Chapter 3 - The File With Her Father’s Name on It
Three days later, Vincent called Fay into his study.
The study was unlike the rest of the mansion.
No crystal.
No marble.
No unnecessary luxury.
Just dark wood, shelves of old books, and a massive desk scarred by time.
Vincent stood beside the fireplace.
He held an old envelope.
“Your father wrote this.”
Fay stopped.
“What?”
Vincent extended it.
She stared at the handwriting.
She knew it instantly.
It was the same handwriting she remembered from birthday cards.
The same slanted letters.
The same pressure in the pen strokes.
Her hands trembled as she took it.
The envelope had never been mailed.
There was no address.
Only her mother's name.
Fay opened it.
The letter was short.
Elena,
If you're reading this, I failed.
Don't let Fay ask questions.
Keep her away from Cross.
Especially the sons.
The letter ended there.
Fay stared.
Her mother had lied to her.
For seventeen years.
She looked up.
“Where did you find this?”
“In an old storage archive.”
“Why was it kept?”
“Your father had a file.”
“What kind of file?”
Vincent handed her another folder.
Inside were photographs.
Shipping docks.
Container numbers.
Men.
Transactions.
Then Fay saw something familiar.
A small girl standing beside a woman.
Her younger self.
She remembered the picture.
It had been taken outside their old apartment.
Fay looked at Vincent.
“Someone was watching us.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before your father disappeared.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
She flipped another page.
There was a name.
Elias Voss.
Fay didn't recognize it.
“Who is he?”
Vincent's face changed.
“That is a name I haven't heard in a long time.”
“Who is he?”
“My father's right hand.”
“What happened to him?”
“He vanished.”
“Like my father?”
“Yes.”
Fay's stomach twisted.
“Do you think they're connected?”
“I do.”
Vincent sat.
“There was a betrayal inside my father's organization seventeen years ago.”
“Your father suspected someone.”
“He did.”
“Who?”
Vincent looked at the file.
“His most trusted lieutenant.”
“Elias?”
“Yes.”
“And my father?”
“Worked for him.”
The room went silent.
Fay suddenly understood.
Her father had not simply disappeared.
He had been caught between rival factions.
“What happened after he vanished?”
“My father blamed him.”
“For Elias disappearing?”
“For everything.”
“Was he right?”
“No.”
Fay stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because my father was killed before he could finish what he started.”
The words were calm.
The meaning was not.
“Your father was murdered?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
“I don't know.”
She stared at him.
“You've spent seventeen years not knowing?”
“I spent the first ten years thinking I did.”
“What changed?”
Vincent looked directly at her.
“I found records.”
“Where?”
“In a bank vault.”
“What records?”
“Payments made after my father's death.”
“To whom?”
Vincent paused.
Then said:
“Someone inside the Cross family.”
Fay felt a chill.
“Someone in your family?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“My uncle.”
Fay knew the name.
Anthony Cross.
Vincent's father's younger brother.
The man who had supposedly died in a plane crash twelve years earlier.
She looked at Vincent.
“He's dead.”
“That is what I believed.”
Fay stared.
“Then why are we talking about him?”
“Because he isn't.”
Before she could answer, the study door opened.
Julian stood there.
“You shouldn't have told her.”
Vincent turned.
“Leave.”
Julian looked at Fay.
“She has no idea what she's walking into.”
Fay's voice was steady.
“Maybe I should.”
Julian looked at her.
“You're smarter than you look.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Julian laughed softly.
“You really think she's the key?”
Fay froze.
“The key to what?”
Neither brother spoke.
Julian smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
Then he walked away.
Fay turned toward Vincent.
“What did he mean?”
Vincent said nothing.
She stepped closer.
“What am I the key to?”
He looked tired.
“Something your father took before he disappeared.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“What kind?”
“A financial ledger.”
“That sounds like money.”
“It is.”
“How much?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Enough to destroy the Cross syndicate.”
That night Fay called her mother.
“Mom.”
There was a long silence.
“Yes?”
“What happened to Dad?”
The line went quiet.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because I found his letter.”
Her mother began to cry.
“Oh, Fay.”
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Your father was going to expose them.”
“Who?”
“The Cross family.”
Fay closed her eyes.
“What did he take?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“I swear I don't.”
“Mom.”
The older woman sobbed.
“Your father hid something.”
“What?”
“I don't know where.”
“Then how do you know he hid it?”
“Because he told me one thing before he left.”
“What?”
Her mother whispered:
“If they ever come looking for our daughter, tell her the ledger is already with someone she trusts.”
Fay's blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
The call ended.
Fay turned.
Vincent stood in the doorway.
She had not heard him enter.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough.”
“Did you hear?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He stepped inside.
“It means your father may have trusted someone inside this house.”
“Who?”
Vincent's expression was unreadable.
“I don't know.”
Fay almost laughed.
“You always say that.”
“Because I don't lie to you.”
She stared at him.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you had a chance to run.”
“And I didn't.”
“No.”
He looked at her bruised jaw.
“You stayed.”
“Where else would I go?”
“That's exactly why I trust you.”
Their eyes met.
Something shifted.
For a moment, there was no mafia.
No ledger.
No murder.
Just two people standing too close in a silent room.
Vincent stepped back.
“You need security.”
“I don't want guards.”
“That wasn't a request.”
“I'm not your prisoner.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You're someone I'm trying to keep alive.”
Fay swallowed.
The next day, one of the security guards was found unconscious near the east gate.
On his wrist was a symbol.
A black bird.
Vincent knew it immediately.
He called Marcus.
“Elias Voss is back.”
Fay heard the words from across the room.
Her stomach dropped.
May you like
The man connected to her father's disappearance had returned.
And he was now hunting her.
