Chapter 6 - The Secret Beneath the Estate
Damon had killed men before.
He had ordered executions.
He had watched enemies disappear.
But nothing in his life had prepared him for the terror of searching for a three-year-old child.
“Seal every road,” he ordered.
Marcus was already moving.
“Drone team is up.”
“Every gate?”
“Yes.”
“Call the state police.”
Marcus looked at him.
Damon gave him a cold stare.
“Today I don't care who knows what I am.”
Marcus nodded.
Damon crouched beside Ruby's shoe.
His hands shook.
Only slightly.
But they shook.
There was blood beside the shoe.
Not much.
Damon touched it.
Fresh.
His face changed.
Marcus saw it.
“Damon.”
“She's hurt.”
“We don't know whose blood that is.”
Damon looked at him.
“Find out.”
Within minutes, the estate was locked down.
Every employee was searched.
Every vehicle stopped.
Every road monitored.
But Ruby was gone.
Then Damon remembered the note.
You trusted the wrong man.
Victor.
Damon had trusted Victor for fourteen years.
Maybe longer.
He ordered his men to search Victor's office.
They found nothing.
No computer.
No documents.
No personal items.
The office looked untouched.
Almost too untouched.
Marcus noticed a painting hanging slightly crooked.
Behind it was a steel door.
The door opened with Victor's fingerprint.
Inside was a tunnel.
Damon stared.
The tunnel extended beneath the estate.
Marcus whispered.
“Your father built this.”
Damon entered.
They found rooms.
Old ones.
Storage.
Weapons.
Documents.
Photographs.
And hundreds of files.
Damon opened one.
Names.
Addresses.
Payments.
Children.
Women.
Witnesses.
People who had vanished.
People officially listed as dead.
The Reyes family had been running a nightmare beneath the estate.
Damon turned away.
“My father.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
A sound came from the next room.
Damon drew his weapon.
He entered.
Someone was tied to a chair.
Selena.
Alive.
Damon dropped his weapon and rushed to her.
“Selena.”
She looked up.
Her face was swollen.
Her wrists bruised.
But when she saw him, she cried.
“You came.”
Damon cut her restraints.
“I told you I would.”
She grabbed his shirt.
“Ruby.”
“She's missing.”
Selena froze.
“No.”
Damon held her shoulders.
“We're going to find her.”
Selena looked at him.
“Victor took her.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Victor didn't.”
Damon stared.
Selena's voice trembled.
“Victor is trying to stop them.”
Damon stood.
“What?”
“Margaret told me.”
“Margaret?”
Selena nodded.
“She helped me escape.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Selena grabbed Damon's hand.
“You need to listen to me.”
Damon crouched.
“I am.”
“Daniel left a message.”
She told him about the Black Ledger.
About the genetic code.
About Javier.
About Rafael.
And finally, the truth about Ruby's father.
Damon listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he asked one question.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Selena's eyes filled with tears.
“Because every person who knew the truth ended up dead.”
Damon looked away.
Selena touched his face.
“I didn't want you to become another name on that list.”
Damon stared at her.
“You thought I couldn't handle it.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I thought I could survive losing you.”
He went still.
Selena whispered.
“I couldn't survive losing Ruby.”
Damon lowered his head.
Then he kissed her forehead.
“We are getting her back.”
A slow clap sounded from the doorway.
Rafael appeared.
Damon stood instantly.
“Where is Ruby?”
Rafael answered.
“With me.”
Selena gasped.
“Where?”
“She is safe.”
Damon stared.
“Then bring her here.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because they are watching.”
Rafael stepped inside.
He looked at Selena.
“I am sorry.”
She slapped him.
Rafael took it without protest.
“You left us.”
“I know.”
“You watched us from shadows.”
“I know.”
“You made me raise our daughter without you.”
Rafael's eyes filled.
“I know.”
Selena struck his chest.
“You don't get to say you know!”
Damon stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Rafael looked at him.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Damon's stomach tightened.
“Where?”
Rafael looked up.
“At the estate.”
Every light went out.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Damon grabbed Selena.
Marcus shouted.
“Move!”
The tunnel shook.
Damon pulled Selena behind the steel wall.
Rafael disappeared into the darkness.
A voice echoed through the underground hall.
“Damon Reyes.”
Damon froze.
Adrian Vale stepped into view.
He was older than the photographs.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Calm.
He smiled.
“Your father would be disappointed.”
Damon raised his weapon.
“You killed my brother.”
Adrian laughed.
“No.”
He looked past Damon.
“I saved him.”
Then a child cried.
Ruby.
Damon's heart broke.
“Ruby!”
Her voice came again.
“Mr. Damon!”
Adrian smiled wider.
“She likes you.”
Damon took one step forward.
“Let her go.”
“Open the ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
Adrian pointed at Selena.
“She gave it to you.”
Damon looked at Selena.
She shook her head.
Adrian smiled.
“The ledger was never a book.”
He pointed at Ruby.
“It was information.”
Damon realized the truth.
Ruby had inherited a genetic sequence.
The code had been passed through Rafael.
But there was another part.
Selena.
Daniel had encoded the missing portion.
Together, they could unlock everything.
Adrian needed all three.
Damon.
Selena.
Ruby.
The estate doors exploded above them.
Adrian's men entered.
Marcus fired.
Chaos erupted.
Damon dragged Selena toward the emergency passage.
Rafael appeared and grabbed Ruby.
For a moment, Damon saw them together.
Father and daughter.
Rafael holding Ruby against his chest.
Ruby clinging to him.
“Daddy?”
Rafael closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Damon stared.
Ruby had never called anyone that.
Adrian saw the moment.
And smiled.
“Now we know she remembers.”
Damon frowned.
“Remembers what?”
Adrian turned to leave.
“Her mother will explain.”
He vanished into the smoke.
Damon looked at Selena.
She went pale.
“Explain what?”
Selena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Rafael looked at her.
“You do.”
Selena's eyes widened.
Then she remembered something.
A song Daniel used to sing to Ruby.
A lullaby.
A sequence of numbers hidden inside the melody.
She had never understood it.
Until now.
The ledger wasn't stored in Ruby's blood.
It was encoded in a memory.
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And Ruby had been taught the first half.
By Daniel.
