selena appeared.
She was tied to a chair.
Her face was bruised.
Damon's stomach twisted.
“Selena!”
She looked up.
“Damon, don't listen to them!”
The video ended.
A timer appeared.
01:00:00.
“One hour,” Marcus whispered.
Damon looked at Victor.
“You said you knew where the ledger key was.”
Victor nodded.
Damon handed him the key.
“Then open the ledger.”
Victor stared at it.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the key isn't for the ledger.”
Damon looked at him.
“What is it for?”
Victor swallowed.
“The ledger is inside a person.”
Damon stared.
“What?”
Victor's answer came slowly.
“Your father didn't hide the Black Ledger in a vault.”
He looked at Ruby's empty pink suitcase.
“He hid it in the bloodline.”
Damon felt a chill.
“Explain.”
Victor looked toward the photograph.
“Ruby.”
Damon stopped.
“Why her?”
“Because she is Rafael's daughter.”
Silence.
Damon stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Victor shook his head.
“It isn't.”
“Ruby is Selena's child.”
“Yes.”
“Her father was Daniel.”
Victor's face hardened.
“Daniel was not her biological father.”
Damon's world tilted.
“Then who is?”
Victor whispered.
“Rafael Reyes.”
The words seemed to drain all sound from the room.
Damon thought of Ruby's dark curls.
Her eyes.
The familiar stubborn tilt of her head.
He had never considered it.
Why would he?
Ruby was just a little girl.
Selena's daughter.
A child.
But if Victor was right...
Then Ruby was connected directly to the Reyes bloodline.
And the Black Ledger was somehow hidden inside her.
Not physically.
Biologically.
A code.
A memory.
A key.
Damon looked at Victor.
“Where is Rafael?”
Victor stared at him.
“Right in front of you.”
The screen turned back on.
Rafael appeared.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
Smiling.
Damon's heart stopped.
May you like
Rafael lifted his hand.
“Hello, little brother.”
